Wrack and Ruin: The Rubble Film at DEFA - Masters of Cinema

The first film studio to begin operating in post-war Germany, DEFA was officially authorised to begin making films in the Soviet occupation zone in 1946. Overseen by the Soviet Military Administration, one of its primary mandates was to aid in the denazification of Germany by focusing on anti-fascist themes in films that would ruminate on the literal and figurative wreckage left behind by the Third Reich. Often shot on location in the ruins of Berlin, these early DEFA productions have come to be called Trümmerfilme or "rubble films," and remain some of the most important pictures the studio ever made. The first film produced in post-war Germany, The Murderers Are Among Us sees a concentration camp survivor return home to Berlin only to find a stranger living in her apartment: an ex-soldier who harbours a terrible secret. Somewhere in Berlin follows a group of children who spend their days playing in bombed-out buildings and a returning prisoner-of-war seeking a new sense of purpose. In Police Raid, a determined detective leads a crackdown on black marketeers who aim to exploit the chaos of the post-war period to their own advantage. Set during the Nazi era, Marriage in the Shadows charts the tragic life of an actor and his Jewish wife as they attempt to survive the Third Reich. Finally, The Blum Affair recounts the true case of a Jewish industrialist who was tried for murder in the 1920s. Encompassing a range of genres - including the thriller, the police procedural and the courtroom drama - and ranging in visual style from expressionism to stark realism, DEFA's rubble films are bound together by a concern with the physical and psychological damage wrought by Nazism, World War II and the Holocaust. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present all five films for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, accompanied by a wealth of new and archival extras.

Special Features

Commentary: 'The Murderers Are Among Us'/'Police Raid': Sergio Angelini (crime cinema expert); 'Somewhere in Berlin': Elizabeth Ward (East German cinema scholar); 'Marriage in the Shadows': Seán Allan (DEFA historian); 'The Blum Affair': Written by Rolland Man and presented by David Melville Wingrove., Documentaries: 'Rebuilding Berlin' (1946); 'Rebuilding Potsdam' (1946); 'Death Camp Sachsenhausen' (1946)., Interviews: Claire Knight (socialist cinema expert); Sue Vice (Jewish studies scholar)., Limited edition hardcase featuring new art by Carly A-F; Reversible inner sleeve artwork featuring new designs for each film by Scott Saslow; 'Crimewave': Video essay by Sebastian Heiduschke (DEFA historian); 'The Eyewitness 1946/01': Archival newsreel featuring DEFA's first animation, 'Underground Scare'; 'The Eyewitness 1946/08': Archival newsreel featuring a report on the premiere of 'The Murderers Are Among Us'; 'The Eyewitness 1947/53': Archival newsreel featuring a report on the making of 'Marriage in the Shadows'.

Actors: Claus Holm, Hildegard Knef, Ilse Steppat, Paul Bildt, Wilhelm Borchert, Arno Paulsen, Charles Brauer, Harry Frank, Nina Konsta, Paul Klinger, Karin Evans, Gisela Trowe, Harry Hindemith, Hans-Christian Blech, Fritz Rasp, Friedhelm von Petersson, Kurt Ehrhardt, Ernst Waldow

Audio Languages: German

Duration: 474 minutes

Number of Discs: 3

Subtitle Languages: English

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