Solange Leben in mir ist

Solange Leben in mir ist (English: As Long As There's Life in Me) is a 1965 German biopic from the East German state-owned DEFA studios and director Günter Reisch following the life of the German communist leader Karl Liebknecht during the first half of World War I. It is the first part in a two-part film series about Liebknecht directed by Reisch, starring Horst Schulze as Karl Liebknecht and Lyudmila Kasyanova as Sophie Liebknecht. It is followed by the 1972 sequel Trotz alledem! (English: In Spite of Everything!) which follows Liebknecht's life during the second half of the war and beyond. Plot The film opens in Berlin in 1914, as Germany is preparing for World War I. Liebknecht (Schulze) receives a call from a fellow lawyer and revolutionary, Mr. Rauch, that documents have been found proving the German heavy arms industry's secret involvement in the buildup to the war. He brings these documents to a meeting of the Reichstag, accusing Gustav Krupp and his company of bribing officials to release military secrets. In addition to this, Krupp and his company wrote to ask the French media to state that the French military has twice as much artillery as they actually possess so that they may provoke a surge in militarism. Afterward, while celebrating a friend's wedding, Liebknecht learns of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, recognizing that this is the war the German imperialists were seeking. However, the resources for war still need to be approved. Liebknecht immediately begins campaigning among the public, denouncing the war as a means to secure profit for the capitalists. In an SPD party meeting, Liebknecht is one of only fourteen members to vote against the war credits. In the subsequent Reichstag meeting, he votes with the party discipline in favor of the war credits, to the public's surprise. He announces in the party meetings that he will no longer yield to party discipline and will stand by his anti-militarist principles even if the party leadership will not do the same. Liebknecht is the only one of the Reichstag — including 111 SPD representatives — to vote against the war loans, resulting in a number of death threats and work bans. Despite his immunity as a Reichstag member, Liebknecht is called to serve on the front as a sapper. It is here that he writes his 1915 manifesto, "The main enemy is at home!" The manifesto is passed among his fellow soldiers on the front before returning home.