The Ninth Day

It showed just all the considerations that the Vatican and the clergy had to make and how complicated and not black and white their decisions were based upon. Not everything is as obvious as it seems. And it was not a Catholic based excuse movie for decisions made, it was just the facts. And it wasn't just the church that had to make these difficult considerations in WW2, but many governments and institutions. When your dealing with a madman who can like current day Putin, kill tens of and hundreds of thousands of people because of a single slight, you certainly have to be careful in your decisions. Just as the NATO decision on a no fly zone over Ukraine decision is. Sure we want to do it but is it worth starting WW3 over? Decisions I'm certainly glad I'll never have to make.

This is a rather philosophical movie who relies almost entierly on dialogues, except for a couple of violent scenes here and there. It adresses a series of interesting religious and political issues through the encounter-clash between a priest and SS officer. Imho, it would have worked better as atheatrical play. Diehl's acting is always on point.

The Ninth Day is based on the true story of a Luxembourger priest (Henri) who is sent to Dachau concentration camp (among thousands of other priests in WW II) for standing against the Nazi regime. The film brilliantly contrasts the hell of the concentration camp with making a deal with the devil (i.e. the Nazi regime that sent him there) once Henri is "freed" to return home. Some very weak-minded individuals will call this film "propaganda", since it accurately portrays the persecution of the Catholic church (both the clergy and the laity) under the Nazi regime rather than the historical revisionism which was popularized by the communist bloc over the last few decades. Not for the faint of heart (there is very graphic brutality throughout), it is definitely worth watching as both a time-capsule of life during occupied countries during the Nazi regime as well as a wake-up call to future generations.

At the time of the WWII, Europe witnessed a great battle of values, beliefs, ideologies - call it what you want. Almost all roles in the movie are same sex, that is they are male, reflecting brutality and focusing the spectator on the great battle of values - here's no room for romance and no place for comedy, it's all about changing the world, and about survival. Every scene is a grand battle of values.

This is a truly powerful film. Faith is not a prerequisite to having an almost religious experience in viewing it.

"Der neunte Tag" or "The Ninth Day" is a German movie from over 10 years ago that runs for slightly over 90 minutes and was directed by Volker Schlöndorff who is still pretty famous here in Germany for directing the Oscar-winning "Die Blechtrommel". I was very underwhelmed by this one and while I am definitely not the greatest Schlöndorff fan, I can't deny he has made a couple good films and I would include this one here also as one of these I deem superior to "The Tin Drum". The best thing about it is definitely the acting. Matthes and Diehl bring their A-Game and other actors probably could not have delivered better portrayals. Both certainly elevated the material and I think that, at least back then, both count to the best Germany had to offer in their respective age groups. Hilmar Thate played a supporting character and I felt he was very good too. Then again, I may be a bit biased here as I have always liked him. The story is about a priest who is in jail at a concentration camp during the days of Nazi Germany. A German army commander offers him a deal: If he writes a letter to the Pope and encourages the Pope to approve of German politics during that era, then he (Diehl) would let him (Matthes) free and also save many of the priest's peers from being killed at the concentration camp. Of course, the priest does not believe a bit in the Nazi's claim to being the dominant race, so it is all a decision of his conscience and there is a lot of talk about the priest acting like a Judas for the good cause and for saving people's lives. Will he finally do it? I won't tell you. You need to watch for yourself. Another aspect I believe that is interesting about the movie is the fact that the Vatican is in Rome and people who know about the Italian political position in the 1930s will know that this may have complicated things a lot. Unfortunately, the basics are a lot more interesting in this movie than the actual story. The writers certainly could have made a better job here and I cannot say I approve of the script. The story offered so much more and even if the German Film Awards apparently disagree, I have to say that they did not achieve what they could have achieved here. The only true reason for watching this film is the political context, the real story it is based on and the convincing performances from the 2 lead actors. All in all, I give "Der neunte Tag" a thumbs-up and still call it a missed opportunity. Go check it out.

"The Ninth Day" is one of Volker Schlondorff's finest directorial feats. It covers an episode of the Nazi concentration Camp of Dachau in which there was a lesser known group of Catholic priests who were incarcerated and half of them exterminated by the oppressive regime that had enveloped Germany in the 30's and 40's during WW II. It particularly revolves around a priest from Luxemburg, Father Henri Kremer, who is released for a nine day period from the camp in order to develop positive relationships between the Bishop of Luxemburg and the Pope and Adolph Hitler's Nazi goals of extermination of specific groups of peoples. Ulrich Matthes plays Henri Kremer and he is very convincing in his strength of faith and love of family in his struggle to accomplish what he has been requested by the Gestapo to do. August Diehl is brilliant in his portrayal of Unterstumfuhrer Gebhardt, the demanding and ruthless Gestapo leader who degrades and tortures his victims to the nth degree. The cruel treatment and crucifixions of the priests is difficult to watch, yet this is a true recollection of events documented by the writer of the book by the same name. He was one of the few Catholic priest survivors of the camp. This film was released in 2004, and it is now on DVD and well worth the viewing for an historical standpoint with a different twist.

