The Nazis are so hated that making “sympathetic” movies is a very delicate process. AFAMFWCM(an awkward title) is made in the vein of Das Boot and Stalingrad where the ordinary German puts on the uniform, goes to war, and suffers like countless other uniformed no matter the land.  AFAMFWCM goes straight from saying goodbye to the family at the station to riding the Russian prison train to deep Siberia.

Clement, the subject of the story, is determined to get home.  The coal mine where he works is pure hell.  Through grit, luck, and persistence he does break out.  Of course that is the easy part.  He is thousands of miles away from any even remotely friendly territory.  Germans are not exactly a popular group in 1945.  And beyond physical hurdles there are psychological barriers to cross.

Adding to the plot, there is a prison commandant who is just as determined to catch him.  The movie is long, sad, and epic in scope (despite focus on Clement). Flagged as a “we all were not hunting Jews” movie, it does have an angle to history rarely seen and sadly under understood.