The Tragedy of the mine

the Tragedy of the mine is a German film of Georg Wilhelm Pabst.

Synopsis

In 1919, when a firedamp explosion bursts in a French mine of a frontier city with Germany, of the German minors go to the help of the French casualties.

Realizer Georg Wilhelm Pabst

with Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers and Gustav Püttjer

1:28 duration

A border

The set of themes of the border plays a central role. On several occasions German passes this border to visit a French cabaret, to go to find work in the French mines. But they return bredouilles their attempts. With the cabaret one refuses to them to dance, with the door of the mines one refuses to them to work. But this border will be crossed, and even abolished by the workers the time of the rescue. In the depths of the French mine a gallery blocked by a grid joined a German mine. Certain German minors improvise rescuers then and pass by there going to save their French comrades. On the surface two convoys of German rescuers pass the borders under fires of the French customs officers who had the order to let them pass a little late.

Proletarians of all the countries…

For the German minors the doubt is only of short duration: it is necessary to go to save their French comrades. The memory of the war is still fresh in all the heads. A particularly outstanding scene shows a German minor, protected by a gas mask, which finds a minor French into full is delirious. The French minor jumps to him above, believing himself in a trench during the war. Comprehension is initially difficult. But it would seem that a universal language came to their rescue: friendship and solidarity do without words. It is moving to see French and German speaking and including themselves/understanding. Once the finished rescue, Germans and French find themselves with the free air to celebrate their union. Two impromptu speeches follow one another, one in French the other in German, and each one testifies to the spirit of solidarity between the workers. In the broad sense term this film can be regarded as Marxist. " Proletarians of all the countries link vous".

Broken union

The border is strongest. Even in the basement of the mine the grid which had been cut down to save life is remade under the eyes of the customs officers. A bitter end.

sound effects

There is no music in this film. The noises of the labor of the minors are particularly important. The dialogs are bilingual. German speaks German, French speak French. But curiously the subtitles are not essential. The spectator includes/understands to him also the universal language of solidarity. The sound effects have an importance until the end: its of boot ravelling at the given rhythm rate/rhythm of a military parade. Already in 1932 Pabst felt to sting the advent of the Nazism.

Message of peace

It appears rather clearly that this film is a message of peace which preaches fraternity between the people. Beyond their French and German cultural differences are in prey with the same problems of unemployment, of poverty, and the daily batch of the workers does not change with dimensions one or other of the border. The fraternal union seems a hope then.

External bonds

Movies club of Caen

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