The Ninth Day Movie Review 2004

Examines Nazism from the side of its victims through the plight of Rev. Henri Kremer, a Roman Catholic priest from Luxembourg imprisoned at Dachau. The cruel logic behind totalitarian power is revealed in the plot to use Kremer in coercing his bishop to declare Nazism compatible with church doctrine, upon which they will 'grant' him a nine-day furlough. Failure will result in the execution of 18 Luxembourg priests in his Dachau block and will also bring harm to his family. All performances, in German with English subtitles, are stellar. Scholondorff lays out the theological and ethical debates of potent themes without over-dramatizing them.

Distribution

Kino International, 333 W. 39th St., Ste. 503, New York, NY 10018, Phone: (212)629-6880, Toll-free: 800-562-3330, Fax: (212)714-0871, Email: contact@kino.com, URL: http://www.kino.com

Running time 90 minutes.
Originally from German.

Cast and Crew

Genres

World War II, Nazis & Other Paramilitary Slugs, Historical Drama, True Stories, Period Piece: 1940s, The Holocaust, Nuns & Priests, Germany, Religion, Concentration/Internment Camps

Screenplay

Eberhard Goerner, Andreas Pflueger

Cast

Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Germain Wagner, Bibiana Beglau, Jean-Paul Raths, Ivan Jirik, Karel Hromadka, Miroslav Sichman, Adolf Filip, Vladimir Fiser, Petr Varga, Petr Janis, Zdenek Pechacek, Karel Dobry, Goetz Burger, Hilmar Thate

Cinematography

Tomas Erhart

Director

Volker Schlondorff

Music

Alfred Schnittke

Other

Gunnar Vogt, Peter R. Adam, Jarmila Konecna, Ari Hantke

Producer

Juergen Haase, Provobis Film