Long Is the Road (film)
| Long Is the Road | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Herbert B. Fredersdorf Marek Goldstein |
| Produced by | Abraham Weinstein |
| Written by |
Israel Becker Karl Georg Külb |
| Starring |
Israel Becker Bettina Moissi Berta Litwina |
| Music by | Lothar Brühne |
| Cinematography |
Jack Jonilowicz Franz Koch |
Production company |
International Film Organization |
Release dates | |
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language |
German Polish Yiddish |
| Budget | £20,000[1] |
Long Is the Road (German:Lang ist der Weg) is a 1948 German drama film directed by Herbert B. Fredersdorf and Marek Goldstein and starring Israel Becker, Bettina Moissi and Berta Litwina. The story examines the Holocaust from the perspective of a Polish Jewish family and a young man who is able to escape while being transported to a Concentration Camp. It was made during the summer of 1947.[2] It was the first German-made film to directly portray the Holocaust (Morituri was released earlier but made later). It was made with the support of the United States Army Information Control Division.
A major aim of the film was to lobby for Jewish survivors still living in Displaced Persons (DP) camps to be allowed to emigrate to the British Mandate of Palestine. It drew a comparison between the plight of the Jewish population and the sufferings of other Europeans including Germans who had recently been ethnically cleansed from the country's former Eastern Provinces and also ended up in DP camps. This was partly done through the principal character's romantic relationship with Dora, a refugee whose ethnic origin is unclear but appears to resemble an eastern refugee.
The film employs a semi-documentary technique to tell its story. Many of its themes were similar to other German rubble films of the era, but it was notably different partly because of its advocacy of an optimistic, idealistic new world in Palestine. The film only ever went on a limited release, and by the time it received its German première many of the issues which it raised about the inhabitants of DP camps had been settled with large numbers emigrating to the newly founded state of Israel.[3]
Cast
- Israel Becker - David Jelin
- Bettina Moissi - Dora Berkowicz
- Berta Litwina - Hanne Jelin
- Jakob Fischer - Jakob Jelin
- Otto Wernicke - Senior Doctor
- Paul Dahlke - 2nd Doctor
- Aleksander Bardini - Peasant
- David Hart - Mr. Liebermann
- Misha Natan - Partisan
- Heinz-Leo Fischer - Chodetzki
References
Bibliography
- Shandley, Robert R. Rubble Films: German Cinema in the Shadow of the Third Reich. Temple University Press, 2001.