The German film Hitler's Boy, which was officially released in 2004, was seen by the Germans as the "Final Trilogy" to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II, along with The Destruction of the Empire and Hope and Resistance.
The film mainly restores that heavy history through the perspective of two German teenagers, showing the ruthless destruction of human nature by the extreme rule of the Nazis.
The two pure German teenagers, Friedrich and O'Bricht, are played by Marx Remet and Tom Schhilling, respectively.
However, no one thought that the once handsome and ignorant male protagonist is now a German tough guy Wolfgang in the popular American drama "Super Sense Hunting", and it is almost like two people before and after.
I have to say that this is a movie with a high value.
The audience can often see the shining debut of the handsome man, even if it is the bad senior who is not pleasing, the appearance is more outstanding.
Set in Germany in 1942, Friedrich, a 17-year-old boy from an ordinary working-class family, lives with his parents and brother.
Originally engaged in coal mining, Friedrich was later recognized by Nazi officers at the National Institute of Political Education for his boxing talents, which led to admission to the Führer's higher military school.
The physical examination of new students entering the school follows a meticulous German style, even meticulous enough to verify the purity of blood, and each student is divided into racial classes.
In addition, political censorship was also an essential part of the test of whether the new students agreed with Nazi values.
When asked why he wanted to enter the school, Friedrich offered a very official standard answer: "I want to serve the Fuehrer, the people and the fatherland in a position where I can take responsibility." ”
However, in addition to faith, this hot-blooded young German is more planning for his future.
He saw this as an opportunity to change his destiny, feeling that as long as he graduated from there, he would become a social elite, and he would never have to worry about money again.
Friedrich eventually passed these tests with ease and was given the opportunity to enter the academy, but was strongly opposed by his father, who had already seen through the nature of the Nazi evil.
Friedrich ran away from home, forged his father's signature, and resolutely went to the Nazi military academy alone for arduous training.
The school made an exception to recruit Friedrich, but it was just to use him to win boxing championships and bring honor to the school.
The German officer who invited Friedrich to school also made up for his regret of losing the championship. He always taught Friedrich that he must destroy humanity at critical moments, not to be soft-hearted, and to win even by any means.
In the classrooms of this military academy, the teachers talked about the absurd political ideas of the Nazis, such as that the weak and the Jewish inferior peoples should be eliminated in order to ensure the survival of the strong.
The focus of the training is not to improve the military literacy of the trainees, but to continuously instill in them extreme militarism.
Friedrich gradually discovered many ugly phenomena, he tasted the taste of broken dreams, and his faith began to waver...
There is no humanity to speak of here, and the cold-blooded instructors train the trainees with cruel means, and all kinds of humiliations and punishments can be seen everywhere.
One of Friedrich's roommates was simply suffering from bedwetting and had to endure threats and intimidation from the seniors and the taunts and abuses of the coach.
Ironically, there was a grenade-throwing training accident in class, but the sports coach ran faster than anyone else, but the bedwetting student who was physically punished by him stepped forward and pounced on the grenade.
It is difficult to say whether this bedwetting student really dared to sacrifice himself to save others, or whether he decided to deliberately send him to death because his self-esteem was repeatedly trampled on and he only wanted to be relieved.
However, the school was very sure of this behavior, and posthumously named him a martyr, but did not mention the unfair treatment he had suffered.
The new provincial party chief also used this heroic deed to promote collectivism, and he gave an impassioned speech at the funeral, advocating allegiance to the Nazis.
At the same time, Friedrich made good friends at school, O'Brigitte, and the two developed a very deep friendship.
O'Bricht's father was the regional governor who spoke at the funeral.
As the son of a high-ranking military officer, O'Brichit did not advocate force, but a beautiful teenager who loved literature and writing.
He had both the soul of a poet and the kindness and gentleness, but in the environment at that time, he was like an outlier, never being recognized and loved by his father.
Not only was the article not seen by his father, but the poem carefully prepared for his father's birthday was interrupted before he could read it.
His father forcibly sent him to a military school, hoping that his son would become a Nazi officer like himself, but Obrecht did not seem to have the potential to become a good military leader, regardless of physical or mental level.
However, O'Bricht is precisely the most sober person in the school, which also leads to his heart being particularly painful, after all, he has carried too many things that are difficult to bear at this age.
What made Obrecht really despair was the night raid, which he thought was ordered to go to the woods with his classmates to hunt down the Soviet prisoners who had escaped with guns, but they found out that the other party was actually a group of unarmed children.
O'Bricht's attempt to rescue those who had been hit by his classmates was to no avail, and the Soviet children who were captured were all executed by firing squad, and it was O'Bricht's biological father who gave the order.
The next day in language class, asked to write a propositional essay about winter, O'Bricht refused to praise the Nazis, but instead wrote an article attacking last night's massacre, which he read on the spot in front of the class.
Such an act was bound to be severely reprimanded by his father, who forcibly ordered O'Bricht to write a letter of apology and threatened to send his son to the Ukrainian front to serve his country.
This became the last straw that crushed the camel, and Obrecht did not want to be an accomplice of fascism, so he took advantage of a certain opportunity of training in the water to die and chose to fall into a clean ice lake forever...
The courage of preferring to pay with one's life rather than join the forces of evil is truly admirable.
Such a pure teenager unfortunately lived in the era of Nazi rule, and for him perhaps only death can be regarded as true liberation.
Grieving over the death of his friend, Friedrich wrote an obituary to be published in the school newspaper but was strongly rejected by the principal, because suicide was considered a worthless act and was utterly spurned in that school.
O'Brigitte's death awakened Friedrich's conscience, and he finally realized why his father was so strongly opposed to going to the Nazi training camps.
So in the final boxing final, Friedrich voluntarily gave up the opportunity to win, and was expelled from school.
The overall tone of the film is very depressing, and the fanatical atmosphere of war under the Nazi system is even more suffocating.
The two protagonists, Friedrich and O'Bricht, represent the teenagers of that era who were forced to get involved in the killing.
They face the harsh reality, awaken after experiencing the painful struggles of the heart, and finally resist the evil Nazis in their own way, showing the brilliance of human nature.
In contrast, many young people are not so lucky to be unable to hold on to themselves as bravely as they are.
The subtitles at the end of the film provide the following heavy information:
By 1945, there were nearly 40 national academies of political education and more than 15,000 students in Germany. When the already doomed defeat of this war was imminent, they were also recruited for the "final decisive battle", they were fanatical and heavily under-equipped, and they were fiercely resisted in many battlefields...
Those young German teenagers who were flourishing were unfortunately reduced to Hitler's killing machine and cannon fodder on the battlefield.
This film sounded the alarm bell for future generations, allowing the audience to deeply appreciate the cruelty of war.
May there be peace in the world and no similar tragedies ever again.
(This article was first published in the FOX Kunlun German subtitle group)