The Turning Point (1983)

In the chilling autumn of 1945, young German POW, Mark Niebuhr, a former infantry rifleman, disembarks from a train into the heart of war-ravaged Warsaw. Misidentified by a Polish woman as the SS officer responsible for her daughter's death, he is abruptly plucked from his fellow prisoners, thrown into the chilling embrace of solitary confinement, faced with his darkest fears. A fellow Polish lieutenant, sharing Mark's youth but not his fate, spearheads the investigation into his murky past. As the seasons wheel around, Mark finds himself sharing a cell with a Polish prisoner. Their relationship is a bitter brew of hatred and suspicion. Outside the cell, in Warsaw's skeletal landscape, Mark is tasked with the perilous job of clearing unstable walls. During one such assignment, he saves a child from imminent danger, shattering his own arm in the process. It's in the sterile confines of the hospital that Mark discovers the murder investigation against him is in full swing. Post-recovery, he is relocated to an all-German cell block, where the ghosts of the old hierarchy lurk. Here, General Eisensteck and Major Lundenbroich preside, the fascist spirit echoing ominously. The falsely accused Niebuhr is reluctantly adopted by these genuine war criminals, seen as a brother in arms. However, Mark slowly pierces their veil of deception, resists their influence, and isolates himself, grappling with a newfound sense of guilt that wraps around his existence. After eight months of emotional torment, his innocence in the murder case is finally established, leading to his release, a turning point in his life marked with relief, reflection, and regret.

The Turning Point is a drama movie featuring Sylvester Groth.

The Turning Point is currently streaming on Kanopy.