ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Karl Self This is a very strange movie. It starts with the text insert "Berlin, 1945", which translated to "the same place, but last year" at the time and place of filming. Although Berlin sure was in ruins at the time, everything seems so neat, cosy and tidy here -- it made me wish for those happy days of being bombed out and living hand-to-mouth. Susanne, the concentration camp survivor, is perfectly made up and groomed in every scene. When she returns from the camps and finds the alcoholic misanthrope Dr Mertens squatting in her flat, she naturally falls heels over head in love with him. Dr Mertens has the fetching characteristic of never having to worry about food or fuel, and being able to party every day in nightclubs despite being pennyless. Strangely, most films that came years later managed to paint a more realistic picture of the post-war chaos than the film that was filmed right in the thick of it. There is also a somewhat overwrought old man, Mondschein, waiting for the return of his son from the war.The movie finally gains momentum when Mertens encounters his former commander, Ferdinand Brückner, who on Christmas eve only a few years ago ordered the execution of a hundred civilians. Brückner is an unscrupulous, jolly bastard, who has always managed to stay on top and is now already a successful entrepreneur. Compared to the other rather ethereal characters of the story, he is truly creepy because he is realistic, remorseless -- and strangely likable. In the original plot, Mertens eventually avenges himself and murders Brückner, but in order not to promote lynch justice, the movie takes a more moderate and open ending.The movie is very courageous in that it doesn't aim to entertain or send out a positive vibe, but confronts the uncomfortable past head-on and dares to hold up a mirror at its audience, in a way that few, if any, movies have done since. For that, and for its historic value, it deserves twenty out of ten points. Sadly it lacks a bit in suspense. On a side note, its brilliant cinematography and especially the masterly use of shadows was reciprocated in another classic that was filmed two years later, with almost an overload of suspense: The Third Man.

Terrell-4 "Report for December 24, 1942. Execution. 36 men, 54 women, 31 children, 347 rounds of ammunition" It's now Berlin, a year after Germany surrendered. The city is little more than destroyed buildings and mountains of uncleared rubble. Susanne Wallner (Hildegarde Knef) has made her way to a crumbing apartment building where she lived before being sent to a concentration camp in 1943. She finds her apartment is now occupied by a man called Hans Mertens (Ernst Wilhelm Borchert). He's withdrawn, depressed, sardonic, and he refuses to leave. She finally says that she is moving in but that he can stay a few days until he finds other quarters. Mertens, it turns out, is a doctor who has lost all desire to do anything but drink. He had been a surgeon assigned to the Germany army in Poland. As he and Susanne tentatively develop feelings for each other, two things happen. He discovers the man who had been the captain of his unit in 1942 is now in Berlin, a happy and confident factory owner, father of two, and untroubled by any war experiences. Ferdinand Brueckner (Arno Paulsen) is a brisk little man with thinning hair, rimless glasses and a small mustache. He tells Mertens, "Every era offers its chances if you find them. Helmets from sauce pans or sauce pans from helmets. It's the same game." Mertens plans to shoot him. Mertens also is called to help a young girl who is slowly suffocating. He reluctantly identifies himself as a doctor. He does not want to do anything, but knows the girl will die if he doesn't take emergency steps. He winds up realizing a new self-worth in his skills as a doctor. He and Susanne begin a much happier time together. Then Christmas Eve brings back all the memories of an atrocity he tried and failed to stop, and of the captain who gave the order to shoot dozens of hostages while he prepared a Christmas Eve celebration for his officers in a village in Poland. Mertens is determined this time to see that justice is done, and so be it if that means he must be a murderer, too. He finds Brueckner in Brueckner's darkened factory. The conclusion is tense but not without hope. This sounds almost melodramatic. The Murderers Are Among Us, however, is anything but. The film was the first movie made in Germany after WWII. It's a sad, thoughtful reflection on the crimes Germany committed and on the need for some kind of accountability. Weaving through the sadness of Mertens, however, is the recognition of how important hope is. The movie, itself, is so well photographed and edited that it remains a gripping piece of work. The film was shot in Berlin and all the bombed-out buildings, the rubble and the sight of Berliners struggling to live is real. Director Wolfgang Staudte brings an effective mixture of expressionism and documentary realism to the film. He creates some wonderful scenes of angled stairways, broken windows, low, upward shots and harsh shadows. And a word about Hildegarde Knef. She has always been one of my favorite actresses. She was an attractive woman but no Hollywood starlet type. She had a long face, a strong mouth, intelligent eyes with a mind you could see working. When she came to La La Land and Hollywood couldn't figure out what to do with her, she shrugged and immediately headed back to Europe, where she became an international star. She had a great success later on Broadway as Ninotchka in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings. She's one of the best reasons for watching The Lost Continent. (Eric Porter is the other.)

claughl1 One part romance, one part thriller, and all parts beautifully crafted, "Die Mörder sind unter uns" is an amazing film that shows what happens to good people when they have to rebuild their lives after traumatic events. This movie resonates with symbolism and is imbued with an almost dream-like quality. But do not be fooled, in a certain way, this movie is about breaking dreams and skin to heal the mind and body underneath.Ernst Wilhelm plays the sullen and depressed Dr. Mertens. His past occupation as an already reluctant Nazi officer keeps him from continuing his profession as a doctor, and from staying sober. Enter the beautiful and gentle Susanne, played by Hildegard Knef. Having survived her experiences within a concentration camp, though the viewer is never told what those experiences are; Susanne is intent on rebuilding her life and her war-torn apartment. Can these two broken souls heal one another? Watch for the final showdown between Dr. Mertens and his former Nazi superior, Ferdinand Brückner. This showdown, by far one of the most compelling scenes in cinema history, elegantly brings up the issue of justice and "who" is responsible after war atrocities have been committed. What's black and white and red all over? The murderers among us!

dbdumonteil "Die mörder sind unter uns" takes place in Berlin in ruins and features three main characters:Susanne (Hildegarde Knef),a survivor from the concentration camps;a former army medical officer,haunted and tormented by what he did and saw;a former nazi officer who feels no remorse because "he used to obey".Susanne ,played by gorgeous Knef,wants to pick up the pieces.She's the strongest character of the movie .She comes back from hell,so what could be worse?To her Xmas means forgiveness and she knows that death breeds death.When he sees her take care of the seedy flat,the doctor first shrugs,but soon he will use his radiographs to replace the panes. Biggest flaw:it's impossible to believe that Susanne is just out of a camp:actually she seems to go out of a beauty parlor.The doctor is a human wreck who heavily drinks to forget the war horrors.It's only when he meets again his former superior that he rouses himself from his lethargy.Although he feels hatred and thirst of revenge,he is not devoid of compassion:when he takes the man he wants to kill to a desert place among the ruins ,he heeds the call of a desperate mother:it's the most emotional sequence of the movie.On the other hand,the officer behaves as if the war had never happened:the parallel between the two Xmas celebrations(past and present) climaxes the movie .The director chose a good-natured actor,nothing like the nazi villain we generally meet.The directing shows Fritz Lang's (and expressionism) influence:the huge shadow on the criminal recalls the little girl with the balloon scene in "M".And along with "the third man",the movie had a strong influence on two movies: -"the man between"(1953),another Carol Reed movie :James Mason's character resembles the doctor of this movie.-and mainly,mainly, Rosselini's "Germania anno zero"(1948),which dwarves "die mörder sind unter uns".People who enjoyed Staudte's movie should see the Italian genius's masterpiece.