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Context Film / RosenFuerDenStaatsanwalt

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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51PW2M505NL__SL500_AA300__1437.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:300:Pictured: Unrelenting irony.]]
3
4->''"The war isn't lost yet. Far from it. But if it is lost, then - Heil Hitler. - then life's not worth living anymore. In any case, not for the decent, the loyal, the good, and the nation's precious."''
5-->--'''Military Justice Wilhelm Schramm''', [[TemptingFate a couple of days before the end of]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the war]].
6
7''Rosen für den Staatsanwalt''[[note]]''Roses For The Prosecutor''[[/note]] is a 1959 German BlackComedy. It's set in post-war Germany, during a period where former Nazi party members and collaborators that managed to bypass "denazification" were [[KarmaHoudini reinstated as civil servants]] in the young [[UsefulNotes/WestGermany German Federal Republic]].
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9It's a story about the Wehrmacht soldier Rudi Kleinschmidt, who is condemnded to death in the last days of [=WW2=] by the [[HangingJudge fanatical military prosecutor]] Wilhelm Schramm [[DisproportionateRetribution for buying two tins of chocolate from black marketeers]]. However, Kleinschmidt manages to escape the firing squad with his own death warrant in hand, already signed by the prosecutor.
10
11Years later, Rudi is trying to make a living as a rather debt-ridden flying merchant and peddler in post-war Germany. Schramm on the other hand, has not only risen to the head of a rather affluent family, but has been promoted to become a head prosecutor at a Federal German court, leaving his Nazi past in the shadows. As luck would have it, the two men just happen to meet again during a street sale...
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13Also, it's a comedy. It's one of the more controversial German satires of its time period, commenting on things that had been happening in both Germanies for years up to that point, but only became widely known as the movie was released.
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15It was filmed largely in Kassel, though the city itself remains [[WhereTheHellisSpringfield unnamed in the film]].
16
17For a bigger recap, look [[Recap/RosenFuerDenStaatsanwalt here]].
18----
19!!This movie contains examples of:
20
21* AccidentalPublicConfession: [[spoiler: "I herewith propose for the defendant... the death sentence."]]
22* AlasPoorVillain: While Schramm may be a hypocritical JerkAss, he is still portrayed as a very flawed human with his own set of fears and motivations. Especially after he is blackmailed by the contractor [[spoiler: and after he blurts everything out in court]], you'll easily feel sorry for him, simply by seeing how much the whole affair gets to him. With that said, [[LaserGuidedKarma he only got what was coming to him]].
23* AnAesop: Don't let Nazis get away with things!
24* ApatheticCitizens: Just like in real life, many people were either oblivious, ignorant or sympathetic to guilty and convicted ex-Nazis practicing the same jobs as in the war.
25* BasedOnATrueStory: Scandals like these happened all the time (particularly one that involved the headmaster [[http://archive.jta.org/article/1958/04/15/3054752/jews-in-germany-do-not-see-zind-case-as-a-revival-of-antisemitism Ludwig Zind]], on which this story was based), until well into the 1980s, not least due to the strong solidarity among high-ranking ex-Nazis and the simply startling amount of people who were in one way or another Nazi perpetrators and avoided punishment by the allied forces in the late 1940s. Many people also fled Germany and got sentenced in absentia, just like that friend Schramm helped to flee the country for antisemitic remarks.
26* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: Schramm's elder (and adopted) son is a big Rock'n'Roll fan and thinks of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schmeling Max Schmeling]] as one of the great figures of history. He also dislikes his foster father for his very 'German' view sense of family life and for what he implied to have done in the war.
27* DadTheVeteran: Schramm to his two adopted sons. He is the disliked, authoritarian sort who can't get over the war. For more of that see...
28* DarkAndTroubledPast: {{Averted}}. Schramm hides his past as a Nazi HangingJudge purely for legal reasons. He himself shows no remorse for what he did whatsoever. In fact he tries to carry over his old philosophies to his new position any way he can.
29* DeadpanSnarker: Rudi himself gets a great deal, as he reacts surprisingly cynically to many of his misfortunes, despite seeming to be a pathetic goof. For instance, in the beginning of the film, he snarks about how they took away his belt after they threw him in confinement, probably so he couldn't hang himself, but left behind a clothesline nevertheless.
30* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: [[spoiler:After accidentally sentencing Rudi to death in the courtroom, he quickly tries to gloss over it by suggesting the lowest possible sentence of four weeks of custody remand.]]
31* DisproportionateRetribution:
32** Buy chocolate via questionable means ==> get shot by firing squad. Sadly TruthInTelevision; death sentences were passed for lesser reasons in the Third Reich's final stages.
33** {{Discussed}} by a few other guys, who mention that a Wehrmacht lorry driver was shot for dozing off.
34* {{Hypocrite}}:
35--> '''Schramm''': Mr. President... if there were any doubts about my democratic ethos... it would be totally laughable. *JumpCut to people laughing as Rudi shows them his death warrant*.
