Comradeship (1931)

Plea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Carl Haensel (novel), Peter Martin Lampel

Stars:

Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Ernst Busch

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexander Granach	...	Kasper
Fritz Kampers	...	Wilderer
Ernst Busch	...	Wittkopp
Elisabeth Wendt	...	Frau Anna Wittkopp
Gustav Püttjer	...	Kaplan
Oskar Höcker	...	Obersteiger
Daniel Mendaille	...	Jean Leclerc
Georges Charlia	...	Emile
Andrée Ducret	...	Françoise
Alex Bernard	...	Grand-père, le vieux mineur
Pierre-Louis	...	Georges - le petit galibot
Héléna Manson	...	Rose, la femme du mineur blessé
Marcel Lesieur	...	Albert
Willem Holsboer	...	Ingenieur des deutschen Bergwerks (as Willem Holzboer)
Georges Tourreil	...	L'ingénieur

Storyline

An old German mine was split in two after the end of WWI because of where the new border was located. In the French part a fire breaks out; the German miners send a rescue group in, helping their French comrades. Three old German miners, who were not treated friendly at a French inn the night before, start their own private rescue through an old tunnel that separated the two mines. Will the official rescue party realize there are others left behind in time to save them?

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Plot Keywords:

border | rescue | trapped | rescue squad | coal mine | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

17 November 1931 (Germany)

Also Known As:

A Tragédia da Mina

Filming Locations:

Bethune, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nero-Film AG, Gaumont-Franco Film-Aubert (G.F.F.A)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 86 min (Janus print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because the dialogue in Kameradschaft was spoken in the two languages of the French and German participants, without subtitles, when it came time to release the film in Paris, instead of, as frequent in the early sound era, shooting a separate language version the editor chose alternate takes of each shot to form a slightly different print, shortening and lengthening several scenes in the process.

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Connections

Featured in Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood: End of an Era (1995)

User Reviews

A MASTERWORK.

This, the finest achievement from Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Social Realism period is based upon a tragedy in early 1906 that claimed the lives of nearly 1100 French miners as a coal dust explosion deep in mines at Courrieres in northern France took place after a fire had smouldered for three weeks, eventually releasing deadly pit gas that brought about the fatalities. Estimable designer Erno Metzner creates stark sets that simulate the tragedy, providing a perception of reality, augmented by matchless sound editing, with the only music being produced by integral orchestras during the beginning and ending portions of a work for which aural effects possess equal importance with the eminent director's fascinating visual compositions. Pabst's manner of "invisible editing" that segues action from shot to shot through movements of players proves to be smoothly integrated within this landmark film that also showcases sublime cinematography utilizing cameras mounted upon vehicles, enabling the director to shift amid scenes without having a necessity of cutting. Although the work's cardinal theme relates to Socialist dogma, the unforgettable power of this film is held in its details, born of Pabst's nonpareil skill at weaving numerous plot lines into a cinema tapestry that stirs one to admiration for German rescue squads of whom their Fatherland is greatly proud while no less despairing of disastrous losses to the families of French victims; certainly, a seminal triumph fully as stimulating today to a cineaste as it was at the time of its first release.