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| Character | Professor Kantorek???? | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Senior (>50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Persuasive, Inspirational, Speech | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Year | 1930 | |
| Period | 20th Century | |
| Genre | Action, Historical, Drama, War | |
| Description | "Glory of the Fatherland" speech | |
| Location | 4 minutes into the movie | |
Summary
This is a movie about the experiences of a group of young German soldiers who fight in WWI. In the beginning of the film their professor, Kantorek (Arnold Lucy), preaches about the greatness of their country and encourages them to enlist and defend their land...
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| PROF. KANTOREK: "Now, my beloved class, this is what we must do: strike with all out power. Give every ounce of strength to win victory before the end of the year. It is with reluctance that I bring this subject up again. You are the life of the Fatherland, you boys - you are the iron men of Germany. You are the gay heroes who will repulse the enemy when you are called upon to do so. It is not for me to suggest that any of you should stand up and offer to defend his country. But I wonder if such a thing is going through your heads? I know that in one of the schools, the boys have risen up in the classroom and enlisted in a mass. But, of course, if such a thing should happen here, you would not blame me for a feeling of pride. Perhaps, some will say, that you should not be allowed to go yet, that you are too young, that you have homes, mothers, fathers, that you should not be torn away. Are your fathers so forgetful of their Fatherland that they would let it perish rather than you? Are your mothers so weak that they cannot send a son to defend the land which gave them birth?! And after all, is a little experience such a bad thing for a boy? Is the honor of wearing a uniform something from which we should run? And if our young ladies glory in those who wear it, is that anything to be ashamed of? I know you have never desired the adulation of heroes. That has not been part of my teaching. We have sought to make ourselves worthy and let acclaim come when it would. But to be foremost in battle is a virtue not to be despised....I believe it will be a quick war, that there will be few losses. But if losses there must be then let us remember the laten phrase...which must have come to the lips of many a Roman when he stood embattled in a foreign land: "Dulce at decorum est pro patria mori". "Sweet and fitting it is to die for the fatherland". Some of you may have ambitions. I know one young man who has great promise as a writer and he has written the first act of a tragedy which would be a credit to one of the masters. And he is dreaming, I suppose, of following in the footsteps of the Goethe and Schiller and I hope he will....But now our country calls! The Fatherland needs leaders!! Personal ambition must be thrown aside in the one great sacrifice for our country! Here is a glorious beginning for your lives! The fields of honor calls you...." |
