Freedom to Die

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Audience Member *REVIEW FOR THE BRIDGE* Rotten Tomatoes got mixed up and combined The Bridge reviews with some film called Freedom To Die and haven't bothered to change it. Anyway, The Bridge is a well acted, shockingly emotional film regarding the horrors and consequences of warping a young person's mind to engage in illogical fallacies. The families of the young boy's homes are shown in this German village where some are getting by better than others. However, the war is coming to an end and the German army are conscripting soldiers as young as sixteen. The acting from the kids is very good from having a laugh with their friends to showing real terror in a war zone. How the kids get into their situation on the bridge is very believable and never feels forced. The adults are also very good in the film from the parents showing real worry about their kids going to war to kids' teacher asking for them to be sent where little fighting is occurring. The camerawork and directing throughout the film is magnificent even during the battle scenes. The only problem I had during the action scenes surrounded how some kids were killed in battle. The camera cuts at times sometimes became disorienting as to who was shot and how to happened. The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film but undeservingly lost to Black Orpheus; which was good but not as good as this film. Overall, Wicki's film concerning the real-life true story about the avoidable loss of young lives was very impactful and seriously tragic. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member This was not really a fit for my antifascist film series, but maybe it was the antiwar film I needed to think about what happened in other recent debacles. This German town under Nazism is depicted as being enthralled to a form of nationalism feels about what you would expect for any nation during wartime. The local party chief is particularly cowardly, but this is not really a movie about Nazism at all. Instead, it is a movie about young boys' lives being thrown away for nothing, as a military project and a particular nationalist project collapses. If my country was collapsing militarily under invasion, I can't imagine that people would be any less deluded. There are films that are much better about the specificities of wartime life under Nazism in Germany, and at some level the film's decision to treat it as just nationalism is discomforting. But taken on its own terms it really works and is devastating. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review s r Powerful anti-war movie showing the end of the war from the German perspective and how youth were brought in to fight. I'm surprised this hasn't been better received and recognized. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the most brutal anti-war films I've ever seen, and the only one to make me weep. Deftly directed by Wicki. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member It's a difficult watch because the first part of the film lulls you into really caring about these kids, making the brutal finale heart wrenchingly painful as they fall one by one. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member This film is an outstanding example of the perceived glories of war suddenly slapped with the reality of horror. This should be shown in classrooms throughout the world. Truly an education for every generation. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Freedom to Die

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