The Bridge
Bernhard Wicki’s astonishing The Bridge was the first major antiwar film to come out of Germany after World War II, as well as the nation’s first postwar film to be widely shown internationally, even securing an Oscar nomination. Set near the end of the conflict, it follows a group of teenage boys in a small town as they contend with everyday matters like school, girls, and parents, before enlisting as soldiers and being forced to defend their home turf in a confused, terrifying battle. This expressively shot, emotionally bruising drama dared to humanize young German soldiers at a historically tender moment, and proved influential for the coming generation of New German Cinema auteurs.
Special Features
- New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with writer Gregor Dorfmeister, on whose autobiographical novel the film is based
- New interview with filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff about the film’s impact on German cinema
- Interview from 1989 with director Bernhard Wicki
- Excerpt from a 2007 documentary by Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss, Wicki’s widow, featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
New cover by Michael Boland
Special Features
- New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with writer Gregor Dorfmeister, on whose autobiographical novel the film is based
- New interview with filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff about the film’s impact on German cinema
- Interview from 1989 with director Bernhard Wicki
- Excerpt from a 2007 documentary by Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss, Wicki’s widow, featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
New cover by Michael Boland
Cast
- Karl Michael Balzer
- Karl
- Folker Bohnet
- Hans
- Michael Hinz
- Walter
- Günther Hoffmann
- Sigi
- Frank Glaubrecht
- Jurgen
- Volker Lechtenbrink
- Klaus
- Fritz Wepper
- Albert
- Cordula Trantow
- Franziska
- Wolfgang Stumpf
- Stern
- Günter Pfitzmann
- Heilman
- Heinz Spitzner
- Fröhlich
- Siegfried Schürenberg
- Lieutenant colonel
Credits
- Director
- Bernhard Wicki
- From a novel by
- Gregor Dorfmeister
- Cinematography
- Gerd von Bonin
- Editor
- Carl Otto Bartning
- Production design
- Heinrich Graf Brühl
- Production design
- Peter Scharff
- Costume design
- Josef Wanke
- Music
- Hans-Martin Majewski
- Produced by
- Hermann Schwerin
- Produced by
- Jochen Severin
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