Germania Anno Zero (1948)

"Germany - Ground Zero" is set in post World War II Germany, the city is in shambles with the people barely surviving on food stamps. Each family gets an allocation based on the number of males in the family, provided they're of age, else they must find work. The story is told through a family who's patriarch is too ill & old to work; another in the household, Karl-Heinz (Franz-Otto Krüger), is too afraid to try & hasn't even registered for his work permit for fear of being taken to prison for his wartime activities as a soldier. So, the youngest & underage son Edmund (Edmund Moeschke, his only film!), who has a misplaced hero worship for Karl-Heinz, must find a way to make up the difference for expenses. His quest leads him into various relationships with other children, male & female, who steal and eventually into working in the Black Market for a former professor (Erich Gühne) of his he trusts. Many emotional scenes including Edmund's father (Ernst Pittschau) saying the family would be better off if he'd just go ahead and die. Watch it all the way to the end to get the full impact of this powerful film by director, story & screenplay writer Roberto Rossellini (Paisà (1946)).

Find your movie or DVD now @: