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February 13th, 1945. Dresden, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, helplessly awaits its destruction. In one night and one day, Britain's Royal Air Force drops countless bombs upon the city, triggering a firestorm of unimaginable proportions and reducing the city to rubble. At least 25,000 people die. Among the survivors, some have come together to share their memories in this film.
Distinguished contemporary-history specialist Sebastian Dehnhardt (Stalingrad, The Longest Day) portrays the destruction of Dresden in the form of a "real-time" historical reportage. As the attacks of 13 and 14 February unfold chronologically before our eyes, they are counterpointed by the accounts of ten eyewitnesses British pilots and Dresden residents, those who dropped the bombs and those who survived them.
More than 300 interviews with survivors were carried out prior to filming. The experiences of these people form the basis for the visual reconstruction of the bomb attacks, of which only few images exist. Only by listening to their accounts can we begin to feel the horror experienced by the people on the streets and in the air-raid shelters.
These gripping human fates, along with shattering scenes of chaos and destruction, are depicted with startling immediacy and poignancy in dramatic re-enactments. We experience fear and despair, bravery and compassion. We are drawn into the singular atmosphere of tension and dread that arises in the alternation of scenes from the British headquarters the "Bomber Command" and the streets of Dresden, and in the interplay of the survivors' recollections and dramatic archival footage.
To commemorate the day that changed their lives, Dehnhardt brought together British and German participants of this tragedy. Gathered together in the newly rebuilt Frauenkirche sixty years after the bombings, they recall their experiences and talk with their former enemies. We witness their moment of reconciliation in the stories told in "The Drama of Dresden."
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Remark