Rotation (1949)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Staudte

Writers:

Erwin Klein (writer)
Fritz Staudte (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1950 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

The mechanic Behnke wants to join the Nazi party to secure a good living. However, after his Jewish neighbors have been taken away...

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Nazi Indoctrination | Social Discontent | Fall Of Berlin | German Underground

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Paul Esser	...	Hans Behnke
Irene Korb	...	Charlotte Blank Behnke
Karl Heinz Deickert	...	Hellmuth Behnke
Reinhold Bernt	...	Kurt Blank
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Rudi Wille
Werner Peters	...	Udo Schulze
Brigitte Krause	...	Inge
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Siegfried Andrich	...	SS-Mann
Helmut Bautzmann	...	Arbeiter
Rudi Beil	...	MG-Schütze
Walter Diehl	...	Arbeiter
Hans Emons	...	Arbeiter
Gerd Ewert	...	Adjutant
Kitty Franke	...	Flüchtlingsfrau
Helmut Hain	...	Luftschutzhelfer
Klemens Herzberg	...	Herr Salomon
Albert Johannes	...	Personalchef 'VB'
Hugo Kalthoff	...	SS-Offizier
Carlo Kluge	...	Ordonnanz
Johannes Knittel	...	Arbeiter
Georg August Koch	...	SD-Mann
Hans-Erich Korbschmitt	...	Ein Besucher
Wolfgang Kühne	...	Ein Schauspieler
Maria Loja	...	Die Wirtin
Alfred Maack	...	Hauswirt
Herbert Malsbender	...	SS-Mann
Peter Marx	...	Arbeiter
Eduard Matzig	...	Arbeiter
Gerd Robat	...	Arbeiter
Margit Rocky	...	Vorarbeiterin
Hans Schille	...	Arbeiter
Valeska Stock	...	Hebamme
Walter Tarrach	...	S D-Chef
Friedrich Teitge	...	Arbeiter
Ellen Thenn-Weinig	...	Frau Salomon
Albert Venohr	...	Arbeiter
Theodor Vogeler	...	S D-Mann

Also Known As:

Rotation (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:80 min

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Tragic tale of ordinary German people set during Hitler's times.

Wolfgang Staudte fervently condemned the disinterested bourgeois who is not at all committed and hesitantly validates his standpoint. Rotation shows the dangers such an unbiased civilian is to compelled to confront.The film concentrates much on the past as key events are shown in a flashback.It showed how high unemployment in Germany resulted in Hitler's rise to power.Staudte has astutely shown a distressed Germany in which young Germans were trained by Nazis and everyone was taught to obey Hitler.Behnke recalls effectively all the difficult times he had to endure.He is happy to have a kid but can hardly imagine that his own child would betray him.Behnke was yearning for a serene Germany where his family would flourish.His generosity of spirit is revealed as he accepts his son without any feeling of hatred.After the war,Behnke family witnesses a sign of reconciliation as the father pardons his guilt-ridden son.