linndechir

Last night I finally got around to watching Der neunte Tag (The ninth day). I wanted to watch it because, well, it's with August Diehl and he plays a Gestapo officer. Of course I was curious if this Untersturmführer Gephardt (poor guy doesn't even get a first name) was anything like Hellstrom. Well, very rarely he reminded me of him, but they don't really have much in common, which is fascinating. Unlike Hellstrom, Gephardt is a convinced national-socialist, but what makes him so fascinating is that he's also a devout Catholic who studied theology and almost became a priest. Since the other main character is a priest (called Kremer) who criticises the nazi regime, they spend most of the film talking about politics, faith, and religion, and if that sounds boring to you, you underestimate August Diehl.

The movie itself is in my opinion not all that good, the plot is rather poor, especially at the ending. But Gephardt is an extremely intriguing character, with this weird mixture of national-socialism and faith, he's intelligent and charismatic, he's a man of principles, someone who has firm beliefs and wants to change the world, but he's also short-tempered, even violent. It's a pity that the movie focuses more on the priest than on Gephardt, because in my opinion Gephardt is by far the more interesting character.

To make it short: watch this movie right now, ignore the poor plot, and focus on an absolutely breath-taking acting performance and a character who needs some fanfiction. I really want to write about him. Yay, one more nazi character in my head. Exactly what I needed right now. -.-

So, enough babbling, here we go for a HUGE picspam, which will hopefully convince you more than my words ever could. I made ... you won't believe it, 500 screencaps. Then I cut it down to 100. Then I took out another few, but I really couldn't go under 50, or else I would have had to take out really gorgeous pics I need to share with you. So, I decided to make two parts, but they'll both be pretty big as well, but I suppose you guys won't mind getting many pictures. Right? :)

Meet Untersturmführer Gephardt. Looks like Hellstrom, eh? But less smarmy. And a very different character. And he wears a suit almost all the time.