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I Was Nineteen

Original title: Ich war neunzehn
  • 1968
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Werner Gottsmann in I Was Nineteen (1968)
BiographyDramaWar

Gregor Hecker, who fled Germany with his parents, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army.Gregor Hecker, who fled Germany with his parents, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army.Gregor Hecker, who fled Germany with his parents, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army.

  • Director
    • Konrad Wolf
  • Writers
    • Wolfgang Kohlhaase
    • Gerhard Wolf
    • Konrad Wolf
  • Stars
    • Jaecki Schwarz
    • Vasiliy Livanov
    • Aleksey Eybozhenko
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Konrad Wolf
    • Writers
      • Wolfgang Kohlhaase
      • Gerhard Wolf
      • Konrad Wolf
    • Stars
      • Jaecki Schwarz
      • Vasiliy Livanov
      • Aleksey Eybozhenko
    • 9User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos6

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    Top cast47

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    Jaecki Schwarz
    Jaecki Schwarz
    • Gregor Hecker
    Vasiliy Livanov
    Vasiliy Livanov
    • Wadim Gejman
    Aleksey Eybozhenko
    Aleksey Eybozhenko
    • Sascha Ziganjuk
    Dieter Mann
    • Willi Lommer
    Johannes Wieke
    • Oberst Lewerenz
    Rolf Hoppe
    Rolf Hoppe
    • Major Behring
    Jürgen Hentsch
    • Oberleutnant Schenk
    Kalmursa Rachmanov
    • Dsingis
    Anatoliy Solovyov
    Anatoliy Solovyov
    • Starschinka
    Jenny Gröllmann
    Jenny Gröllmann
    • Deutsches Mädchen
    Galina Polskikh
    Galina Polskikh
    • Sowjetisches Mädchen
    Mikhail Gluzskiy
    Mikhail Gluzskiy
    • General
    • (as Mikhail Glusski)
    Otto Lang
    • Pfarrer
    Kurt Böwe
    • Sturmbannführer
    Klaus Manchen
    • Blinder Soldat
    Else Bugatz
    • Bäuerin
    Richard Degen
    • Bauer
    Achim Schmidtchen
    • Marineoffizier
    • Director
      • Konrad Wolf
    • Writers
      • Wolfgang Kohlhaase
      • Gerhard Wolf
      • Konrad Wolf
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews9

    7.51K
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    Featured reviews

    6drwls

    Soviet/East German propaganda, sugar coating history

    I rented this film because of an interest in German culture and history. I lived there for a while, and have a (former East-) German wife and relatives. My wife, who was 11 in 1945 when this film takes place, says that it was much worse then than the movie shows, particularly with regard to the utter devastation, starvation, and behavior of the Russian soldiers. Few women between ages of 13 and 50 escaped being raped, and most boys of her age and a bit older were taken away and never seen again. After reunification, the mass graves of many of them, killed by Russians, have been found. Her father, who was never a soldier or Nazi, was shipped off to slave labor in Kazakhstan for about ten years. In the movie, it is implied that the surrendering German soldiers were rewarded with extra food, and then sent home. Get real.

    The intent of the movie, made in the GDR at a time when they were barraged with propaganda trying to make them believe that Russians were their friends, is obvious.

    Nevertheless, I did enjoy watching it, because even propaganda can be interesting for what it is. (Example: Triumph of the Will, which is infinitely better than this movie). The events involving the surrender of Spandau prison to the 19 year old Russian "commandant", which may have been based on fact and the director's own experience, were of particular interest, and well dramatized.
    6RichardvonLust

    Good but not Great

    The main problem with Ich war 19 is that glosses over several essential realities. It seems like a Soviet propaganda movie trying to white wash the past. The invasion of Germany by Soviet troops in 1944/5 was nothing short of barbaric. 18 million people were driven from their ancestral lands - over 2 million civilians were brutally murdered. More than a million POW's were liquidated and another 2 million Ukrainians, Poles and White Russians of German descent were also exterminated by the Soviets.

    The landscape was almost completely destroyed by allied bombing and soviet artillery. 80% of the buildings were destroyed. Women (and boys) were frequently raped on the spot. The boys were lucky - they were invariably bayoneted after-wards - but the women were passed to next comrade. Of course we can argue that this was justified because of the Holocaust and the German barbarism in Russia and Poland. But women and children?

