The Color of Fire (2015) Online

Yeah, I gave this movie an 8, almost a 9 due to others giving it a 2 or 3 out of 10. It's a solid 8 for sure. And, nobody has given this great documentary a review???? The depth of this film is intense. I guess some folks either don't pick up on the intense reality of this man's journey, or simply deny it, or flat out missed the biting haunt of this documentary. The gentleman that this story is about, (Diether Warneck) whom also narrates it (more of a story-telling) is filmed by his son (Dorian Warneck). It's simple genius in film making. The story itself is more than enough to carry the film. Diether tells his coming of age story that takes place in Germany (Dresden) during the WWII bombing raids that almost leveled/destroyed Dresden. It's a heart felt somber look at his life at that time, and since that time. At first, by the title "Color of Fire", I thought the movie would be entirely about Dresden with lots of historical clips and interviews of the town and it's citizens. But, the movie was actually about one man, his family, and how his coming of age time haunts him right up to his death. The movie was released in 2015. Diether died in 2015, his brother later that same year. That alone tells you the impact and purpose this film was meant to have, on their family, and on you. You get a true sense of the hard reality of his struggle to make some kind of rational purpose of it all, and how cruel, inhuman, and stupid humans can be. From a German (side of the war) perspective, you really do see that many German Citizens had no clue about the atrocities of the concentration camps and other inhuman things that were perpetrated by some Nazi's (yes, some, not all). We have to understand, and accept, that there were many innocent German victims, citizens themselves, of Nazi ran Germany aside from the obvious German Jews,the Gay & Lesbians, those with other than light skin color, etc. So much contempt for the Nazis can easily lead to one casting hate on all German citizens, which in itself is doing just what the Nazi's did, essentially. This film allows us to see this, and is done wonderfully well by the son. It truly captures the mesmerizing trauma war causes, and how it effects those for eternity whom survive war's grasp first hand. Thank you for sharing your story, Diether. I feel like I came to know you in person by the time the movie was over. I felt like you were my friend by the time the ending credits rolled. And, thank you Dorian, for realizing what an amazing story your father had to share, and allowing us to hear & see it. Danke, Freund!

I watched it twice. Although the movie was primarily about a tragic time in this mans life, for me personally, it made me reflect on how the same things in 1945 are current events in April 2017. Hardly a year can go by that some one does not complain in the media etc that it is just unspeakable that not only Germany but any of the Axis powers had any citizen that did not know about some mass murders or some kind of torture going on. When some one speaks up and makes a comment like this guy in this film, that he didn't know about any concentration camps etc why is that so hard to believe ?? He was 15 years old. He witnessed the worse fire bombing of a militarily unarmed, unguarded city that was a safe haven for refugees, what today April 2017 is called "Sanctuary City". Research it, the city had no military value, it was just people. Yet it went on for days and it was the worse fire bombing in the history of modern warfare. Of course he was traumatized. As far as everyone must know everything that is going on, that to say you did not know that people were taken to concentration camps .... There are whole generations of American that do not know America has had concentration camps in California and Texas to name on two states. Where people of Asian, German, Italian decent were kept for years. Not only did people in other states not know about, but many in the actual states that hosted these camps did not know about it. Is it fair to say that every one in America knew about the government torture going on in Guantanamo U.S. Military base and was okay with it ? That went on for years and the public had no idea it was happening. That whole concept of blaming a whole group of people for the actions of some is totally wrong. Another perfect example: One bad Indian, so all Indians are bad is beyond discrimination.

Diether Warneck, the subject and narrator of this "documentary" tells the audience at least 100 times that he is just a 15 year old boy during the "horror" of his MONTH of experiencing WWII Germany. As a German child, it was not until 1944 that he even experienced any effects of Germany's aggression, while the rest of Europe was attacked, bombed, starved, tortured and occupied by German forces. When Berlin was bombed, he and his family were able to move to Dresden, which turned out not to be such a good move, as it was horribly bombed. He joined the army, guarded a bridge, walked through a field of dead Polish soldiers and hid in a tank that managed to escape invading Russian soldiers. He had outstandingly good fortune to join the German army just weeks before Hitler killed himself. Thanks to good luck, he was able to make his way home and simply resume his life once again, minus his "girlfriend," his bike and his father. Most victims of that war were not so lucky. My father, an American who spent his early years in German boarding schools, became a soldier many years before America came into the conflict. He had spent most of his life in Europe, spoke flawless German, Spanish, Italian and French, and agreed to dress up as a German officer and risk his life for years to defend the rest of Europe against the hideous aggression of his beloved Germany. My father and the fathers of most of my friends were never the same when they came home. Most of them became alcoholics, worked themselves to death and lost their wives and families as a result of the trauma they suffered defending the world from Hitler, his fierce soldiers and, according to this documentary, his innocent, half-asleep citizens...who never questioned where their Jewish neighbors went as they moved into their homes and took possession of their things. Who were all those people in the newsreels of Hitler giving speeches of crowds of worshiping Germans who voted him into power? This documentary made me aware of just how little the German people suffered as Europe burned and bled. I was and am offended by this film. However, my ire was tempered by my sheer boredom due to the tedious nature of the film, the poor story-telling skills of Diether Warneck and the total lack of editing skills of his son.

Unfortunately, the unapologetic, mildly narrative third - person view (although presented as introspective) of the documentary's center person takes the focus away from the fact that Germany paid a very low price for the horrors inflicted. And this was just 70 years ago. No matter if culture, society, economy, religion or history mechanics become the lenses through which one elects to approach the horror of ww2, the reality check remains the horror itself. And to this horror , the reflexes of German society of the time were weak and passive. This, combined with an apparent lack of grip and technique in filming terms, make for an uninteresting feature.