It is easy to criticize the actions of others using the clarity of hindsight but realistically Nazis were humans and given the correct conditioning almost any human could be a Nazi. This is a story about one of the few who refused to capitulate and paid a price for it. Some people here have complained about the film being catholic propaganda, something tells me they complain not when they view other propaganda but it is instead the fact that this film portrays some members of the church in a positive light that instead incites a reaction of anger. I don't know what is more hilarious, the fact that they themselves are ignorant of history or that they themselves would be goose-stepping in line to protect their well being. One says that the referenced event (the sending of non Aryan Christians to camps) does not occur for another 3 months. He acts as if this was the first injustice the Nazis ever bore down on anybody. From the beginning of their rule the Nazis destroyed all those that opposed them, yes the more noble thing to do would be to speak out but if by speaking out you only get people killed that doesn't make it the easy thing, or the right thing to do. As for the critics of Pope Pius XII, I wish you would learn some history before looking for someone to scapegoat for the convenient ignorance that prevailed throughout Europe and in America to the horrors the Nazis were committing. As someone of Jewish descent I myself can say that the catholic chruch personally helped members of my extended family. Also in 1941 the Times praised Pius XII as "the only ruler left on the continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all". Albert Einstien too praised the catholic effort "Six million of my co-religionists have been murdered by the Nazis, but there could have been many more victims, had it not been for the efficacious intervention of Pius XII" At his funeral the prime minister of Isreal stated "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for the victims." An Isreali diplomat has credit the catholic church and Pope Pius with saving more than two times the number of Jews that the allies saved. On October 20th 1939 Pius XII released a encyclical letter condemning fascism nazism and communism. On Christmas, 1942 Pius XII became the first international figure to publicly condemn the holocaust. Could the church could have done more? Possibly, but then again so could every other country and organization on the face of the globe. Trying to demonize the catholic church for its supposed "inaction" is ridiculous. Some people however would rather believe that the catholic church was an evil institution allied with the Nazis (a group which sought to abolish them) rather than an organization which tried to guide its people and save lives throughout Europe. this film is not a propaganda movie, there were catholics who cared about the fate of the jews and there were catholics (like this film also shows) who were under the thumb of the Nazis. There is no way you can say this is a propaganda film. Yes there are some events that are not based directly on fact but there were men of the same conviction who performed similar feats and stood up in the face of the same fate. That being said the lead actor was extremely emotive and the sparse dialog in the film helped to portray the bleakness of his situation. He is faced with a choice no man wants to make and uses his faith and his conscience to reach the right decision

During WW2 a priest named Henry Kremer(Ulrich Matthes) imprisoned in concentration camp of Dachau is freed along a period of 9 days. He's threatened by a SS Unterstumfuhrer(August Dhiel) to convince the Luxemburg bishop(Tathe) to write a declaration for supporting the Nazi regime . The priest is affected because of his decision whether or not to collaborate with the Nazis. This is an intelligent and thought-provoking film , correctly based on real events. The director covers a wide variety of plot developments at a rare pace by means of continuous flashbacks in which remembers horrible events at concentration camp of Duchau. Excellent performances by main cast as Ulrich Matthes (Goebbles in ¨The downfall¨) and August Dhiel(Ingorious bastards). Good secondary cast as Bibiana Beglau (Legend of Rita by Schlondorff) as the affecting sister . The musical score is often despairing and screeching with surprising witty touches , it is composed by Russian musician Alfred Schnitke(1934-88). The motion picture is well directed by Volker Scholondorff. He's an expert on Nazi issues as proved in ¨Tim drum¨ , ¨The ogre¨ and this one. Schlondorff does a very unusual pictures with important insight into how the past affects the present and root causes of war. His first feature film, ¨Young Torless¨ was showed around the world and he was pretty heard by international viewers when directed ¨The lost honour of Katharine Blum¨, getting similar success his fellow-countrymen as Fassbinder, Herzog and Wenders. His reputation was greatly enhanced when his phenomenal movie ¨Tin drum¨ was awarded the Oscar as best foreign-language film. Later on,Schlondorff consolidated with ¨Circle of deceits¨. Since then his films have been less satisfactory as ¨Murder in the Bayou¨ , ¨Handmaid's tale¨and ¨Palmetto¨. Rating : Very good , Schlondorff's one the last impressive film to date. The film is admirable coherent , though in complicated narrative and never sags under its approx. hundred minutes . The movie will appeal to Nazi theme buffs

**** may contain spoilers ****** I am not surprised nor offended that some reviewers find the Ninth Day a Catholic propaganda and Ullrich Matthes' silences a witness to his lack of Thespian credentials. Quite the contrary, such comments confirm that the movie, and the basis of morality which it examines, is not intellectually available or esthetically pleasing to simple-minded people. That in itself marks its quality. There are some absolutely gripping moments in the Schloendorff's masterpiece: the mocking of the Polish priest before he is hoisted on the cross (he was not "crucified" - that just would not capture the horrific sadism in the act - the movie makes a point in altering the method of using the cross by a Dachau commandant), the reading by Gebhardt of Kremer's human weakness and sense of inferiority (the offering of the chocolates after Kremer contemptuously refuses a cigarette was a devilish coup - Kremer tries to justify his defeat by offering the sweet to an unknown little girl), Gebhardt's theory of "Judas" as the most pious Christian, his cool reception of Kremer's volcanic "noli venire inter Domine et me", Gebhardt's contempt for the cowardice of Kremer's brother ("you were right, the eggs are excellent")...no, this is no Catholic propaganda, on the contrary, the body of Christ failed Kremer by signing the Concordat with the Antichrist, in his search for the vindication of his faith he is alone, ...this has all the markings of a great classic: ingenious, complex, haunting, obsessional, true.