Overview
In the final days of World War II, a group of boys clings to a misguided sense of duty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- harrowing
- tragic
- grounded
- historical cinema study
- antiwar film marathon
What critics said
Critics and award bodies broadly regard the film as a powerful, humane, and uncompromising antiwar drama about German youth consumed by Nazi ideology.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Teenage German boys are ordered to defend a strategically useless bridge during the final months of World War II.
The boys enthusiastically defend the bridge even as defeated Wehrmacht soldiers reveal that the position has little military value.
The boys' devotion to Nazi ideals is contrasted with cynical retreating soldiers and the collapsing German war effort.
A small village bridge becomes the setting for firearm combat, dead soldiers, and the boys' exposure to the realities of war.
Films like The Bridge, and why
Ivan's Childhood
shared World War II setting, child soldiers, and devastating antiwar perspective
Come and See
shared focus on young people confronting the moral horror and ideological damage of war
Stalingrad
shared German perspective on World War II, moral disillusionment, and grounded battlefield drama
All Quiet on the Western Front
shared antiwar humanism and tragic portrayal of youthful militarization
Movie Details
- Director
- Bernhard Wicki
- Release Date
- 1959-10-21
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (204)
Cast
- Folker Bohnet
- Fritz Wepper
- Michael Hinz
- Frank Glaubrecht
- Karl Michael Balzer
- Volker Lechtenbrink
- Günther Hoffmann
- Cordula Trantow
- Wolfgang Stumpf
- Günter Pfitzmann
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Bridge about?
- Teenage German loyalists turn a useless village bridge into a fatal test of Nazi ideology as World War II collapses around them.
- What is The Bridge like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Bridge as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Bridge violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Bridge as brutal.
- What did critics think of The Bridge?
- Critics and award bodies broadly regard the film as a powerful, humane, and uncompromising antiwar drama about German youth consumed by Nazi ideology.
- Which films are like The Bridge?
- Films with a similar feel include Ivan's Childhood, Come and See, Stalingrad, and All Quiet on the Western Front.
- How long is The Bridge?
- The Bridge runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Bridge?
- In United States, The Bridge streams on Criterion Channel.
