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Pramen zivota

  • 2000
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
346
YOUR RATING
Pramen zivota (2000)
DramaHistoryRomance

The film, 'The Spring Of Life', brings to light a little-known operation of the Nazi SS, started just before the outbreak of World War II. Through the careful selection and re-education of y... Read allThe film, 'The Spring Of Life', brings to light a little-known operation of the Nazi SS, started just before the outbreak of World War II. Through the careful selection and re-education of young women, it was the Nazi's mad dream to create an Aryan 'master race'.The film, 'The Spring Of Life', brings to light a little-known operation of the Nazi SS, started just before the outbreak of World War II. Through the careful selection and re-education of young women, it was the Nazi's mad dream to create an Aryan 'master race'.

  • Director
    • Milan Cieslar
  • Writers
    • Milan Cieslar
    • Vladimír Körner
  • Stars
    • Monika Hilmerová
    • Michal Sieczkowski
    • Johana Tesarová
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    346
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Milan Cieslar
    • Writers
      • Milan Cieslar
      • Vladimír Körner
    • Stars
      • Monika Hilmerová
      • Michal Sieczkowski
      • Johana Tesarová
    • 4User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 3 nominations

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    Top cast

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    Monika Hilmerová
    Monika Hilmerová
    • Grétka
    Michal Sieczkowski
    • Leo
    Johana Tesarová
    Johana Tesarová
    • Klára
    • (as Johanna Tesarová)
    Vilma Cibulková
    Vilma Cibulková
    • Waage
    Karel Dobrý
    Karel Dobrý
    • Odillo
    Bronislav Poloczek
    Bronislav Poloczek
    • Kasuba
    Josef Somr
    Josef Somr
    • Teacher
    Bozidara Turzonovová
    Bozidara Turzonovová
    • Mother
    Alois Svehlík
    Alois Svehlík
    • Father
    Lubomír Kostelka
    Lubomír Kostelka
    • Gravedigger
    Vítezslav Jandák
    Vítezslav Jandák
    • Lottes
    Zdenka Sajfertová
    Zdenka Sajfertová
    • Hlavní sestra
    Elin Spidlová
    • Rosa
    Katerina Hajna
    • Janka
    Kristyna Lutanska
    • Inge
    Ortrun Heinkelein
    • Gudrun
    Václav Mares
    Václav Mares
    • Reichsführer (Himmler)
    Zdenek Maryska
    Zdenek Maryska
    • Dr. Conti
    • Director
      • Milan Cieslar
    • Writers
      • Milan Cieslar
      • Vladimír Körner
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    User reviews4

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Gripping (and sexy) Czech exposé of systematic German madness in occupied Czechoslovakia
    Viewed at the Berlin Film Festival, 2000.

    The film, 'The Spring Of Life', brings to light a little-known operation of the Nazi SS, started just before the outbreak of World War II. Carefully selecting young Czech and Norwegian women for their supposedly "blond Aryan" good looks, kidnapping them and brainwashing them with Nazi ideology at secret impregnation centers out in the country called "Lebensborn" homes, then having them mate arbitrarily with the best looking young Gernan soldiers on leave from the front, it was the Nazi's mad dream to create an Aryan 'master race'.

    Original Czech title, "Pramen života", German title "Das Lebensborn", directed by Czech helmer Milan Cieslar (39), this is the story of a Czech girl who, because of her 'Aryan' good looks is selected to breed Aryan children as cannon fodder for the Third Reich in a "Lebensborn" home. She comes under the protection of the lesbian head mistress of the home and is thus spared the indignity of becoming a reproductive mare for Hitler's minions. However, she falls in love with a Jewish boy hiding out on the estate grounds which was confiscated ex- Jewish property, and becomes pregnant by him which leads to tragic complications.

    Children born of these mechanical wartime matings still constitute a little known social problem in today's democratic Germany, and this film sheds new light upon one more troublesome skeleton in the collective German closet. Cieslar's excellent film is, however, much more a poignant drama than a finger-pointing exercise in accusation. Slovak actress Monika Hilmenova, 25, is striking as the tragic young heroine and veteran Czech actress Vilma Cybulkova is a most convincing, barely restrained, lesbian headmistress of the German sexploitation pit. NOTE: The "spring" of the title here does not refer to the season but rather to the source of ground water, symbolically a source of new life.
    helpful•1
    1
    • barev-85094
    • Aug 11, 2015

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 3, 2000 (Czech Republic)
    • Country of origin
      • Czech Republic
    • Official site
      • Czech TV
    • Language
      • Czech
    • Also known as
      • Spring of Life
    • Production companies
      • Ceská Televize
      • Happy Celluloid
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital

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