German film gets rare screening

Posted on: 07 October 2009 by Thom Ernst

FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN may be the better known of the two movies showing this weekend, but it's the second feature, the1959 German film THE BRIDGE, that stands out for me.

Like so many films that reach my attention, this one came via a recommendation. We get them all the time from viewers, publicist, our interviews and, of course, friends and family. This one came from TVO's Jeff Dunk.

Jeff is a bit of a film buff himself and is quite happy to let me know when he's come across something good. THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS which we aired with OPERATION CROSSBOW was one of Jeff's recommendations. So when he suggested THE BRIDGE, I knew it was in my best interest to check it out.

I was not disappointed. THE BRIDGE is a rare classic piece of post war Germany. It's the tale of a group of boys left to defend the one bridge leading into their sleepy village from an enemy attack. Sounds like pretty basic stuff, but this film holds a lot more punch and depth than just your run of the mill dirty dozen bravura.

The last time we aired THE BRIDGE it was as a third film which aired at about 2 AM in the morning. The time slot did not sway those who wanted to see the film from seeing it. We got more letters of appreciation than we have had in a long time.

It didn't take much effort to realize that putting this film in a regular time slot would open up this movie to even more viewers. And of course, FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN doesn't get seen all that much lately either.

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Comments

Great films

Howdy,

Yes, "The Bridge" is an excellent film. Nominated for an Oscar in 1959 (in Best Foreign Language Film category) and winner of many other awards. Apparently, a new DVD of the film (with English subtitles) is being released on October 19 this year in Britain (http://www.digitalclassicsdvd.co.uk/product/282). Excellent anti-war film.

Remember sending Thom an email asking for it so guess Jeff Dunk and I were of like mind. Before seeing it again on "SNAM" I had seen it once before when I was a teen watching TV late at night - think it was on CKCO or CKNX??? Was back in late 70s/early 80s. Anyway, glad to see "The Bridge" again on "SNAM."

"The Falcon and the Snowman" is an excellent film as well and haven't seen it for a long time.

Keep up the good work...

Ciao,

Rainbow Randolph

posted by Zardoz on 07 October 2009 at 6:08 PM

Underrated actor

Timithy Hutton has given many consisitent performances over the years and unfortunately hea hasn't received the recognition that he deserves. This film surely is one of his finest.

posted by TVOfanFergus on 10 October 2009 at 7:55 PM

Ach du Lieber....

... THE BRIDGE certainly is a great movie. Even as SNAM's resident German I had never even heard of it till I came on board. Definitely one of the best anti-war movies made in any language, and certainly belongs up there with classics like PATHS OF GLORY, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, NO MAN'S LAND, and more that I am toatlly forgetting.

posted by Alex Huls on 05 November 2009 at 4:54 PM