In this shockingly honest documentary, Harriet Eder and Thomas Kufus explore the memories of six German soldiers who filmed the front lines during World War II. Contrasting the soldiers' 8 and 16mm footage with present-day interviews, Mein Krieg reveals the pitiful heart of war, on which denial, fear, and hatred feed. In one clip, a plane attacks a German camp and is soon shot down. While the German soldiers examine the wreckage and the unrecognizable pilot, the former soldier/cameraman--almost 50 years later--declares his happiness in killing the man, since he considered the attack "annoying." Much of the film footage here is grisly and terrifying--cities are engulfed in flames; 90,000 wounded refugees sit starving, thirsty, and hopeless in a bleak desert; and women bury their mutilated loved ones in mass graves. Yet despite--or perhaps because of--the unrelenting horror of these images, Mein Krieg serves as a powerful record of young minds twisted by war and the resulting attitudes that persevere a half century later. Recommended. (L. Russo)
Mein Krieg
(Kino, 800-562-3330, 90 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated) Vol. 12, Issue 3
Mein Krieg
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