LA TRAGÉDIE DE LA MINE

by Georg W. Pabst (Kameradschaft, Germany-France, 1931, 1h33)

starring Alexander Granach, Fritz Kampers, Daniel Mendaille, Andrée Ducret

On the border between Germany and France, one evening a fight erupts at a dance when a German, Kasper, asks a French girl, Françoise, to dance. The next day, a firedamp explosion rips through a mine on the French side. The whole village rushes to the scene. After some hesitation, Kasper and the German miners volunteer to go to the aid of their French comrades. Inspired by the Courrières mining disaster, a profoundly humanist and pacifist work.