36* HypocriticalHumor: While chatting with his wife and kids over the breakfast table, Schramm gives a lecture about the Nazi equivalent of a StiffUpperLip, describing strength as the ability to grin and bear suffering for the sake of Germany's war heroes. As soon as he's done with his little speech, he burns his hand on the coffeepot and starts complaining about it, exposing himself as thin-skinned in both literal and figurative senses; his son even jabs at it by mockingly repeating his advice about thinking of the war heroes.
37* INeverToldYouMyName: When a colleague tells Schramm that [[spoiler:someone broke a shop window to steal two tins of chocolate, Schramm immediately frowns and says, "Give me the Kleinschmidt file!"]]. Then his colleague points out that he couldn't possible have known the name just now. He ignores him.
38* IronicEcho: Schramm to his driver, "What are you waiting for, you bonehead?! Beat it!" Cue the execution guard to Rudy, "What are you waiting for, you bonehead? Beat it."
39* LeitMotif: Schramm plays ''Entry Of The Gladiators'' by Julius Fucik (better known as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0CyOAO8y0 that Circus march]]) on the radio on the way to Rudi’s execution because he is bored, [[EstablishingCharacterMoment just to show what a remorseless arsehole he actually is]]. This tune later comes back to haunt him, Rudi and the audience in many different variations. Also serves to point out just how [[RefugeInAudacity audacious]] his behaviour and his situation actually is.
40* MacGuffin: Rudi's death warrant.
41* MeaningfulName: Rudi Kleinschmidt ("Little smith" in German) is a little, poor guy near the bottom of the social ladder. Dr Schramm (from the word "Schramme", which means scar or graze) is a mean-spirited antagonist with a very potentially violent backstory (in terms of helping war crimes).
42* MissedHimByThatMuch: Rudi and Schramm bump into each other without recognising each other once.
43* MsFanservice: Lissy Flemming spends much of her screentime 'exposed' in [[MinidressOfPower one way]] or [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey another]]. Especially for 1950s standards.
44* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Four people come to Schramm to thank him for something he did for them in the past. He replies "Gentlemen, please! Not here!" Too bad those four happen to look a lot like Hitler, Himmler, Hess and Goering.
45* NotWhatItLooksLike: When Schramm receives the eponymous white roses by mail, his wife momentarily suspects they're from a lover. It turns out that they were sent to him by the grateful wife of a man whom he aided in escaping charges of antisemitism.
46* OhCrap: "Private Kleinschmidt..."
47* OnlySaneMan: Schramm thinks he is, as one of the few real 'defenders' of the "righteous" Nazi ideology in post-war Germany. That's why he won't press charges against fellow Nazis (saying that it would be next to betraying his own ideals), and finds antisemitism to be a mere peccadillo.
48* ProductPlacement: ''Scho-ka-kola'' was a real brand of chocolate both during and after the war (and still exists nowadays). It even gained the nickname "Fiegerschokolade" (''Aviators' chocolate''), because it was rationed primarily to Luftwaffe pilots (who relied heavily on its stimulating effect).
49* PunchClockVillain: The execution guard who lets Rudi get away in the beginning. In fact, most of the characters in the film somehow served in the war. The film make a big point of distinguishing such punch clock villains from actually villainous Nazis like Schramm.
50* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The President of the Court and the Attorney General, Schramm's superiors, are aware that something is most foul about him. However, they only begin to act when they hear of Rudi.
51* RuleOfSymbolism:
52** The movie ends with [[spoiler:Schramm taking the lift downstairs and clumsily descending the stairs outside the court building, being forced to leave his robe behind in the process]].
53** Right after the accountant falters and tears up the accusing letter for Schramm's superiors out of fear of risking powerful enemies, he walks past a public announcement sign reading "Citizens, protect your assets!"
54* RunningGag: The corpulent contractor ogling Lissy when he's close by.
55* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Schramm invokes this - it's partially true too.
56--> '''Schramm:''' [[TemptingFate A lot has to happen for something to happen to a prosecutor]]. *JumpCut to Rudi coming into town*
57* SelfDeprecatingHumour:
58--> '''Police Detective:''' Mr. Kleinschmidt, you are an intelligent man, right? You know you are never supposed to apply logical thought when dealing with government agencies. You'll only stir up trouble that way.
59* ShotAtDawn: Rudi's supposed fate for buying military chocolate outside the military circulation.
60* SoundtrackDissonance: Is there any better ambient music for an execution than the very upbeat ''Entry Of The Gladiators''?
61* ThoseTwoGuys: Neuss and Müller, the two moving truck drivers who are always there when Rudi needs a lift somewhere else.
62* ThoseWackyNazis: Schramm himself is a very obvious expy of not only many TWN stereotypes, but also for a bunch of real-life ex-Nazis; devotedly fascist, tight-assed, bureaucratic, smug, sleazy, ignorant, and, last but not least, cowardly.
63* TooQuirkyToLose: Rudi. In fact, his girlfriend compares him to the Leaning Tower of Pisa; he himself explains that, while the tower may not be straight, it hasn't yet fallen over, and that's exactly the reason why people like it so much.

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