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Movies / On DVD / The Ninth Day
The Ninth Day

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The Ninth Day (2005)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:28

Rotten:6

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Fueled by tension-filled performances and dialogue, this Holocaust film brings up morally ambiguous, thought-provoking issues.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a unique examination of historical events that took place during the Holocaust. Interned at the... Noted German director Volker Schlondorff's (THE TIN DRUM) highly compelling THE NINTH DAY provides a unique examination of historical events that took place during the Holocaust. Interned at the Dachau concentration camp near Munich in 1942 for anti-Nazi activities, Henri Kremer (Ulrich Matthes), an influential Luxembourg priest, endures terrible hardships along with thousands of his clergymen. Mysteriously, Kremer is released and sent back home to his family in Luxembourg for nine days. Upon his return, the local up-and-coming SS chief, Gebhardt (August Diehl) charges Kremer with a difficult assignment: convince the Bishop of Luxembourg to sign an agreement with the Nazis, thereby providing an integral link between Hitler in Berlin and the Pope in the Vatican. These scenes between the young, eager Gebhardt and the older, stoic Kremer simmer with friction and meaningful import. The great challenge is that the Bishop, like Kremer, opposes Nazi racial doctrine. Failure to execute within nine days means a return to Dachau for Kremer and the endangerment of the lives of his family and fellow clergyman at the camp. However, while success provides assured safety for all those people, it also would represent the ultimate corruption of his own faith. Based loosely on the memoirs of Jean Bernard, a real Catholic priest, THE NINTH DAY is a complex and thought-provoking film. [More]

Starring: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau

Starring: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau

Director: Volker Schlöndorff

Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Screenwriter: Volker Schlondorff, Eberhard Gorner, Andreas Pfluger
Producer: Juergen Haase
Studio: Kino International

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Reviews for The Ninth Day

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Impressively tackles the enduring dilemma inherent in dramatically depicting the enormous horror of the Nazi death camps, and meeting that challenge, oddly enough, in tacit admission of the very impossibility of that task.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
05/24/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

This powerful film celebrates individual acts of conscience in barbarous times.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Erica Abeel
Erica Abeel
Film Journal International

A fresh way to illuminate another worthy dark Holocaust story.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/06/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
12/06/05
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A morality thriller filled with heavy-handed allusions to the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
12/02/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

This low-key, talky Holocaust drama doesn't try to pummel viewers with visuals of the Nazis' atrocities, but what is described in dialogue is tough enough.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
12/02/05
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Dark and depressing as the film is, it is thrilling to watch Henri work through his moral qualms as he battles the smooth tongue of evil.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
11/17/05
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

It's no wonder Schlöndorff favors close-ups; with Mattes on screen, The Ninth Day gets right to its emotional core.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
11/11/05
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

The dark, rotting interiors and sunless winter skies create a festering atmosphere of unexpiated guilt as Kremer ponders the question of how a decent man is to navigate the rivers of hell.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
11/10/05
Bill White
Bill White
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Ninth Day is far from perfect, but is still thought-provoking and intriguing, a film that can begin its own kind of debate.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
10/07/05
Marta Barber
Marta Barber
Miami Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/10/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Plays more like a philosophical debate than a war drama.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
08/18/05
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post

The film’s effectiveness hinges almost entirely on the performance of Matthes.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
07/30/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

An accomplished, confident work.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/23/05
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film's star ... is Diehl, who perfectly captures the banality of evil inherent in Nazism. Villains are great characters, and Diehl's Gebhardt is terrific.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
07/15/05
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

It just feels like too much over too little.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
07/15/05
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

Schlondorff draws a telling picture of the ravished moral landscape that kept the wheels of the Holocaust turning.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
07/15/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

A thoughtfully written drama of ideas with vivid performances by August Diehl and Ulrich Matthes.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/07/05
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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