Redundant and unnecessary.

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Disturbing yet enthralling

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Very touching, very emotional story about the horrors of the Nazi period, two boys, the special bond between them, and the tragedy of it all. What's really worth noting is Max Riemelt and Tom Schilling's excellent performance in this movie. Oh, the whole cast did great, all right. I won't even start about Florian Stetter whom, for his acting skills, I admire deeply. But Max and Tom, being the main characters, thus the center of attention on the set, did, without a doubt, a piece of splendid job. There was just this chemical reaction between them, something that you saw in the eyes, the connection - I've never seen them in such coherence with anyone in any other movie they've been part of again after Napola. I'm doing my best not to exaggerate, but really, I've watched Before the Fall more than six times already, and every time I get the same impression, of the rightness of these two being chosen to act side by side in this exact movie at that exact time.Doubled with the magnificent atmosphere created in the movie, the beautiful soundtrack and, of course, an historical insight into Nazi elites and their impact on German youth, Napola made it's way on the very top of my favorite cinematographic gems list. I do recommend to give this movie a try, one could be surprised on how good of a production it is only after watching it.

"Napola" or "Before the Fall" is a 110-minute German movie from over 10 years ago. Writer and director is Dennis Gansel (around 30 at this point), pretty famous for "The Wave" and this one here is his breakthrough film (unless you already count the abysmal "Mädchen Mädchen!". Gansel has worked a lot with Riemelt in his career, so it's no surprise that he also plays the main character in here. Still, I am not sold on Riemelt after having seen many of his movies. I believe with another lead actor this may have been a really strong movie and contender for best German film of 2004. Tom Schilling, who's a pretty big star today, easily gives the more convincing performance as the soft-spoken son of a well-respected Nazi official, who realizes how wrong his father's deeds are.The best scenes were probably the ones with the sports teacher. They were really baity written, but also gave a crass insight into the methods of operation at the training camp. The popular Nazi message of natural selection, even at the most cruel circumstances, is even more present in here than usual. We follow a young man who has a talent for boxing and may dream of the Olympic Games when he gets recruited for this training camp. The first scene at the camp was already very telling. He tells the officer right away that he left without his dad's permission, but even fakes his dad's signature. The Nazi officer acts negatively and surprised, but in the end he does not hesitate to accept the boy's presence instead of sending him home. A crime here and there is okay if it serves the Fuehrer and Vaterland. And the irony in how he tells him about honesty and obedience, while he himself is dishonest that very moment is priceless. I believe the film's biggest strength is the script. Moments of greatness are rare, but Gansel managed to come up with a screenplay that almost never drags and that is a decent achievement for a film that runs for almost 2 hours. I enjoyed the watch and everybody who likes Nazi-themed films should check it out. And if you already have, take a look at "Berlin' 36", which is sort-of the female-centered version of "Napola". Thumbs up and I recommend it.

This film is an unexpected gem it deals with a young boy who wants to move on from his expected station in life and uses his sporting abilities and Arian looks to try and achieve this. I have never really thought about how the young Germans were trained and educated in their elite schools ended up actually fighting and dying for Germany and it's losing struggle This puts a human face to those young boys who so much was expected of. The need to be the best is hammered into them and if they cannot maintain these standards then they either fall by the wayside or are treated as failures by the system Please watch this film as i do not want to add any spoilers but it is one of the best i have seen for a while and will have you feeling for the characters as boys rather than the machines the establishment want them to become

this movie tells the story of German youth. in the year 1942 the Nazis are at the peak of their power. but it is not just war, the Nazis are up to lots of different things. like creating an elite of arian top trained men, brainwashed in to believing whatever they are being told. i was intrigued by this movie, because i cant imagine the terror and strict upbringing of these young men. but they where the elite, and in the elite there is no time for sympathy or mercy. "if you die you are weak". the few men that does not buy in to the propaganda that is being fed to them are considered outcasts. those that actually understand that the Nazis are the evil side. this is a very interesting subject of history that i haven't seen a lot of, therefore the film is.. in my opinion original and entertaining.