Irish Film Institute -4 DAYS IN MAY

4 DAYS IN MAY

Director: ACHIM VON BORRIES

97 minutes, Germany-Russia-Ukraine, 2011, Subtitled, Colour, Anamorphic, Dolby Digital Stereo, 35 mm


Belonging to the honourable movie tradition of looking at conflict through the eyes of a child, 4 Days in May relates a remarkable stranger-than-fiction story from the closing weeks of WW2. The setting is a stretch of Germany’s strategically important Baltic coast, where there’s a standoff between small units of German and Russian soldiers, with the latter holed up in an orphanage. Everyone is weary of fighting, except the 13-year-old orphan Peter, who wants to prove he’s a hero and tries to instigate trouble between the opposing troops. The real threat, however, comes in the form of a motley crew of Russian reinforcements comprised of drunken, sex-starved thugs.

4 Days in May is not a traditional war movie and caused some controversy with its depiction of Nazi soldiers joining forces with their Russian foe to counter an evil threat. Director Achim von Borries handles this tricky material with characteristic restraint, emphasising the importance of personal morality and leadership over ideology.

Showing as part of German Film Week, presented in co-operation with the Goethe-Institut Irland.

 

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