''The Boat Is Full,'' which is set during World War II, begins as a small band of refugees crosses the German border into Switzerland. The refugees find an inn, and persuade the proprietress to sell them a meal. They are terrified of deportation, and soon the stolid proprietress is willing to help them stay. It seems, for a while, as if they can pose as a family, even though most of them were unacquainted when the journey began. Refugee families with children under 6 are allowed to remain in Switzerland, and this group is lucky enough to include a tiny boy -even though the adults are all German and the child, unless he is carefully silenced, speaks French. The refugees shift through one ploy after another, in a story that remains suspenseful to the very end. The principal emphasis, though, is on the Swiss community into which the refugees have stumbled. The Swiss cannot exactly be accused of unkindness; murderous fastidiousness is closer to the truth. Their ostensible concern is for abiding by the rules, whatever those rules may be. And so the reaction of many of the townsfolk to these newcomers is not one of overt anti-Semitism; it's more like a disdain for lawbreakers. When Judith Kruger, the young woman in the refugee group, offers her most desperate lie, two guards shake their heads in disbelief. ''They'll try anything,'' the guards say contemptuously of the refugees.

Einer zufällig zusammengewürfelten Gruppe von Flüchtlingen ist während des letzten Krieges der heimliche Grenzübertritt in die Schweiz gelungen. Sie alle können nicht wissen, dass diese Zuflucht trügerisch ist, dass Flüchtlinge «nur aus Rassengründen» kein Anrecht auf Asyl haben und dass seit einiger Zeit die Grenzen für Fremde verschlossen sind. Halbherzig von Schweizern aufgenommen und halb wieder verraten, sind die Flüchtlinge sogar bereit, sich selber preiszugeben um sich zu retten. Sie formieren sich zu einer grotesken Familie, um so die polizeilichen Voraussetzungen zu erfüllen. 

DVD-R is in German with switchable English, French and Italian subtitles.  Approx. 99 mins.  See film sample for audio and video quality!

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