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The First Polka

Feb 28, 1979 · 1h 36m
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Drama

PLOT

The intertwined lives of people of both Polish and German extraction who live on the pre-World War II border between the two countries are explored in this drama. Valeska is the Polish/German matriarch of a family living on the German side of the border. Her son is involved with the Hitler youth, but nonetheless keeps secret the presence on family land of a Jew who is hiding from the authorities. When the son inadvertently kills a soldier to prevent his sister from being raped, he runs away after borrowing money from the Jewish man. When soldiers come to the family's door looking for the missing soldier who had been billeted there, the Jewish man commits suicide. In another episode, one of the family's daughters marries a German soldier in a ceremony presided over by a Polish priest.

REVIEWS

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CAST

Maria Schell
Valeska Piontek
Ernst Stankovski
Anwalt Wondrak
Claus Theo Gärtner
Feldwebel Metzmacher
Eva Maria Bauer
Tante Lucie
Erland Josephson
Leo Maria Piontek
Guido Wieland
Herr Montag
René Schell
Josef Piontek
Marco Kröger
Andreas
Directed by Klaus Emmerich

DETAILS

Status
Released
Original language
DE
Budget
—
Revenue
—
Production
Bavaria Film, Neue Deutsche Filmgesellschaft, WDR
Country
DE
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