I have seen this movie with my german class, but they talked too fast for me to understand everything. Can anyone help me with some questions?
1. What is the thing with Sigi's mother? How does she know that that Sigi will be called to duty 2. What say the general during his speech? 3. Is one of the father happy that his son goes to the war? (The last scene before army) 4. Why is the boys so glad for be called up for military duty?
@2 he told that his bataillon stands for "kampf - sieg oder tod" (fighting - victory or death) and that every meter they defend now, they defend from "the heart of the fatherland"
@4 they see war as an adventure, all their knowledge about the war was from media/propaganda which they quote from time to time, believing to be well prepared for war
1. What is the thing with Sigi's mother? How does she know that that Sigi will be called to duty 2. What say the general during his speech? 3. Is one of the father happy that his son goes to the war? (The last scene before army) 4. Why is the boys so glad for be called up for military duty?
In case anyone still needs info:
1.) They all know it is going to happen, it is just a matter of waiting on the paper work. By this point of the war, the Germans were in desperate need for soldiers, so they started going younger.
4.) You have to understand that this is GERMAN culture during WWII. Their ideas about war were based on Prussian ideals. They consider it an honor to fight for their country.
The other two have been answered already, so I'll leave it at that.
In addition, on #4, the boys have been indoctrinated using Nazi propaganda, for years and years, which had convinced them that the war was good and that Germany was above the rest.
The boys are happy to be called for duty because they don't know what war really means. All they know is the stupid propaganda that they read in newspapers or from the grown-ups. They think it's all honor and glory, when in reality it is all dirt and pain. And if you really watch the movie, you see that they don't stay to fight out of any deep convictions. They just don't know what else to do, once they find themselves without the only adult who could have guided them. This is what makes this movie is so powerful - because it shows how truly horrible war actually is.