I found this enjoyable as a documentary movie study of the question of the Nazi use of cinema as propaganda. There is not much in the way of in-depth analysis of the topic, but for that to be well done you really need a book rather than a movie. People don't go to the movies to be lectured to for 90 minutes. The advantage of a film documentary over a book is that you get to see - and hear - what the German movies of that era were like. Enjoy this movie for that, and don't expect it to be a scholarly study as well.
My criticisms are minor.
1. I wish the movie had examined these movies in two parts: those from 1933-1940, before Germany was really at war and life started to get very hard in Germany, and then 1940-1945, when life got steadily harder for the Germans. I would have been interested to know if UFA's movies changed as life got harder.
2. This is not the fault of the movie as such. I watched the American version, which was well dubbed with a decent English-speaking narrator. However
a. the subtitles for the movie clips were in yellow, with no cartouche around them, so they were often hard to read, and
b. the narration was captioned (for the hard of hearing?),and that captioning was full of typos. I don't envy anyone hard of hearing who had to rely on them.
Both a and b could be corrected.
90% - Critics
50% - Audience
6.8Keywords: world war iimovie businesscinema on cinemaadolf hitlernazism
Plot summary
In Nazi Germany, film was considered a major medium for the Nazi Party propaganda machine. While pure propaganda material was not all that was produced by the domestic film industry, there still was a party line to be followed, especially with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels having complete control over the content. This film explores a collection of the most significant artists involved in the medium with clips of the major films produced. Furthermore, the major themes and artistic boundaries of Nazi German films are presented from the regime's beginning in 1933 to its total defeat in 1945.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Good as a movie, not a replacement for a book-length study of the same subject
Films From Nazi Germany Which Were Overtly Promoted By The Third Reich
Between the years of 1933-1945 approximately 1000 feature films were produced in Nazi Germany. And, considering who was in full control of that country at the time, it's actually surprising to find out how few of these films came even close to being overt Nazi propaganda in their subject matter.
From comedy, to romance, to fantasy, to musicals, and to so much more - This intriguing historical documentary takes a close-up look (through hundreds of film clips) at German cinema as it existed during the reign of terror of the Third Reich in Germany.
(*Note*) - As one closely watches this endless stream of film clips it is difficult to view any of them as being just "harmless entertainment" without wondering whether there existed some sort of insidious hidden message in the stories that were being told.
Great documentary
I had no idea about the propaganda movies. Many moviestars i recognized from movies when I was young, but didn't know anything about their past.