This 2014 historical drama centers around the events that led to WWI. It is an Austrian film and I have to be honest – I was in one of the cities where and when they were filming this. It’s distracting having those memories flood back!
We’ve seen Heino Ferch before, but let’s talk a bit about some of the other cast members. Florian Teichtmeister (Austian), Melika Foroutan (Iranian), Jürgen Maurer (Austrian), Edin Hasanovic (Bosnian), Mateusz Dopieralski (Polish), Friedrich von Thun (Bohemian), Juraj Kukura (Slovakian), Kasem Hoxha (Albanian)… I love celebrating world casts and this one certainly qualifies! While they may not seem very familiar to most viewers, I must say it’s great seeing so much of Austria-Hungarian and Prussian territories covered in their cast.
This film was done in honor of the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which began WWI. Because it covers an investigation (and yet not a documentary), there are many theories discussed and shown. This is an excellent option for students of history as well as German. As far as AP themes go, this film covers a couple more thoroughly than most films can: Personal and Public Identities (particularly National Identity) and Global Challenges (especially Politics and History). There are other themes that this film touches on, but in a less deep or thorough way. The young man being investigated speaks a language (surprisingly) understood by the investigator. Viewers would do well to remember that Austria-Hungry had 3 official languages (German, Croatian, Hungarian), as well as at least 14 other languages spoken in their territory. Such realities (and clips from this film) can be used for class discussion.