March of millions (2007)

In 1944 many Germans in Eastern Prussia believed like Lena von Mahlenberg, daughter of a local aristocrat, that Hitler would surrender and spare them from being invaded by the vengeful Russian Red Army. He didn't and they had to flee.

Director:

Kai Wessel

Writer:

Gabriela Sperl

Stars:

Maria Furtwängler, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Tonio Arango

8 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Furtwängler	...	Lena Gräfin von Mahlenberg
Jean-Yves Berteloot	...	Francois Beauvais
Tonio Arango	...	Heinrich Graf von Gernstorff
Gabriela Maria Schmeide	...	Babette
Jürgen Hentsch	...	Berthold Graf von Mahlenberg
Hanns Zischler	...	Rüdiger Graf von Gernstorff
Angela Winkler	...	Sophie Gräfin von Gernstorff
Max von Thun	...	Ferdinand, Graf von Gernstorff
Josef Mattes	...	Fritz
Stella Kunkat	...	Victoria 'Vicky'
Michael Ginsburg	...	Mikolai
Barbara Morawiecz	...	Oma Herta
Marie-Luise Schramm	...	Waltraud
Frédéric Vonhof	...	Louis
Beate Abraham	...	Frau Meister

Storyline

[PART 1] With the Nazi troops forced to retreat on the East front in the summer of1944, terminally ill East Prussian count Berthold von Mahlenberg welcomes on his ancestral castle estate for the first time his granddaughter Victoria 'Vicky', for her sake only curbing his resentment against heiress Lena, who left eight years ago, preferring her bastard over arranged fiance count Heinrich von Gernstorff, whose idealistic brother Ferdinand, now a disillusioned, cynical field officer, her true best friend, is trough with his meddling father Rüdiger and the Third Reich. For lack of a healthy male, Lena starts running the war shortages-affected Mahlenberg estate, dependent on precarious POW and conscripted laborers, using connections maximally, even ultimately agrees to wed Heinrich, but Ferdinand shoots himself at the reception. As the Soviet advance becomes undeniably obvious, Lena and the workers French leader François Beauvais take the farm 'family' in January 1945 on the run to the ...

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Plot Keywords:

german history | nazi germany | world war two | third reich | evacuation | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The drama's first part drew an audience of 11.18 million viewers in Germany, making it the network's most successful movie for the last 10 years.

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Connections

Referenced in Neues aus der Anstalt: Episode #2.1 (2008)

User Reviews

Worth Viewing, But Missed the Mark

This film deals with the plight of Germany's former eastern population at the end of World War II. Most Americans are unaware of the brutal and criminal expulsion of some 14 million Germans from their homes in what is now Poland. Millions of innocent men, women and children were murdered by the advancing Red Army. The Germans tried to flee, but their treks were rolled over by Soviet tanks and they were mowed down by a hail of machine gun fire. We will not discuss how the Russians treated German women. Those Germans who did not flee were forced to either become Polish or leave their homeland. Most of them decided to leave since they were already being treated like second-class citizens (examples: German language forbidden, economic sanctions, etc).

Many people have been waiting for a film like this to break the silence. For years no one dared mention the expulsion of the Germans. German war crimes got plenty of air time, but the evil that was brought down on innocent German civilians never seemed to be of much importance.

The film is about a woman who, at the start, is living in West Germany. She has a daughter, and after hearing that her father is sick, she moves back to East Prussia to help him. As the story moves forward, the Russians are getting closer and closer to Eastern Germany. The family decides to build a wagon and flee, which is against the law. The Nazis did not want the people to show any signs of defeatism, so they forbade the population any type of retreat.

The film could have shown more Soviet atrocities to show what hell it really was for these poor people. The film shows some of the horror, but a couple of times it focuses back on German crimes, which we hear about every time we turn on the History Channel.

That should suffice for a general idea of what the film is about. No spoilers are needed here. Spoilers really do ruin a film.

Watch the movie and learn something about German history.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

2 March 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

March of Millions

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARD Degeto Film, ARTE, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (2.0)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1