''Angels of Iron'' (german: Engel aus Eisen) is a 1981 German

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Thomas Brasch Thomas Brasch (19 February 1945 – 3 November 2001) was a German author, poet and film director. Life Born in Westow, Yorkshire, England, Thomas Brasch was the son of German Jewish Communist émigré parents. In 1947, the family returned to Eas ...

. It was entered into the

1981 Cannes Film Festival The 34th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 27 May 1981. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Człowiek z żelaza'' by Andrzej Wajda. The festival opened with '' Three Brothers'' (''Tre fratelli'') by Francesco Rosi and closed with '' Honeysuckle R ...

, but did not win at Cannes. Director Thomas Brasch won the

Bavarian Film Award The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the states of Germany, state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the Deutscher Filmp ...

for

Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly rename ...

Plot

The black-and-white film dramatizes the true story of a

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

gang of thieves led by juvenile Werner Gladow during the time of the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road ...

and

Airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

. Likening

Occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...

to the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, writer-director Brasch paints a sympathetic portrait of organized crime in Germany facilitated by demoralization, lawlessness, and anarchy until the 1949 foundation of

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

brings the old "forces of order" (as they are called by Gladow's partner in crime, Gustav Völpel, who used to hang

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

war criminals for the Allied occupation forces) back to the forefront as former Nazis regain their pre-1945 positions in both German states. When eventually these "forces of order" come back to power at the end of the Berlin Blockade, they crack down on the anarchic Gladow Gang. Gladow himself is sentenced to death for murder and executed by

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

at the age of 18 in 1950. Although ex-Nazis offer Völpel a job in the new West-German police if he'll flee to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, he prefers to stay in an East-German prison until he dies in 1959. This is because Völpel feels freer in prison than inside any ordered society, just as he did before when the Nazis incarcerated him for refusing to fight for them during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Cast

Hilmar Thate Hilmar Thate (17 April 1931 – 14 September 2016) was a German actor. He appeared in 40 films and television shows between 1955 and 2016. Filmography References External links * 1931 births 2016 deaths German male film actors G ...

as Gustav Völpel *

Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film ''The T ...

as Lisa Gabler * Ulrich Wesselmann as Gladow *

Karin Baal Karin Baal (born 19 September 1940), real name Karin Blauermel, is a German film actress. She has appeared in more than 90 films since 1956. Filmography Films *1956: ''Teenage Wolfpack'' *1957: '' Tired Theodore'' *1957: ' *1957: '' The Heart ...

as Frau Luzie Gladow *

Ilse Pagé Ilse Pagé (29 May 1939 – 19 June 2017) was a German film and television actress. Selected filmography * ''Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner'' (1957) - Angela * ''Arzt aus Leidenschaft'' (1959) - Ein junges Mädchen * ''...und noch frech dazu!'' (19 ...

as Frau Gerti Völpel * Peter Brombacher as Schäfer * Klaus Pohl as Gabler *

Hanns Zischler Hanns Zischler (born 18 June 1947) is a German actor known for his portrayal of Hans in Steven Spielberg's film ''Munich''. According to the Internet Movie Database, Zischler has appeared in 171 movies since 1968. He is known in Sweden for his r ...

as Ridzinski (credited as Hans Zischler) * Horst Laube as Gladow's father *

Jürgen Flimm Jürgen Flimm (born 17 July 1941, in Gießen) is a German theater and opera director, and theater manager. After establishing himself as one of the exponents of Regietheater, Flimm was called to manage renowned theaters and festivals. His operatic ...

as West-German police commissioner *

Kurt Raab Kurt Raab (20 July 1941 – 28 June 1988) was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 31 ...

as driver * Michael Danisch * Karl-Heinz Grewe (credited as Karl Heinz Grewe) * Urs Hefti * Hermann Killmeyer

Awards

The film ran in the First Feature Competition at the

, but was unsuccessful. The film was also a contribution to the Max Ophüls Film Prize in 1982. Ilse Pagé received the Gold

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

in 1981 for her portrayal of his wife Völpel. Director Thomas Brasch was awarded the 1981

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are the ...

, which is worth more than DM 50,000 for his debut directorship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Angels Of Iron 1981 films 1980s crime films Biographical films about gangsters Films set in Berlin Films about organized crime in Germany Films directed by Thomas Brasch Films set in 1947 Films set in 1948 Films set in 1949 German gangster films German black-and-white films 1980s German-language films Organized crime films based on actual events West German films 1980s German films