THE BRIDGE (1959)

The Bridge: Anti-war or routine Characterization?



The film is often hailed as a landmark anti-war film, though its message is more nuanced and complex and its position on war more ambiguous than this routine characterization would suggest' (Catherine Cox).

Introduction

The Bridge film was released in October, 1959 (Senses of Cinema, 2007). It is a West Germany production which was directed by the Bernhard Wicki and produced by the Hermann Schwerin and Jochen Schwerin. The story of the film mainly reflects the famous Novel of West Germany Die Brucke (The Bridge). Unlike the film, the main theme of the novel is anti-war. The author of the novel worked in the German army, and he presented the real facts which he faced during the World War two (WW-II). He was along with six friends who died in the battle field. The film revolves around these seven German teenagers. They joined the Nazi army because at that time, the Germany was facing the music (Rotten Tomatoes, 2008). Being untrained and teenagers, the sympathetic army officer ordered them to position at the bridge (Movie Mail, 2007). The real problem started when it was announced that American tanks are truly near to the bridge. The duty of the teenagers was to stop the tanks to pass the bridge. The seven youths left no stone unturned to stop them. This classical movie got the name and fame because of its anti-war message, but at the same time, there is the message of patriotism, bravery, obedience, friendship and the anti-humanity policies of German forces.

The Film Scenes

There are three famous German anti-war movies namely Die Brucke, Das Boot and the Stalingrad. The Die Brucke (The Bridge) has a unique place because of the role of the teenagers. These all three films are related to the WW-II. After the defeat of Germany in the WW-II, the literature and culture of German showed a negative attitude toward the war. Most of the post war German literature focused on the injured status, the services rendered by the German people and the pre war high status of the Germany. The next generations which come in late 1960s and 1970s have developed a negative attitude towards the forefathers. In addition to that, all the European and the American people had also disliked the activities of the Germany. In the Germany, there was not only the negation of the Nazism, but there was hatred in the hearts of German people. They believed that from the WW-I to the WW-II, it was the Germany and its propaganda which caused this large destruction. In the 1980s and onwards, in the German literature the argument had developed in order to increase the self respect of the German people. Many books and research was conducted to prove that it were the evil designs of the Adolf Hitler which caused this large destruction. The ideology of the Nazism was based on the death bodies of the German people in general and humanity as a whole (IMBD, ...