Murderers Among Us: Wolfgang Staudte

I almost hesitate to review Murderers Among Us, as it is impossible to view it critically outside of its historical context.  Wolfgang Staudt's film was one of the very first German films to be made after the end of World War Two.  Made under the watchful eye of Soviet censors, it deals with a soldier and a concentration camp survivor trying to survive in the ruins of Berlin.  The soldier obviously suffers from PTSD and drowns his psychosis in alcohol.  Then he discovers that his old army captain, a man who once ordered the execution of 36 men, 54 women, and 31 children in a Polish village on Christmas, has returned from the war and is a successful industrialist.  Unable to decide what to do, he tries to kill him.  Fortunately the young woman stops him at the last second and they decide to turn him over to the police.  As I said, it is impossible to consider this film outside of its historical context.  It was one of the first German films to address their nation's terrible past and the crimes committed in the name of the Third Reich.  But there are a few glaring idiosyncrasies that make this film more fit for historical, not critical, analysis.  For instance, the young woman supposedly survived three years in a concentration camp.  Yet she returns to Berlin beautiful, well-fed, and optimistic.  The Germans obviously knew about the concentration camps as there is a scene where a newspaper reports that 2 million had been gassed at Auschwitz.  Yet they depict her as if the concentration camp was a safer place to be than wartime Berlin.  Also, the obvious pandering to Soviet censors through the condemnation of industrialism and organized religion are noticeable.  Still, the film remains well shot and emotional, even if it feels occasionally out-of-place and contrived.

7/10