Director: Lutz Hachmeister
Starring: Josef Goebbels, Kenneth Branagh
More info: IMDB
Plot: The Nazi propaganda mastermind behind Hitler speaks in first person as actor Kenneth Branagh reads pages of the diary kept by the chief of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, revealing the man's most inner thoughts. Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) was a symbol of Germany's Nazi regime and a twentieth-century icon of maniacal cruelty. His name has been synonymous with cynical, unscrupulous, and at times successful, propaganda. The life of Joseph Goebbels is far more complicated and disturbing than labels like "genius of spin" or "Reich Liar-General" would suggest. The chronicle shows how Goebbels continually "re-staged" and reinvented himself -- from his early days as a radical "popular socialist" to his tragic end. The film lets Goebbels speak for himself through the diaries he kept without interruption from 1924 to 1945, as never before seen historical footage from German archives traces the life of the second most powerful man of the Third Reich, detailing his initial attraction to the Nazi party and his adoration of Hitler. The result is a fascinating psycho-gram of a man who careened extravagantly between self-pity, wild extermination fantasies, and political excesses.
My rating: 8.5/10
Will I watch it again? Jah!
This documentary goes where most would not dare. It gives us a look into the Nazi party from its inception to its demise through the words of a man who was on the inside through it all, Josef Goebbels. I find it interesting much like DOWNFALL (2004) in that it shows the human side of those we perceive as monsters. After all, they were human, too. It's far too easy to dismiss them as uncaring beasts of destruction and death. The most frightening monsters are those who have feelings, who have charisma, who could be your neighbor or close friend. That's what this film shows us. Branagh's delivery is spoken, not acted, which adds to the care in presenting this man's thoughts and words to life without the film makers making a statement of "this man was evil" like so many films do. I'm not saying that Goebbels and his pals were right. No, not at all. What they stood for was an abomination in the face of humanity. But, however, he was not made of Satan's cloth or the scales of a mythological beast. He was a man, a man who you might think pleasant if you should unknowingly meet him, and THAT...is reality.
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Yes, some of the footage in this film is astounding. But I wanted to learn more about his propaganda efforts. Instead, this documentary includes cutting remarks from Goebbels about other German, and Allied, leaders. I was disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI, too, would love to see a documentary that just focused on how he devised and executed his giant propaganda machine. That would be fascinating...and scary.
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