Highly Overrated But Still Good

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Blistering performances.

This film is certainly worthwhile for a serious student of movie history, given its circumstances. The first film released in post WW-II Germany, etc...Yes, the plot line development is predictable from the midpoint of the film onwards. And sure, there are the side-stories regarding post-war German guilt and apologia and its role in the making of this film. I'll give you all of that.But the reason a movie lover wants to watch this film is two-fold. One, the stark B/W cinematography of this film is deeply affecting and very unique for the time period. And two, the wonderful, sublime beauty of a young Hildegard Knef. She is so fragile in this film, it's a real contrast with her later persona of the German song chantreuse of the 60s.It's hard to find this movie on DVD, but it's out there. If you find it to buy or rent, give it a watch, well worth the time. 8/10 rating.

MURDERERS Among US is the first film that was made in Germany after the end or WW 2.It was made in Berlin amidst all the rubble. The Interior sets look like the actual half ruined apartments. It is in Black & White & exceptionally realistic. It proves one more time,how actually Black & White cinematography can be.The directer was noted German director Wolfgang Staudte.He & his father Fritz wrote the screenplay. We do not know the meaning of the title until near the end of this 81 minute film. This part is well done but grim.Hildegard Knef & Ernst Wilhelm Borchert are excellent in the two leading roles, Ms.Knef did make a few American & English movies. To be kind, she had a better career in European films than she had in English speaking roles,Only reason I cant give this a higher rating is that Ms.Knef looks too healthy to have spent the last 3 years in a concentration camp.Non-the-less this is still a very worthwhile film & should be seen, one reason being the plot is somewhat similar to the current movie' THE READER.Ratings: ***1/2 (out of 4) 95 points (out of 100) 9 (out of 10)

One part romance, one part thriller, and all parts beautifully crafted, "Die Mörder sind unter uns" is an amazing film that shows what happens to good people when they have to rebuild their lives after traumatic events. This movie resonates with symbolism and is imbued with an almost dream-like quality. But do not be fooled, in a certain way, this movie is about breaking dreams and skin to heal the mind and body underneath.Ernst Wilhelm plays the sullen and depressed Dr. Mertens. His past occupation as an already reluctant Nazi officer keeps him from continuing his profession as a doctor, and from staying sober. Enter the beautiful and gentle Susanne, played by Hildegard Knef. Having survived her experiences within a concentration camp, though the viewer is never told what those experiences are; Susanne is intent on rebuilding her life and her war-torn apartment. Can these two broken souls heal one another? Watch for the final showdown between Dr. Mertens and his former Nazi superior, Ferdinand Brückner. This showdown, by far one of the most compelling scenes in cinema history, elegantly brings up the issue of justice and "who" is responsible after war atrocities have been committed. What's black and white and red all over? The murderers among us!

Murderers Among Us is the first film made, of a vast trove of films, in the Soviet controlled sector of post-war Germany that was to become East Germany. It is deeply and masterfully immersed in the aesthetic traditions of German Expressionism and /or Film Noir: unusual angles and picture planes, extreme lighting effects, twisted stairs, bombed-out buildings that look like jagged fingers against the sky (it was shot in the ruins of Berlin), a haunted, tormented protagonist, stark black and white atmosphere, and, above all, shadows. Shadows and more shadows of every size, shape, and density. In fact this film could serve as a text book on shadow craft: the scene where a man is screaming from within the vast shadow of a pistol wielding attacker is magnificent. I haven't seen The Third Man recently but I am sure Murderers influenced it profoundly. I would recommend the Third Man as a good double feature with this film.Murders belongs to a genre called 'rubble films', shot in the rubble of Germany and frequently dealing with issues of German guilt after WW II. Murderers does not seek to deal overmuch with the people who gave the orders, but with the many Germans who followed them with little or no protest. Such as the wounded doctor in this film who stood by while even children were executed as reprisals against resistance fighters in occupied Poland. Plotwise the film works quite nicely, and I liked the atmosphere of renewal, and perhaps relief at the end of a nightmare, amongst all that ruin and rubble as the German people began to pick themselves up.