''Angels of Iron'' () is a 1981 German

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by Thomas Brasch. It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, but did not win at Cannes. Director Thomas Brasch won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Direction.

Plot

The black-and-white film dramatizes the true story of a

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

gang of thieves led by juvenile Werner Gladow during the time of the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

and

Airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material lo ...

. Likening Occupied Germany to the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, writer-director Brasch paints a sympathetic portrait of organized crime in Germany facilitated by demoralization, lawlessness, and anarchy until the 1949 foundation of

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

brings the old "forces of order" (as they are called by Gladow's partner in crime, Gustav Völpel, who used to hang

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s for the Allied occupation forces) back to the forefront as former Nazis regain their pre-1945 positions in both German states. When eventually these "forces of order" come back to power at the end of the Berlin Blockade, they crack down on the anarchic Gladow Gang. Gladow himself is sentenced to death for murder and executed by

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

at the age of 18 in 1950. Although ex-Nazis offer Völpel a job in the new West-German police if he'll flee to

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

, he prefers to stay in an East-German prison until he dies in 1959. This is because Völpel feels freer in prison than inside any ordered society, just as he did before when the Nazis incarcerated him for refusing to fight for them during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Cast

Hilmar Thate Hilmar Thate (17 April 1931 – 14 September 2016) was a German actor. He appeared in 40 films and television shows between 1955 and 2016. Filmography References External links * 1931 births 2016 deaths German male film actors G ...

as Gustav Völpel *

Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theater at the Berliner Ensemble and at the olksbühne Berlin and was an actress in the film ''Th ...

as Lisa Gabler * Ulrich Wesselmann as Gladow * Karin Baal as Frau Luzie Gladow *

Ilse Pagé Ilse Pagé (29 May 1939 – 19 June 2017) was a German film actress, film and television actress. Selected filmography * ''Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner'' (1957) - Angela * ''Arzt aus Leidenschaft'' (1959) - Ein junges Mädchen * ''...und noch fre ...

as Frau Gerti Völpel * Peter Brombacher as Schäfer * as Gabler * Hanns Zischler as Ridzinski (credited as Hans Zischler) * Horst Laube as Gladow's father * Jürgen Flimm as West-German police commissioner * Kurt Raab as driver * Michael Danisch * Karl-Heinz Grewe (credited as Karl Heinz Grewe) * Urs Hefti * Hermann Killmeyer

Awards

The film ran in the First Feature Competition at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, but was unsuccessful. The film was also a contribution to the Max Ophüls Film Prize in 1982. Ilse Pagé received the Gold

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

in 1981 for her portrayal of his wife Völpel. Director Thomas Brasch was awarded the 1981 Bavarian Film Awards, which is worth more than DM 50,000 for his debut directorship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Angels Of Iron Biographical films about gangsters Films set in Berlin Films about organized crime in Germany Films directed by Thomas Brasch Films set in 1947 Films set in 1948 Films set in 1949 German gangster films German black-and-white films 1980s German-language films Organized crime films based on actual events West German films 1980s German films 1981 crime films German-language crime films