Before the Fall

(2004)

★ 7.1 IMDb · 378 votes

Genres: Drama

Year: 2004

Runtime: 117 мин

Country: Germany

Director: Деннис Ганзель

Cast: Макс Римельт, Tom Schilling, Devid Striesow, Joachim Bißmeier, Justus von Dohnányi, Michael Schenk, Florian Stetter, Alexander Held, Sissy Höfferer, Jonas Jägermeyr

Plot

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.

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, seeing this as his ticket out of factory life to university and a good salary. During his year in seventh column (fifth form), this innocence is altered as 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; a night in the forest hunting for escaped Russian POWs brings things to a head.