Before the Fall
Parts of the story are based on incident's in the life of Dennis Gansel's grandfather.,At least one of the Napola boxers and one of the training officers have pierced ears. Very unlikely, this being set in Nazi Germany.,Albrecht Stein: [reading from his essay] "As childish as it sounds, the winter time and the sight of freshly fallen snow always fill us with inexplicable joy. Perhaps because as children, we associated it with Christmas. I always imagine myself the hero who killed dragons, rescued virgins, and freed the world from evil. As we went out yesterday to find the prisoners, I felt like that little boy who wanted to save the world.",Featured in Videotagebuch von Dennis Gansel (2005),Uns're Fahne flattert uns voran
(Vorwärts! Vorwärts! schmettern die hellen Fanfaren)
Music by Hans-Otto Borgmann (as Hans Otto Borgmann)
Lyrics by Baldur von Schirach
Performed by chorus featuring Max Riemelt,The subject matter is not unfamiliar - a decent German (in this case a talented young boxer) fights to retain his humanity in the face of Nazi pressure to lose it as a bad habit. At heavy cost to himself he refuses. And thinking back to the beginning of the movie we should not be surprised: to accept the invitation to attend an elite academy he must defy his father. To maintain his self-respect later on he must defy the surrogate fathers he has acquired at the academy.

This a superbly produced, directed film. The young actors' performances are believable and affecting. And for people who care about such things, Max Riemelt as Friedrich, the young, virile, gorgeous protagonist is a very easy guy to look at. Jim Smith,