Summary
Germany, 1923, a nation suffocating under hyperinflation and widespread destitution. In this crucible of despair, the communist agitator Nils Unger ignites a desperate workers' uprising in Hamburg. We witness the swift, almost surgical, seizure of a weapons arsenal, transforming ordinary urban structures into makeshift fortresses against an encroaching state. The film starkly illustrates the ideological chasm between Unger's revolutionary zeal and the pragmatic, perhaps cowardly, Social Democrat Busch, whose failure to detonate the crucial Elbe bridge seals the rebels' fate. As Reichswehr troops flood the city, the inevitable massacre unfolds. Unger's capture and the subsequent betrayal by Busch, coerced by the enigmatic Dr. Mays, lead to a show trial designed to politically neutralize the rebellion. Yet, in a defiant twist, Unger, feigning madness to avoid public spectacle, stages a dramatic escape, his rallying cry, "Keep the rifles!", echoing once more through the ravaged streets, a testament to an unyielding, if perhaps futile, revolutionary spirit.
Germany, 1923. Economic ruin, hunger and strikes. Workers called to fight by the communist Nils Unger seize an arsenal of weapons and turn each building into a fortress. The Social Democrat Busch does not fulfill Unger's order to blow up the bridge across the Elbe, and the Reichswehr troops enter the city. The massacre begins. Nils Unger is arrested. Busch, tied to the enemy's helper Dr. Mays, betrays the rebels under interrogation. The rebels face the trial. To avoid political publicity during the trial, Nils Unger is declared insane, but he manages to escape. And again one can hear his call "Keep the rifles!" on the streets of Hamburg.
