Der Tunnel DVD (The Tunnel) (Curtis Bernhardt, 1933)

Der Tunnel (Germany, 1933) is a German science fiction drama adapted from Bernhard Kellermann's 1913 novel, following visionary engineer Allan Mac Allan and his effort to build a transatlantic tunnel linking Europe and America. Set against financial speculation, labor unrest, and repeated technical crises, the film presents large scale engineering as a means to overcome political and economic division. Produced by Bavaria Film and released on November 3, 1933, Der Tunnel belongs to the early cinema of the Third Reich, appearing months after Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor and during the rapid dismantling of the Weimar Republic. Emerging in the wake of the Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act, it reflects a transitional moment when state oversight of film was tightening and Joseph Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry was beginning to steer major studios, but before full centralization and overt war propaganda. In this context, Der Tunnel recasts a prewar utopian novel as a sound era spectacle aligned with favored themes of the new regime: faith in technological progress, heroic leadership, collective discipline, and the subordination of individual interests to a grand “unifying” project. Though not explicitly militaristic, its emphasis on engineering prowess, visionary authority, and mass orchestration anticipates aesthetic and ideological tendencies that would soon characterize Nazi cinema.

Starring Paul Hartmann, Otto Wernicke, & Beppo Brem. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Germany, 1933, B&W, 72 min., German dialogue with English subtitles.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:
Original Promotional Materials Slideshows:
• 2 Illustrierter Film Kuriers with English Translations
• Brochure & Posters.

NTSC Region 0 encoding (Entire World)