    The film does not even suggest this was happening. It represents the war as a sort of part time activity in which a few unlucky people got killed. The buildings are all intact. The people all look well fed. The faces look completely undramatized. It doesn't bring home the reality of truth.

    1945 was truly horrific for everyone between Berlin and Konigsberg (Kaliningrad)It is an indelible scar on the memory of everyone old enough to remember it. This film does not convey that horror.
    9ffascie

    A great movie if the viewer could forget the propaganda.

    I was tempted to give a 10/10 review. However, the propaganda ruins a great movie. Despite everything, it is a remarkable anti-war film. Especially considering that it is a DDR movie that passes the censorship. Some interesting characters are depicted and it holds the attention for 2 hours. It is not common to find available copies of DEFA films, therefore that already makes it a piece of interest.

    In general, German war movies from the 50s and 60s are very well set. Much more than in American cinema, despite having more modest resources.

    In short, a highly recommended film. Especially for fans of war movies and for those looking for works far from commercial cinema.
    davidscottheck

    Wes Anderson Style

    This movie is superb!

    If you enjoy Wes Anderson, then watch this film! It's very similar in characters, cinematography, costuming and actor blocking.

    What a powerful message to the German people at the same time. This piece of art calls out their hatred and is quite blunt about it.

    No spoilers, but I love that the lead Russian soldier is German. It adds a sense of rebellion to his actions.

    It's refreshing and fun to watch. Again, I highly recommend this to Wes Anderson fans. The cinematography is fantastic! Great long shots, close ups and framed scenes.

    A film definitely worth finding and owning. :)
    5artisticengineer

    This film is VERY deceiving.

    I actually wanted to give this film a "7" or "8"; yet there are some terrible problems with the entire premise of it. The story comes from the memoirs of a former Soviet soldier whom the protagonist is based upon. Filmed in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) it portrays a person with his background (born German though raised in Russia) as being somewhat unusual (which it was and still is) but nonetheless a "good" or "noble" person.

    In the 1930s the communist party was at it's zenith in popularity in the United States. In that day and age it was not uncommon to meet a communist, in the United States, who did not have an accent (Jack Reed of "Reds" fame was not the only such person in the United States). This is understandable due to the horrific Great Depression. However, Communists or Socialist Workers were still a minority party in our country. A few of them "progressed" from being members of a minority party to being total lunatics and actually migrated to the Soviet Union to live and work. During the Stalin purges of the late 1930s many of them were seen running to the U.S. embassy, being chased by KGB agents, and waving their (by then) useless passports trying to find asylum with their embassy of their former country. Usually they were gunned down before they reached the embassy. A movie dealing with similar emigrants to Russia after WWII is "East/West".

    Anyway, the protagonist of this film is the son of similar wackos who lived in Germany prior to emigrating to the USSR. Most Germans at that time who fled the Third Reich (such as Albert Einstein) went to the west; NOT to Russia. One really has to question the motivation of the author's parents and the burden they saddled him with (having to live in a totalitarian regime for a long time afterwards). Anyway, this kid essentially became a "freak" by being a Soviet citizen born in Germany. His parents were obvious wackos and/or weirdos.

    Still, I will have to admit that as bad as the Soviets were they palled in comparison with the Third Reich. That, unfortunately, is the truth. And, it shows just how terrible that regime was. Interesting film; showing the conflict of a pretty bad system (USSR) with an utterly terrible one (war time Germany). The film shows, as other reviewers have noted, the hope for a reconciliation between post war Germany and Russia. Fair enough, except the reconciliation was to include a socialist German (ALL of Germany; not just East Germany). Fortunately, like the battle of Spandau Fortress in the film, that never happened.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The film reaches a grim climax by featuring a short clip from the DEFA-documentary "Todeslager Sachsenhausen" ("Deathcamp Sachsenhausen") (1946), detailing the technical proceedings in a death-chamber.
    • Connections
      Featured in Die Zeit die Bleibt (1985)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1, 1968 (East Germany)
    • Country of origin
      • East Germany
    • Languages
      • German
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Ich war neunzehn
    • Filming locations
      • Pinnow, Hohen Neuendorf, Brandenburg, Germany
    • Production companies
      • DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
      • Künstlerische Arbeitsgruppe ''Babelsberg''
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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