"Before the Fall" would be just another boys boarding-school movie — better than "Dead Poets Society," not as good as "If ..." or "Zero de Conduite" — except that it's set in Germany in 1942. A fascinating look at a little-known aspect of the Nazi regime, the movie is set at a napola — that is, one of several exclusive schools where the country's best and brightest were trained to become future leaders of the Third Reich. Read the full review
In 1942 Berlin, a teen from a working class family dreams of doing something with his life. Friedrich's big chance comes when he's discovered at a boxing match by a young man who teaches at an elite Nazi National Political School. But Friedrich starts to see that there is no room here for anyone unwilling to follow the party line.
Directors: Werner Herzog, Dennis Gansel
Starring: Devid Striesow, Joachim Bissmeier, Justus von Dohnanyi, Michael Schenk, Michael Kroecher
Run time: 111 minutes
Release date: Oct. 7 15, 2005
Rating: Not rated
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"Writer-director Dennis Gansel has shot Before the Fall in desaturated colors, punctuated here and there by the bright red of a Nazi armband or the blood of slaughtered children. It gives the film an out-of-the-past feel, as if we were watching newly discovered archival footage."
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