Rotten
Nearly every point made in Before the Fall, be it about militarism or the secret sexual codes of fascism, is made too obviously, or has been made before, in films from Cabaret to Europa, Europa.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
Before the Fall
Men make history. We make the men.
2004 · 1h 57m · N/A
Drama
Directed by
Dennis Gansel
Overview
In 1942, Friedrich Weimer's boxing skills get him an appointment to a National Political Academy (NaPolA) – high schools that produce Nazi elite. Over his father's objections, Friedrich enrolls. During his year in seventh column, Friedrich encounters hazing, cruelty, death, and the Nazi code. His friendship with Albrecht, the ascetic son of the area's governor, is central to this education.
Director and cast
- Dennis Gansel Director
- Max Riemelt as Friedrich Weimer
- Tom Schilling as Albrecht Stein
- Jonas Jägermeyr as Christoph Schneider
- Leon A. Kersten as Tjaden
- Devid Striesow as Heinrich Vogler
- Joachim Bißmeier as Dr. Karl Klein
- Justus von Dohnányi as Gauleiter Heinrich Stein
- Alexander Held as Friedrichs Vater
- Sissy Höfferer as Friedrichs Mutter
- Michael Schenk as Josef Peiner
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
67%
Tomatometer
Fresh
It asks us to sympathize with teenage boys being groomed for National Socialist glory, and for that reason alone, it absorbs.
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
Fresh
... hooks you by focusing on Friedrich's very human story.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten
One senses that Gansel took the most egregious stories from his research and stuffed them all into the shapeless script.
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
Rotten
The film is a competent but callow work dealing with a monstrous subject that automatically rejects callowness.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
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