The Condemned of Altona is a 1962 Italian-French drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It is based on the play of the same name by Jean-Paul Sartre. For this film Vittorio De Sica won the Academy of Italian Cinema's David di Donatello award for Best Director.

Plot

The industrialist Albrecht von Gerlach realizes he's close to death and summons his son Werner, a lawyer, whom he wants to appoint as his successor. Werner hesitates because he knows their family firm supported Nazism, leading to the execution of his brother Franz for war crimes. Meanwhile, Werner's wife Johanna, an actress involved in an anti-Nazi play by Brecht, discovers Franz is alive and hiding in their family home in Altona. She paints a bleak picture of Germany, still struggling after the war. Franz's meeting with Johanna changes his perspective as he learns of Germany's divided state, one part rebuilt while the other languishes. Leaving his hiding spot, he explores the city to confront the truth. In a tragic twist, he and his father meet their end, falling from the scaffolding of the Gerlach shipyard.

Cast

Music and Art

The music used in the film is from the third movement, "Eternal Memory," of Symphony No. 11 ("The Year 1905") by Dmitri Shostakovich. The drawings on the walls of Franz's room are by the Sicilian artist Renato Guttuso.