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Special Mission
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Wikipedia article
'Im Sonderauftrag' (English-language title: 'Special Mission')'[http://www.defa.de/cms/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=412&FilmID=Q6UJ9A002LO9 Im Sonderauftrag]' on DEFA Foundation's website. is an East German black-and-white film directed by Heinz Thiel. It was released in 1959.
Plot
In 1958, somewhere in the Baltic Sea, a People's Navy minesweeper commanded by Captain Fischer encounters a foreign boat. Its skipper is a man named Arendt, who has served with Fischer in the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. Fischer recalls how, in 1943, his superior Captain Lieutenant Wegner planned to defect to the Danish resistance and join the communists, but was arrested and sentenced to death. Fischer realizes that Arendt, one of the few who knew of Wegner's plans, was actually a Gestapo agent and betrayed him. Now, he understands that Arendt works for West Germany and intends to gather intelligence in the German Democratic Republic. Fischer foils his plans and the minesweeper returns to its mission.
Cast
*Hans-Peter Minetti as Captain Lieutenant Fischer
*Rolf Ludwig as Arendt
*Fritz Diez as Captain Lieutenant Wegner
*Gerd Michael Henneberg as harbor commandant
*Gnther Grabbert as Lieutenant Hermann
*Wolfgang Hbner as Lieutenant Berger
*Wilhelm Koch-Hooge as Petersen
*Herbert Krbs, as military judge
*Horst Kube as corporal Lutz
*Werner Lierck as Sergeant Kohl
*Katharina Matz as Ike
*Dieter Perlwitz as Jens Dahl
*Gustav Pttjer as Ole
*Albert Zahn as Thielicke
*Manfred Borges as Staff Sergeant Schneider
Production
Of the 500 feature films created by DEFA from 1956, the year in which the National People's Army was founded, until its dismantlement during 1990, only five had their plot dealing explicitly with the East German armed forces - although many pictures were set in historical military formations, like the Wehrmacht, and DEFA produced many documentaries and news bulletins about the NVA.Hans Gotthard Ehlert, Matthias Rogg. 'Militr, Staat und Gesellschaft in der DDR. Forschungsfelder, Ergebnisse, Perspektiven '. Christoph Links Verlag (2004). . Page 651. Of the five films, the first to be made was 'Im Sonderauftrag.' It was also the only one among them to portray the People's Navy.Matthias Rogg. 'Armee des Volkes?: Militr und Gesellschaft in der DDR'. Christoph Links Verlag (2008). . Page 121.
Reception
The East German 'Cinema and Television Review' defined 'Im Sonderauftrag' as a "weak, fable-based" film that "used the anti-fascist theme in a schematic manner."'[https://books.google.com/books?ei=hvnETambKM7FtAa7vtSUDw&ct=result&id=iXoHAQAAIAAJ&dq=im+sonderauftrag+1959&q=+sonderauftrag+#search_anchor Film und Fernsehen.]' Verband der Film- und Fernsehschaffenden der DDR (1979). ISSN 0323-3227. The film was received well in the Soviet Union, and gained "considerable success" there.Ilse Heller, Hans-Thomas Krause. 'Kulturelle Zusammenarbeit, DDR-UdSSR.' Universitt Halle-Wittenberg (1967). ASIN B0000BRJTW. Page 110.
The German Film Lexicon cited 'Im Sonderauftrag' as "thrilling and with good acting, although highly simplistic and committed to the political narrative of the Cold War."'[http://www.zweitausendeins.de/filmlexikon/?sucheNach=titel&wert=57797 Im Sonderauftrag]' on zweitausendeins.de
References
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