Napola

NaPolA is the acronym for "National-politische Erziehungs-Anstalt" or "National Political Education Institute". credits: imdb

review by Grady Harp:

The Path from Glory to Self Martyrdom

BEFORE THE FALL ('NAPOLA') is a brilliantly made film that addresses the blind hopes of youth in becoming a success as a man, a factor that allowed and allows dictators to entice young men into the realm of warriors under the guise of applauded bravery and the golden promise of achieving glory for a great cause. This story just happens to be about Hitler and his 40 Napola (training camps for the elite German youths in 1942) and the young boys and men who trained in these National Political societies. It could be found in many places and in many times...

Friedrich Weimer (handsome and talented young Max Riemelt) comes from the lower class in Germany (his father is aiming him toward factory work) and is a fine young boxer. His talents are noted by some representatives from the Nazi party and he is asked to report for enrollment in a Napola, an important means of education and training that Friedrich sees as being his way to become something special, someone important. His father is anti-Nazi and refuses to let Friedrich go, but Friedrich is determined and runs into the night to join the Napola. Once there he is admitted, groomed as a boxer for the Napola, and introduced to the Hitler's youth movement. His fellow classmates vary from the very wealthy to other fine Arian lads. They are trained, observed, and brainwashed as to the glory of the Thousand Year Reich. Problems begin to arise when Friedrich gets to know his fellow classmates: Siegfried (Martin Goeres) is a bedwetter and is humiliated publicly for his problem; Albrecht (Tom Schilling) is a poet and writer whose father is one of the governors of the Napola and Albrecht is anti-war; other lads seem on the surface to be obedient yet most have hidden reservations about what they are doing.



Being 1942 some changes are occurring in the Nazi dream and the Senior class is sent out on a mission to fight the enemy. And one night Friedrich's class is called out of bed and sent into the woods to find Russian soldiers who are 'threatening' their security. The boys open fire on the Russians only to find that they have killed a number of unarmed Russian boys. This profoundly disturbs them all, but Albrecht in particular. Friedrich continues to observe the manner in which he and the other boys are used and slowly his best friends find ways to martyr themselves and ultimately Friedrich does the same in his only way - by changing the way he approaches the Napola expectations of his boxing.

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i haven't seen too many of tom schilling's movies, but that one and head over heart left me all astonished and impressed!

i recall many moments when i stood in front of the dvd and wasn't sure to get it or not. and i never bought it. so when it was finally running on free tv last night, i was extremly happy.

i've always been interested in such topics.

i read a lot of positive critics and the movie never failed in any scenes to impress me.

this is a sort of movie you can't simply forget. my mind is still not able to let go. i'm still very thoughtful. maybe even more because my grandpa had been one of the 150.000 students who attended such an elite school during the Third Reich.
it had always been hard on my grandpas' to tell me about the war and their experiences with it. so one of my grandpa's always told me about his school time in a napola, about the exercises...

there were several scenes, were humanity overwhelmed me. either by the self-sacrifice of the bedwetter to save his classmates or when albrecht told about his life with his dad. i surpressed my tears not only ones...
the scene when the young man were trying to catch those "armed russian soldiers" who in the end were unarmed boys their age. the remorse the boys felt, especially albrecgt who tried to save one of them, holding his hand, talking to him...
and then his father came over and simply shot that boy dead...
or when albrecht read a critical essay to the class, telling the truth: i wanted to to protect human mankind from all evil, but i've come to grips with that i'm one of the evil men...
... when friedrich punched albrecht for his stupidity (reading that essay) and asked what good effect it had been to him and he responded: it was good for myself... when they cried together, arm in arm...
and then later on when he committed suicide... this was most tragic to me.