Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie Review

"Live better than I did, my boy."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 25, 2024

The Berlin Wall fell in November 1989. Preceding that monumental shift in German history, though, optimism for a future free of communism, hate and the sins of the past was steadily on the rise. Two years prior to that -- and the dramatic physical and societal dismantling of the Wall -- came director Michael Kann's Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen, a film with a startlingly powerful premise: a teenage Hitler Youth fanatic in post-WWII Nazi Germany is ostracized from his community after it's discovered his late father was half Jewish. But while in any other era the sharpness of the idea might have produced a tense, perhaps even sobering identity-crisis drama, Kann's late '80s hopefulness allows a ray of sunshine to illuminate shadows it should have no business illuminating. Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen limps along in this light with tired steps; its ragged legs bandaged with coming-of-age cliches and bizarrely ham-fisted grooming and sexual awakening tropes, none of which fashion the film into anything beyond a disappointing paint-by-numbers melodrama.

Fifteen-year-old Hitler Youth fanatic Heinz Stielke (Marc Lubosch) is devastated to learn a hidden truth about his father; a respected war hero who died fighting for Germany in the midst of World War II. But that's not the entire story, Heinz soon learns, when it's revealed that his father was, in fact, Jewish. Exiled from his community and searching for a new place to call home, the teen is forced to confront his own rage and humiliation, while colliding with a variety of people across war-torn Germany.

Sounds like an incredible film, doesn't it? Tone, though, is king, and Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen struggles in everything from the performances of its young actors (particularly those of Stielke's bullies) to script writer Andreas Scheinert's rote plotting to Wolfgang Schoor's strangely hopscotch score. If the boy at the center of the story was just that -- a boy, ten or younger -- it might work, a la Taika Watiti's excellent JoJo Rabbit. However, the "boy" in question here, though technically still a child, is on the cusp of manhood, and at fifteen, would presumably be the subject and victim of a more strenuously adult tale. (Which is precisely the movie the official plot synopsis describes.) Perhaps 1987 simply wasn't the right time to strike such a difficult balance. Or Kann wasn't the best man to grab hold of the reigns. Or it was some sort of national optimism of the day that got in the way. Maybe stronger casting, different music and another pass or two on Scheinert's script might have righted the ship. Regardless, the stilted, overly manufactured journey out of boyhood we're given drifts a bit too far into Roberto Benigni territory, while visually and thematically insisting its the stuff of mature cinema, and seems too eager to delight in its own disjointedness.

Stielke's "social collisions" aren't that precarious either (until the third act requires them to be that is), inadvertently infusing the film with a sense of safety that stands as the antithesis of the feelings that should be evoked. A mother dies. A boy is taken advantage of by an adult woman. These things shouldn't be surrounded by a confusion as to how to bring tragedy into the mix. I didn't need Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen to travel as far into the depths of hell as Come and See (1985), nor did I need our young protagonist to witness the brutality of war to the degree Come and See's Flyora does. I also wasn't hoping to experience the level of despair that hangs heavy over the likes of The Painted Bird (2019), nor did I really expect Lubosch's performance to drop my jaw like that of Bird's little Petr Kotlár. But wartime Germany, not to mention larger Europe, was such an alien world for those who were torn between unapologetically supporting Hitler's cause and grasping for a grander moral standard. Kann is in need of more grounding elements, or better still, more sequences to earn Stielke sympathy as he advances in his thinking -- be it by way of acting prowess or some other filmmaking boon -- to more stably anchor the director's flair for histrionics and melodrama to earth. Moreover, you would expect the obstacles the teen encounters to leave him more riddled with visible and figurative scars, spinning himself dizzy with questions about nationalism, blind obedience, hero worship, disenchantment, family divisions et al.

Instead, a trail of coming-of-age bread crumbs lead Stielke right where the screenplay needs him to go, bringing about most any change by way of obvious plot points rather than honest or horrific hardship. Character development requires more than a traceable arc; convincing heartache more than a sad face; and loss more than empty arms.

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The mission of the DEFA Foundation is to preserve the films of DEFA, the former East German film studios, and oversee their use for the public good as part of Germany's national cultural heritage. By allocating awards, the Foundation contributes to the support and sponsorship of German film culture and film art.

Minted from a stunning new restoration courtesy of the DEFA Foundation, Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen features a near-perfect 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that isn't hindered by any significant issues; at least none that aren't attributable to the original film elements. Colors are warm and natural, with lifelike skintones, the occasionally vivid primary punch, satisfying black levels, and consistent, expertly balanced contrast. Grain is also quite filmic and pleasantly present throughout the film, only growing a touch unwieldy in a small handful of scenes (the candlelight dinner being one). Detail is terrific, with precise edges, beautifully resolved fine textures, and solid shadow delineation. Better still, you won't catch sight of any banding or blocking. The tiniest of infrequent print specks appear once in a great while, and a mere three instances (by my count) of negligible print damage peek through the grain field. Does any of it amount to a distraction? Not at all. I can't imagine Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen looking any better than it does here.

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Altered Innocence presents Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen with a DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix. Short on bells and whistles, the lossless track is nevertheless a faithful representation of the film's original sound design. Voices are clear and intelligible. Prioritization is spot on. Dynamics are decent, considering. Yes, bombings and other dramatic sequences could have used the LFE oomph of a fuller 5.1 remix, but even so, purists will be pleased with the single-channel results.

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Away with These Stultifying Bandages (HD, 18 minutes): A decent enough video essay by Aaron Dries, the full title of which is "Away with These Stultifying Bandages: History and Identity Politics in Steilke, Heinz, Fifteen.

• Restoration Trailer (HD)

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stielke, Heinz, Fifteen didn't work for me narratively or dramatically. But I also recognize it's precisely the sort of film where viewer mileage will vary. You may find it compelling, heartbreaking and harrowing. It all depends on how well you respond to the young cast members' performances and the low budget trappings of the 1987 German production. Fortunately, the Blu-ray release features an excellent restoration of the original film elements, a near-perfect video transfer, and a solid lossless mono mix. Additional extras would have gone a long way, but it is what it is.