A German Platoon is explored through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After half of their number is wiped out and they're placed under the command of a sadistic captain, the platoon lieutenant leads his men to desert. The platoon members attempt escape from the city, now surrounded by the Soviet Army.
Practical Effects
Minus-thirty actual location shooting, no CGI frostbite required.
Acting
Horwitz and Kretschmann make cowardice look noble.
Cinematography
Snow the color of rust and death.
Director
Joseph Vilsmaier
Dominique Horwitz
Corporal Fritz Reiser
Thomas Kretschmann
Lieutenant Hans von Witzland
Jochen Nickel
Sergeant Manfred 'Rollo' Rohleder
Sebastian Rudolph
GeGe Müller
Dana Vávrová
Irina
Martin Benrath
General Hentz
Sylvester Groth
Otto
Karel Heřmánek
Captain Herman Musk
Heinz Emigholz
Edgar Emigholz
Oliver Broumis
HGM
Dieter Okras
Captain Haller
Zdeněk Vencl
Wölk
Mark Kuhn
Sergeant Pfluger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in actual -30°C conditions in Czech Republic; actors were genuinely hypothermic.
Released months after Schindler's List, this was Germany's own reckoning with ordinary soldiers' complicity—not just evil generals.
DE
