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emerge, Friedrich runs over and finds him halfway between the holes. Realizing that
Albrecht deliberately stopped under the ice with the intention to commit suicide, Friedrich screams for his friend. Hearing Friedrich's shouts, Albrecht looks up and gives him a shake of his head. Albrecht lets go of the rope and sinks, vanishing from sight. Deeply grieved, Friedrich writes an obituary for Albrecht and asks the headmaster to publish it in the school newspaper. The headmaster refuses and states, "Amidst people who have died for Fuhrer, Fatherland and Nation, there is no place for suicides".
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474:. He is informed that his future at Allenstein is tied to the outcome of this match. Scouts from German universities are in the audience as well as Gauleiter Stein, who dismisses his son's suicide as an act of weakness. Despite overpowering his opponent, Friedrich decides not to deliver the final strike, having now become disillusioned with the school and its ideology. The other boy recovers and punches Friedrich, who stands impassively until he is knocked out, leaving the Allenstein school bewildered and humiliated.
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429:. Each boy in Friedrich's year makes the throw successfully until one boy, Martin, panics and drops it. The sports instructor screams at him, flees the trench and leaves his students to their fate. Siggi then dives onto the grenade before it explodes, sacrificing himself to save his classmates. Siggi is given a grand funeral at the school and is hailed as a martyr of the Fatherland.
440:. He openly criticizes Albrecht for his sensitivity, artistic endeavors and lack of athleticism. A boxer himself, Stein shows far more interest in Friedrich than in his own son. He delights in Albrecht's inability to compete with Friedrich when the two are forced to fight a boxing match. The events of the weekend temporarily strain the boys' friendship.
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The next day, the headmaster expels
Friedrich, stripping the boy of his uniform and forcing him to walk naked back to his room. The boy is forbidden to speak to any of his roommates as he hastily dresses in his summer clothes and packs his belongings. He is promptly escorted out of the school gates.
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In class the next day, Albrecht reads aloud an essay in which he condemns the execution of the prisoners-of-war; he describes it as a criminal act and that his own participation in it is "evil". Outraged, the school authorities summon his father, who tries to force
Albrecht to apologize and retract
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in the film. Gansel's goal was for the film to feel very authentic and was advised by a former student of a Napola. Gansel drew inspiration from his right-wing grandfather who was a teacher in a Napola. Gansel's grandfather explained that it was the feeling of endless opportunities that came along
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and enemies of the state are presented as treacherous and inferior. The boxing trainer who helped to admit
Friedrich teaches him to be ruthless in fights, dismissing compassion for opponents as "bullshit". Later, Friedrich receives a letter from his mother, informing him that his father was paid a
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The next morning, the sports instructor takes the class out onto a frozen lake. Two holes have been made in the ice, and each boy must dive in one and swim to the other, using a rope as a guide. Friedrich makes the swim through the freezing water and
Albrecht dives in next. When Albrecht does not
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Until 1945, there were in the German Reich around 40 National
Political Educational Institutes with more than 15,000 students. When the war was finally acknowledged as being lost, they were sent out into the "Final Struggle". Blinded by instructed fanaticism and insufficiently armed, they still
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rifles and sent into the woods to search for them. Friedrich and
Albrecht, assigned to the same group, spot a group of figures coming out of hiding and fleeing. The boys open fire and shoot each of the Soviets. Upon closer inspection, they are shocked to find that the prisoners are children. A
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When
Friedrich has his first boxing match against another NaPolA school, he overpowers the other boy and knocks him down into a corner. Urged on by the shouts of his trainer, officials and other students, he delivers a brutal knockout and wins the match. Friedrich is congratulated by staff and
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The two boys help each other in class and through the school's harsh culture, which includes rigid discipline and older students bullying younger students, with teachers turning a blind eye or encouraging this behavior. In particular, Siggi is mocked and humiliated for his
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horrified
Albrecht tries to bandage the wounds of a surviving prisoner, but his father arrives with a search party and shoots him. As the boys are taken back to Allenstein, they see the rest of the prisoners-of-war being rounded up and executed.
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elite. His father, an anti-Nazi factory worker, refuses to allow
Friedrich to enroll. Friedrich, who sees the school as his ticket to a better life, forges his father's signature on the permission slip and leaves. He makes his way to the town of
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with wearing the teachers military uniform and his own failed dream of becoming an architect that had attracted him to the movement. The character of Friedrich ended up being partly based on Gansel's grandfather. Dennis Gansel named
463:. Friedrich hears the news and rushes to meet Albrecht. Devastated at the prospect of them being separated and Albrecht being sent to his death, the two friends begin to fight before holding each other in an emotional embrace.
387:, where the institute is located. He is introduced to his roommates Christoph, Hefe, Tjaden and Siggi. That evening, they gain another new roommate, Albrecht Stein, with whom Friedrich becomes fast friends.
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his previous statements. The boy instead condemns his father for ordering the executions. As a result of this, Albrecht is expelled and Gauleiter Stein drafts him to fight on the
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In winter, a group of military vehicles arrive at the school. Friedrich's class is called outside, where Gauleiter Stein informs them that a group of
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Albrecht invites Friedrich to visit the Stein family's mansion for the weekend. Gauleiter Heinrich Stein returns home with his friends from the
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The school teaches the Nazi Party doctrine, with sections of Hitler's speeches and works being analyzed in classes. "
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Friedrich looks back at Allenstein one more time before walking out into the falling snow.
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In 1942, the boxing skills of Friedrich Weimer earn him a place at a
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students alike, but Albrecht scolds him for his act of cruelty.
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offered bitter resistance in many battles. Half of them died.
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689:"NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: "G21 INTERVIEWS: Dennis Gansel""
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Michael Schenk as Josef Peiner 'Peiniger' / Sportlehrer
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as Dr. Karl Klein 'Karl der Große' / Anstaltsleiter
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615:The film gained an approval rating of 68% on
402:" is advocated as a natural way of life, and
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
648:Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
653:Best film, Viareggio EuropaCinema, 2004
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509:Jonas Jägermeyr as Christoph Schneider
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533:Florian Stetter as Justus von Jaucher
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362:or "NaPolA" school developed by the
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58:"Before the Fall" 2004 film
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524:as Friedrich's father
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273:4 July 2004
177:Molly von Fürstenberg
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43:improve this article
927:German boxing films
599:Bernardo Bertolucci
552:Justus von Dohnanyi
500:as Friedrich Weimer
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824:Films directed by
539:as Heinrich Vogler
229:Angelo Badalamenti
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358:. It is set in a
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301:Running time
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41:Please help
36:verification
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838:Das Phantom
644:Max Riemelt
498:Max Riemelt
434:German Army
329:$ 3,764,219
305:114 minutes
192:Max Riemelt
171:Viola Jäger
165:Produced by
138:Directed by
917:2004 films
911:Categories
784:Metacritic
699:2013-07-21
658:References
594:Allenstein
581:Production
393:bedwetting
385:Allenstein
352:drama film
326:Box office
288:2005-01-13
277:2004-07-04
242:Production
148:Written by
69:newspapers
611:Reception
588:, in the
438:Waffen-SS
416:Gauleiter
214:Edited by
99:July 2014
16:2004 film
862:The Wave
751:AllMovie
318:Language
222:Music by
185:Starring
518:as Hefe
472:Potsdam
409:Gestapo
313:Germany
310:Country
286: (
275: (
244:company
83:scholar
897:(2019)
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639:, 2004
632:, 2005
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380:Nazi
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