The Murders Are Among Us
Picture: C Sound: C- Extras: D Film: B
Some films occupy such a
profound place in film history that they defy review on a certain level. The
Murders Are Among Us is one of those films. Released in 1946, it was the beginning of Germany’s rebirth as a
home of cinema. The Soviets finally
were the ones who made it possible for filmmaking to resume, so devastated was
German Cinema by Hitler.
The only catch is that
this would be the beginning of a 44-years-long run for East German cinema. The Soviets were not interested in
supporting a cinema without a catch, but the film is not a propaganda film in
their favor either. It is a film
willing to deal with the immediate problem of loss and mistakes that lead to
the countries second necessary defeat in a World War.
This DVD does a decent job
of presenting this key film in a way that is worthy of the format. The full screen, black and white image is a
surprise, despite being an obvious PAL format recycling, but the transfer has
some unexpected detail and fidelity despite this. This is not as good as a new transfer off of a film print
directly, but it is still not totally a problem either. The print is in decent shape for its age,
while the gray scale is on the light side form the recycling, yet the video
black is better than usual for such a situation.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
also is not great, but this is due to the age of the monophonic sound, which
was recorded under very bare-bones circumstances. Subtitles help, while those who might understand German should
not have too much trouble understanding what is spoken, but background hiss and
other technical limits of what is essentially a low-budget and independent
production shows.
Extras include a
director’s biography, decent photo gallery, liner notes and an unlisted
filmography of the director. These are
very valuable features on such a film.
When a woman returns to
her home after the Allies win WWII, she finds a strange man having taken over
the place. After some conflict, they
begin to co-exist, until his past starts to catch up with him.
Starring Hildegard Knef,
Ernst Wilhelm Borchert, Erna Sellmer, Robert Forsch, and Arno Paulsen. Music by Ernst Roters, Edited by Hans
Heinrich, Cinematography by Friedl Behn-Grund & Eugen Klagemann, Production
Management by Herbert Uhlich, Written & Directed by Wolfgang Staudte.
East Germany’s rise and
fall as a country is interesting, and its cycle of cinema is no less
intriguing. For that relatively brief
period, here was a country that had the most efficient police state operation
of all the East Bloc countries, yet managed to produce some unique and enduring
films that will be rediscovered in time.
There will be unexpected reasons why certain films might be of use and
hit certain people in unusual ways, but The
Murderers Are Among Us will remain a cut above most. Here is a film before
an ideological formula of censorship and suppression set in. Little did the
makers know that their wishes of a better tomorrow would result in a new
Germany, a reunified Germany, and the sad endurance of the hate that made the
wars possible in the first place.
First Run’s DVD is a fine
record of all this and a key film for any collection that focuses on world
film. It is great to see a film that
got it right on just about everything when no one knew how the future would be
rebuilt.
- Nicholas Sheffo
