Under Jakobs Ladder
7.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Mann Munoz Country United States | 7.2/10 IMDb Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date July 24, 2011 (2011-07-24) (Manhattan Film Festival) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Under jakob s ladder movie trailer 1
Under Jakobs Ladder is an independent drama film by CubeCity Entertainment. Based on a true story, it tells how a teacher named Jakob is arrested and thrown into a Soviet prison in the early 1940s. Mann Munoz directed the film and Roberto Munoz produced. Jeff Stewart plays the lead role of Jakob Seel. The film also stars were Christopher Elliott, Sal Rendino, Quentin McCuiston, Sean Patrick Folster, Matthew R. Staley, Chloe Roe, and Ken Jennings.
Contents
The film is set in the Soviet Union prior to World War II. It features the lives of the ethnic minority Germans from Russia.
Jakob, a former teacher who lost his job due to the new Communist system, can only stand by and watch as the world around him slowly disintegrates, and fear and suspicion rule the day. Like most of the men, he soon finds himself in a Soviet prison.
Plot
Jakob Seel (Jeff Stewart) struggles with his growing sense of worthlessness after he is dismissed from his position as a teacher in a Soviet village. A neighbor asks him to say a prayer at the funeral of her brother. He agrees, even though he knows it is illegal. But Jakob is reported and he is arrested by the secret police later that night. They take him from his daughter and granddaughter, Marta (Chloe Roe).
Thrown into prison, Jakob and his fellow political prisoners find themselves under the heel of the ruthless warden: Nikolai (Christopher Elliott). Unknown to them, Nikolai has an old vendetta against Jakob. One by one, during the night, prisoners mysteriously disappear. To help distract them from their terror of being taken, Jakob consents to the prisoners request to form a choir. In doing so, he unexpectedly finds the sense of worth he had craved. As he rehearses the men, he gains their respect, especially that of the embittered prison bully, Bruno (Sal Rendino).
Then one day, the man responsible for Jakobs arrest — Oigen (Ken Jennings) - is also imprisoned. Now, Jakob faces the test of a lifetime — to see if hes ready to forgive the unforgivable.
Cast
Greg F Kowalczyk as Rudi
Based on a true story
Under Jakobs Ladder was inspired by the life of a real teacher who lived in the Soviet Union in the 1930s: Jakob Seel. His life story is representative of so many others who lived during Stalinist great purges. He belonged to an ethnic minority called the Germans in Russia.
During the 18th century, Seels German-speaking ancestors were among those invited by Catherine the Great (and her son Paul and grandson Alexander who ruled after her) to settle the Russian territories. Communist rule was established as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and Joseph Stalin came to power in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, Stalin began his political purges. The secret police would always come at night in a vehicle that was nicknamed the Black Raven. Men became scarce in the villages and it wasnt long before Seel himself was arrested—after praying a simple prayer at a funeral.
Awards
2010 Redemptive Film Festival
2011 Manhattan Film Festival
References
Under Jakobs Ladder WikipediaUnder Jakobs Ladder IMDb Under Jakobs Ladder themoviedb.org