Line #3 Film/TheGerman


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_german_wwii_short_film.jpg]]
2
3	->''"A British fighter pilot pursues the German ace that shot down his friend [[{{Determinator}} across sky and country]]... with [[{{Revenge}} murder in mind]]. But he discovers it's not so easy to kill a man [[FacelessGoons when you have to look them in the eye.]]"''
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5	''The German'' is a 2008 Irish short war film written and directed by Nick Ryan, starring Creator/TobyKebbell and Christian Brassington.
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7	It follows a [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Royal Air Force]] fighter pilot during a tense air to air duel with a German foe during the Battle of Britain. Locked in a fight to the death, neither pilot knows how the war will end for them...
8	----
9	!!''The German'' includes examples of the following tropes:
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11	* AcePilot:
12	** Both pilots are supremely skilled, each getting the edge on the other repeatedly in a back-and-forth running battle.
13	** Red Leader's NoseArt indicates that he has been credited with four and a half kills, just shy of the five needed to be an Ace (and he splashes his fifth early in the dogfight).
14	* AllThereInTheManual: All characters' names are only given in the credits. Red Three is listed as Squadron Leader AC Barton. The German is listed simply as "The German".
15	* AntagonistTitle: [[NoNameGiven The German.]]
16	* ChekhovsGunman: The man on the ground who watches both planes fly overhead.
17	* CloserThanTheyAppear: Red Leader catches sight of The German in his fighter's rear-view mirror, shortly before the first burst of machine gun fire neatly bullseyes the mirror.
18	* CombatBreakdown: A dogfight between two fighter planes turns into a running duel with HandGuns, before devolving to a desperate fistfight in the woods.
19	* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: Red Leader, stalking The German in the woods.
20	-->'''Red Leader:''' It's no use. There's a truck there now, they'll send another five. The whole town saw us come down. You can't stay out here forever.
21	* {{Determinator}}: Red Leader, by far.
22	* DramaticGuncock: Red Leader, due to using a revolver, does this before each shot.
23	* HonorBeforeReason: Red Leader's guns end up jamming or running out of ammo. Rather than let the damaged German plane escape, he proceeeds to fly alongside him and [[RammingAlwaysWorks clip wings to force the other plane down, at the expense of his own.]]
24	* InstantDeathBullet: Red Three's plane takes multiple hits, but it's clear that the one bullet through the cockpit is what kills him.
25	* IronicEcho: "I'm afraid this war is over for [[spoiler: both of you.]]"
26	* KilledMidSentence: Red Three.
27	* MoreDakka: Both the Bf-109 and the Supermarine Spitfire both mount multiple machine guns, though special mention goes to the Spitfire's battery of 8 .303 machine guns mounted in the wings.
28	* NoNameGiven: The German.
29	* NoseArt: Red Leader's Spitfire, aside from the iconic (and possibly ironic) RAF bullseye roundel, has four German crosses painted on it to show his kills.
30	* TheRadioDiesFirst: Early into the fight, a machine gun round flies through the cockpit and hits the English pilot's radio.
31	* RealityHasNoSubtitles: All of The German's dialogue is untranslated.
32	* RedShirts: The German's wingman, and Red Three. Plus the multitude of other aviators involved in the briefly glimpsed much larger battle who are all OutOfFocus.
33	* {{Revenge}}: Red Leader's motivation.
34	* RammingAlwaysWorks: How Red Leader takes the German pilot down. Both manage to survive the resulting crash.
35	* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The pilots crash landed in neutral Ireland, and will both be interned for the duration.]]
36	* SacrificialLamb: Red Three, who is killed early in the dogfight, after getting in a few lines of dialogue.
37	* ShaggyDogStory: After the fight is finally over, [[spoiler: both pilots are revealed to have crashed in the neutral Republic of Ireland, and are interned for the duration of the war.]]
38	* WhamLine: After Red Leader has [[spoiler: captured The German]] and brought him to the troops at the edge of the woods.
39	-->'''Father:''' [[spoiler: Welcome to Ireland, gentlemen.]]
40	* WhereDoYouThinkYouAre: [[spoiler: "Welcome to Ireland, gentlemen."]]
41	* WingMan: Red Three, who is given a brief reprieve by Red Leader before he is killed by The German.

Context Film / TheGerman