# German war film challenges taboo - BBC



## Yrys (1 Apr 2008)

German war film challenges taboo



> He is a handsome, blond, young pilot - and he's not your typical baddie.
> 
> In the new film The Red Baron, which had its premiere in Berlin on Monday night, Germany's legendary flying ace, Manfred von Richthofen, is portrayed as an emotional,
> sensitive man. A replica of the Fokker triplane from World War I was planted outside the CineStar cinema in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz, as crowds gathered for
> ...




Link


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## Teddy Ruxpin (1 Apr 2008)

> The film, which cost 18m euros (£14m; $28m) to produce, also stars the British actor Joseph Fiennes as Capt Roy Brown, a Canadian pilot whose plane is shot down by Von Richthofen in their first aerial encounter.



Hmmm.  Methinks that Capt Brown was the pilot who was credited with shooting down Von Richthofen, not vice versa.  Sounds like an intersting flick, though.


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## Pat in Halifax (1 Jun 2010)

I know this is a REALLY old topic, but did I just see a quick advert on TV last night that this is being released on DVD and BR effective today??? I thought I kept up with all these types of films but completely missed it. Googled it and saw some trailers - will try to find it this weekend from my freindly neighbourhood Rogers Video. Any quick one-liner reviews out there...again aside from "outside" websites.


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## jollyjacktar (1 Jun 2010)

I got it from Pirate Bay.  It's not bad and I thought better than say "Flyboys".  Worth the rental at least.


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## Pat in Halifax (6 Jun 2010)

Watched it today (it was pouring rain - what else is one to do?) Not bad but I was not aware that Captain Brown and the Red Baron met on several occasions (and as the movie implies at the end - may have even been 'friends'). A different approach to a story all have heard of but few know the details of. I will be buying a copy for my 'library'. 
I think the 'escort' with the unique mustache on the battlefield may have even been intended to be a 'young' Adolph Hitler.


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## vonGarvin (6 Jun 2010)

Pat in Halifax said:
			
		

> I think the 'escort' with the unique mustache on the battlefield may have even been intended to be a 'young' Adolph Hitler.


Not having seen the movie, I wouldn't know; however, that style of moustache wasn't that unique for young Germans back then.


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## mariomike (6 Jun 2010)

Haven't seen the movie. But, I did read this:
"In the 2008 film The Red Baron, British actor Joseph Fiennes plays a character based on Captain Brown. The film has little if any connection with historical events - for example Brown is depicted as having been shot down by Richthofen in 1916 and subsequently escaping from a German POW camp. There is also a later scene in which Brown and Richthofen crash in no man's land and share a friendly drink.":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Brown_(RAF_officer)#Brown_in_film_and_fiction

Regarding Hitler's moustache in WW1? From photos I had seen, it appears much different than the style he had in WW2.

"Flyboys":
"This film has been widely criticized for its lack of historical accuracy":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboys_(film)#Historical_accuracy
"Just about everything in the video-gamey World War I picture "Flyboys" rings false":
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-flyboys22sep22,0,5824581.story


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## wannabe SF member (6 Jun 2010)

Technoviking said:
			
		

> Not having seen the movie, I wouldn't know; however, that style of moustache wasn't that unique for young Germans back then.



Hitler's stache was all but unique during the war, he adopted his caracteristic "toothbrush" after the war.







The guy on the right.

/highjack.


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## OldSolduer (6 Jun 2010)

Do you mean Herr Shickelgruber?


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## the 48th regulator (7 Jun 2010)

I have watched the film, and really enjoy it.  It is very Western, yet captures the historical detail quite well, a tribute to the money invested by the Anglo Producers.

As for Herr Hitler, He wore his Wee Mustache well before the first war, as depicted by this very early Photo.  It is Adolf Hitler among the huge crowd which heard the announcement of war outside Field Marshals' Hall, Munich on 2 August 1914'. Hitler is in the crowd, listening to the announcement of the start of the First World War."


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## Fishbone Jones (7 Jun 2010)

Seems to be quite fashionable also. There appear to be a number of other gents, in the crowd, sporting the same style.


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## Pat in Halifax (7 Jun 2010)

First off, and not meaning to insult anyone out there but my statement re Brown and Richthofen being 'friends' was intended as mild sarcasm (Never was too good at that!). Also, I realize the 'stache style was in at the time(sort of like guys wearing their pants around their f***ing knees these days!!), but this was the only character in the entire movie with such a 'stache so I suspect if you asked the director, the intent was for the viewer to make a connection.

Again, movies like this, Flyboys, SPR and you know what; even 'flops' like Pearl Harbor lead many viewers to google the subject, read the truth and thus learn a little history - nothing bad about any of that. I also watched Invictus and immediately googled Nelson Mandela and the era just to learn more of the story. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one out there that does this.

Happy movie watching to all!!!


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## Pusser (7 Jun 2010)

Richthofen and Hitler were known to have crossed paths during WWI, so it would not be out of line for Hitler to make a cameo in this film.  However, the relationship between Richthofen and Brown in this movie is laughable.  Brown was never shot down and he certainly never met the Red Baron in person and had a drink!  In the movie, Brown states that he is a member of the Royal Canadian Flying Corps (at least they said he was Canadian), but such a corps never existed.  In fact, Brown was never a member of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) either, so putting him in an Army uniform was not correct.  He flew for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), until it was amalgamated with the RFC to form the RAF.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film.


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## mariomike (7 Jun 2010)

Pusser said:
			
		

> Richthofen and Hitler were known to have crossed paths during WWI,



Manfred? I did not know that. 

Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, Chief of the Luftwaffe Condor Legion  ( Guernica ) knew Hitler. During the bombing of Warsaw, the army demanded Richthofen call off his bombers. He engaged in an extremely heated debate with the army. Hitler himself strode in on them, turned to Richthofen and said simply, "Carry on." 
Wolfram was also a fighter pilot in WW1, and a fourth cousin of Manfred and Lothar.

A bit more on Manfred: "Peter Kilduff, who has written six books about the Red Baron, recently made a potentially dramatic discovery when he bought a 1932 German veterans magazine on the auction website eBay. Buried inside was an article entitled 'The Truth About Richthofen's Death - Eyewitness Account by Hermann Bink'. Kilduff translated it into English and found the allegation that Richthofen survived a crash landing only to be stabbed by watching soldiers.":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/16/military.germany


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