Rotation

German film-makers of the post-Second World War era weren’t exactly falling over each other examining the country’s recent history. Which makes Rotation special. In episodic scenes it attempts a cool and not-too-political examination of what had possessed Germans to sign up to the Nazi project, and what Hitler had cost them in return. Significantly, it was made in Communist-controlled East Germany rather than the West. In the DEFA studio, the famous UFA of Lang, Murnau and Wiene rebadged, and is directed by Wolfgang Staudte, who had been responsible for Murderers Among Us (Die Mörder sind unter uns), the first Trümmerfilm (“rubble film”) of the post War era. If you’ve seen David Lean’s This … Read more