Just perfect...

best movie i've ever seen.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

There was a small theater in Shelby NC that showed "art house" films on Sunday afternoon. Films like Bergman's "The Virgin Spring", The "L Shaped Room" with Leslie Caron and "The Condemned of Altona" with Maximlian Schell, Sophia Loren, Robert Wagner and Fredric March. "The Condemned of Altona" was dark and arresting, as only a black and white film can be. This film pulled you in and would not let go and many who have seen it have never forgotten.One puzzled at how the family pulled off the hidden son, supplied him with custom printed newspapers and kept him virtually a prisoner in order to keep him from the post war tribunal, be judged a war criminal and be imprisoned. The irony is inescapable. But the power of wealth makes any thing within reach of the wealthy, including keeping a war criminal secreted way for decades. This is a superb film and really should be available on DVD.

When a movie from 1962 has less than 200 votes on IMDb, what does it mean? Directed by legendary De Sica, and starring great Sophia Loren... it must be a terrible failure? Well, it isn't.Having read Sartre's play "The Condemned of Altona", it is my impression that the movie is very faithful to its atmosphere. There are some changes, of course: instead of concentrating exclusively on torturing his characters inside the mansion (as Sartre does), De Sica takes advantage of possibilities of film, adding outdoor scenes.I don't want to reveal the plot, although it is very interesting. I recommend reading the play first, since the relations between characters will be clearer then. Anyway, see this movie if you get the chance!

The Condemned of Altona.This is a film I saw a few times and would like to see again 40 years later. Based on Jean-Paul Sartre about WW2 and the NEW Germany in German eyes. The central character, Franz Gerlach, has kept himself locked in the attic of his father's house for many years because his Nazi Past. Sophia Loren as Johanna visits him in the attic. Loren and all the actors play difficult parts. Reminds me of Boll and Gunther Grass. Those Germans who can not forget what happened in World War 2. A 10 from me, a must see Drama that has been done on stage too. Is there a DVD Copy available? I saw it on TV and at the Cinema in the 1960's.

It was very long ago, but this film touched me deeply. A became obsessed with Shostakovich's 11th Symphony, and remember vividly some scenes. When Maximillian Schell is finally "released" and goes out into the city (Hamburg?) to see what Germany has become, he is repulsed. When Frederich March is told he will die, he is solemn. The plot, that they have hidden their son because he is a wanted war criminal. That they collaborated willingly with the Nazis, as an industrial power. Perhaps I have forgotten important details. But the movie resonates with me.