Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Ninth Day (2004)
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Movie review
From Time Out London
Schlondorff’s superior WWII movie is not the Holocaust concentration-camp drama one might expect from the opening scenes set in Dachau. In 1942, a priest (Matthes, remarkable) is released by the Nazis and allowed to return to the family home in Luxembourg – but not for good: he has nine days in which to persuade the intransigent Bishop to work with the occupying forces. Thereafter, the film becomes in many regards a philosophically and ethically sophisticated two-hander, in which two men – the priest and an idealistic Nazi officer formerly in a Catholic seminary – do battle with one another and their respective faiths; the other characters exist primarily to exert pressure on the two antagonists. Unfussily made, beautifully performed, and old-fashioned in the best sense, it’s one of its director’s finest films for some years.Author: GA
Time Out London Issue 1788: November 24-December 01, 2004
Cast & crew
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Cast: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Bibiana Beglau, Hilmar Thate
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now