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At A French Fireside
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Wikipedia article
'At A French Fireside' '[http://www.defa.de/cms/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=412&FilmID=Q6UJ9A002KTF At A French Fireside]' on DEFA Foundation's website. is an East German film directed by Kurt Maetzig. It was released in 1963.
Plot
Bundeswehr soldier Klaus' regiment is stationed in France, to take part in NATO maneuvers. The soldiers are ordered to be kind to the populace, since the West German High Command wishes the French to forget the atrocities that were committed during the Second World War. Klaus falls in love with Jeanne, the daughter of the local mayor. He discovers that his commanders intend to demolish the ruins of a local church, in which civilians were murdered by the German occupation forces at 1944. A local journalist who researches the event discovers that West German General Rucker ordered the massacre, but he is mysteriously murdered. Klaus defies his commanding officer Siebert, who instructs him to steal the documents indicting Rucker, and hands the evidence over to Jeanne.
Cast
* Arno Wyzniewski - Klaus Wetzlaff
* Angelica Domrse - Jeanne
* Hannjo Hasse - Major Siebert
* Harry Hindemith - Bourguignon
* Raimund Schelcher - Ludovic
* Gnther Simon - General Rucker
* Evelyn Cron - Georgette
Production
The film was one of eight major DEFA pictures made between 1959 and 1964 that centered on the theme of the Cold War, with an underlying message that East Germany had to defend itself from the West.Uta A. Balbier, Christiane Rsch (editors). 'Umworbener Klassenfeind: das Verhltnis der DDR zu den USA'. Links (2006). . Page 173. Director Kurt Maetzig told an interviewer that he greatly disliked the script he filmed, and the work on 'At A French Fireside' eventually inspired him to make the controversial 'The Rabbit Is Me'.Rolf Richter. 'Kurt Maetzig im Gesprch mit Rolf Richter'. Published in 'Film und Fernsehen'. Verband der Film- und Fernsehschaffenden der DDR (1990). ISSN 0323-3227. Page 10.
Reception
The film was poorly received, and was not successful with the audiences.Kurt Maetzig. 'Filmarbeit: Gesprche, Reden, Schriften'. Henschel (1987). . Page 159. The German Film Lexicon defined 'At A French Fireside' as a "completely unbelievable piece of propaganda".'[http://www.zweitausendeins.de/filmlexikon/?sucheNach=titel&wert=54740 At A French Fireside]'. 2001.de. Dagmar Schittly viewed it as a typical "saboteur film", in the tradition of anti-Western DEFA thrillers.Dagmar Schittly. 'Zwischen Regie und Regime. Die Filmpolitik der SED im Spiegel der DEFA-Produktionen'. . Page 123.
References
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