#908: PABST, G.W.: Kameradschaft (1931)

PABST, G.W. (Germany)
Kameradschaft [1931]
Spine #908
Blu-ray


When a coal mine collapses on the frontier between Germany and France and traps a team of French miners, workers on both sides of the border spring into action, putting aside national prejudices and wartime grudges to launch a dangerous rescue operation. Director G.W. Pabst brings a vivid sense of claustrophobia to this ticking-clock scenario, using realistic sets and sound design to create the maze of soot-choked shafts where the miners struggle for suvival. Inspired by a real-life mine collapse, Kameradschaft (Comradeship) is an arrresting disaster film and a stirring plea for international cooperation, and it cemented Pabst's status as one of the most morally engaged and formally dexterous filmmakers of his time.

88 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in German and French
1:19:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2018
Director/Writers


From the story by Karl Otten.
French dialogue by Léon Werth.
G.W. Pabst was 46 when he directed Kameradschaft.

Other Pabst films in the Collection:

#358: Pandora's Box (1929)
#907: Westfront 1918 (1930)
#405: The Threepenny Opera (1931)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twenty-eight page booklet featuring an essay by author and critic Luc Sante and the 1930 text by Otten that the film was based on.

Commentary

None.

Interview 1

With film scholar Hermann Barth on the film’s production.

Interview 2

From 1988 with editor Jean Oser, featuring footage from the French version of the film.

Interview 3

From 2016 with film scholar Jan-Christopher Horak on the historical context of the film.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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