Under the Bridges, made in the last year of the Third Reich, proves that artistic genius can flourish even under the most difficult circumstances. As the Red Army encircled Berlin, filming often had to stop while the bombs were falling.
The film is a long slow ride of self-contemplation but doesn't strive for psychological sophistry. Set amongst the barge workers of the River Havel, the story concentrates on a romance between a bargee (Carl Raddatz) and a waterfront lass (Hannelore Schrott).
"Unter den Brücken" was given its premiere in Stockholm in late 1946, then totally disappeared from view. Rediscovered some thirty years later, the film was hailed by critics as a sensitive depiction of old-world sentimentality at odds with the harshness of modern reality.
I had never heard of this movie until another "bargee", Franz Schramm, skipper of "MS Seestern", mentioned that it was his personal favourite.
I found a full-length copy on www.archive.org as well as a radio play.
