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Second Track, The  Hot
Reviews DVD Reviews
Written by Bob Ham   
Tuesday, 27 May 2008


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Second Track, The

Grade

Content Grade: A
Sound Grade: A
Extras Grade: A
Picture Grade: A

Specs

Studio/Label: First Run Features
Studio/Label Website: http://www.firstrunfeatures.com
Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen
Sound Options and Formats: Dolby Digital
Disc Length: 80 Minutes

Review

Germany has never dared to shy away from its dark past. They have done their best to both come to terms with it and to be as upfront as they can about it to the rest of the world. Outside of its borders, many of these messages have been disseminated by artists and filmmakers and writers, who often tell emotionally stirring tales about the effects of the Nazi era on the world and especially on the people still living in its shadow.

The Second Track, made in the early '60s, focuses even more closely on this by setting at the center of its story two men who are hiding from their illicit pasts in East Germany, but are never able to fully stop being haunted by the ghosts of their deeds.
The story is set in motion by a train robbery undertaken by two rail employees, Runge and Frank. The duo are caught in the act by the train inspector Walter Brock, who says that he can ID one of the perpetrators. Once he's going through the lineup, Brock and Runge have a moment of recognition, causing Brock to change his story and tell the police he might not know who was behind the theft after all. The story spirals into the abyss of the past of these two men, catching both Frank and Brock's daughter in the wake.

The story alone would be enough to recommend this DVD, but what elevates the story is the masterful cinematography of Rolf Sohre. Playing with shadows and dizzying camera angles, Sohre ratchets up the tension and disorients the viewer with nods to similar neo-noir works such as The Third Man and Touch of Evil.

Like the best German cinema, the pulse of this story is the genuine human emotion at play here, helping to make the devastating reveals and the weight of the actions of Brock and Runge fall even more heavily on the people around them and on the viewer. Don't be surprised if this film lingers with you long after you have turned off your TV. It can and will haunt you, and for good reason too.

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Picture and Sound

If you didn't read the date on the box, you might never guess this film was from 1962. The sound and picture are both crystal clear, with nary a blemish to reveal its age to the casual viewer

Extras

Portrait of Cinematographer Rolf Sohre
Breaking with Conventions by Ralf Schenk
Newsreels about the film
Photo Gallery
Biographies and Filmographies
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