Russian title: Когда Мартину было четырнадцать Original title: Als Martin vierzehn war
Alternative titles: Als Martin 14 war
Youth movie – GDR Production year: 1964 Movie length: 83 minutes
Director: Walter Beck Writer: Walter Beck, Manfred Richter, Hans Schönrock Cinematograph: Eberhard Borkmann Music: Wolfgang Lesser
Movie description:
In 1920, childhood ends abruptly for Martin and his friend Kathrin, when their village in Mecklenburg gets drawn into the events surrounding the Kapp Putsch. When Martin unintentionally finds a cache of weapons the landowner von Broder wants to give to the putschists, he turns them over to the workers. Just as the village decides to go on strike to protest the coup, federal troops arrive. They’re there to prevent the villagers going on strike and possibly »infecting« other villages with their radicalism. If the soldiers have to use force to stop them, they will. Kathrin helps Martin escape the village to get help. It’s hoped that a battalion from the workers’ militia will come to protect the strikers. The strikers are indeed protected, but then Martin falls into the hands of the putchists. He’s able to escape from them and even to take part in the fight against the fascists. His great courage earns the respects of his comrades. Kathrin, however, is inconsolable: her father has fallen in battle. Now, Martin not only proves he’s a brave fighter, but also a loyal friend, and comforts her.