Die Brücke, 1959 (The Bridge) by Bernhard Wicki is often recognized as an anti-war film of great importance, although its meaning is more nuanced and multifaceted. His view of the war is even more ambiguous than the boring portrayal would suggest. This was several years after the Federal Republic of Germany had reinstated the army, joined NATO in 1955 and reinstated the youth military draft in 1956. Therefore, this film is not only a testimony to the German past but also to the German present. . It shows the mindless annihilation of six young Germans at the end of World War II, evoking a very distressing memory of Nazi Germany's futile attempt to repel the Allied invasion by throwing teenage boys into the fight. However, since West Germany had only recently reinstated military conscription for youth, the film also implies a stance against West Germany's remilitarization. The conventional West German government also understood this message. Die Brücke was released in the United States on May 1, 1961 to critical and commercial success, offering an obvious reiteration of the war is hell theme, but doing so with compelling visual imagery and legitimate emotional resonance. the boys' service is very clear to the viewers right at the beginning of the film. Vivid, brazen detail is enhanced by black-and-white cinematography, ultimately capturing the chaos amidst desperately adherent codes and conventions, structures that generate a misleading sense of mandate and expectation. In an interview conducted by Hans Ulrich Reichert of the Tagesschau (Daily News) in 1959, Bernhard Wicki noted that he had made the film not as a statement for or against war, but rather... middle of paper.... .. Works CitedIn a review dated May 2, 1960, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times describes the film as "intense and gripping" and "noteworthy" for "its concentrated emotional drive." Time magazine similarly describes it (in a review dated May 12, 1961) as “a minutely observed, almost unwatchable massacre of innocents.” The popular success of The Bridge is evidenced by its nomination at the 1960 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film (lost to Marcel Camus's French film, Orfeu Negro/Black Orpheus, 1959) and its Golden Globe win. Interview with Wicki conducted by journalist Hans Ulrich Reichert, Tagesschau (Daily News), ep. NO. 1488, 22 October 1959. Quoted in Gagnon, Celluloid Heroes, 130-31. Originally by Joe Hembus and Christa Bandmann, Klassiker des deutschen Tonfilms, 1930-1960 (Munich: Goldman, 1980), 189, 191.