This stirring plea for peace and internationalism was the highpoint of German socialist filmmaking of its period. KAMERADSCHAFT, a German-French co-production set in the Lorraine mining region on the French-German border in the aftermath of WWI, was inspired by an actual 1906 mining
disaster that claimed 1,200 lives.
Combining elements of classic German expressionism and and Soviet Socialist realism, German director G.W. Pabst (STREET OF SORROW, PANDORA'S BOX, THE THREEPENNY OPERA) introduces the viewer to the German and French miners. Separated by mine walls and metal bars below and by armed border patrols
above, they have little contact with one another. But when a series of explosions causes a cave-in on the French side, the hearts of the Germans go out to them. Wittkopp (Ernst Busch) appeals to his bosses to send a rescue team while, underground, a trio of German miners breaks through a set of
steel bars that marks the 1919 border. Meanwhile, on the French side, an elderly retired miner (Alex Bernard) sneaks into the shaft, hoping to rescue his young grandson, Georges (Pierre Louis).
Although occasionally overly sentimental, Pabst's plea for a peaceful future is sincere and compelling. His direction of the heartbreak and devastation is enhanced by the brilliant photography of Fritz Arno Wagner and Robert Baberske and the alarmingly authentic set design is provided by by Erno
Metzner and Karl Vollbrecht. leave a comment