Das Goebbels-Experiment (2005)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Lutz Hachmeister

Writers:

Lutz Hachmeister (writer)
Michael Kloft (writer)

Release Date:

13 April 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | History | War

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...

Plot Keywords:

Propaganda | Nazi | Diary | Historical | London England

Cast

Udo Samel	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator (voice: English version)
Heinrich Brüning	...	Himself (archive footage)
Winston Churchill	...	Himself (archive footage)
Engelbert Dollfuss	...	Himself (archive footage)
Wilhelm Frick	...	Himself (archive footage)
Josef Goebbels	...	Himself (archive footage)
Magda Goebbels	...	Herself (archive footage)
Hermann Göring	...	Himself (archive footage)
Veit Harlan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself (archive footage)
Heinrich Himmler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alfred Hugenberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joe Louis	...	Himself (archive footage)
Benito Mussolini	...	Himself (archive footage)
Augustine Alfred Joseph Paul-Boncour	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Joseph Paul-Boncour)
Leni Riefenstahl	...	Herself (archive footage)
Theodore Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Heinz Rühmann	...	Himself (archive footage)
Max Schmeling	...	Himself (archive footage)
Franz Seldte	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Allsebrook Simon	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Sir John Simon)
Franz von Epp	...	Himself (archive footage)
Paul von Hindenburg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Franz von Papen	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harry Giese	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited) (archive sound)

Directed by
Lutz Hachmeister

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Lutz Hachmeister		writer
Michael Kloft		writer

Produced by
Nick Fraser	....	executive producer
Sharon Grimberg	....	series producer
Lutz Hachmeister	....	producer
Thorsten Pollfuss	....	executive producer
Mark Samels	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Hubert Bittman

Cinematography by
Hajo Schomerus		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Susan Bellows
David Espar
Guido Krajewski
Günther van Endert

Production Design by
Allison Kennedy		(series designer)

Production Management
James E. Dunford	....	series manager
Glenn Fukushima	....	post-production manager
Daniela Geneikis	....	production manager
Malika Rabahallah	....	production manager
Carla Schild-Kreindl	....	post-production manager
Greg Shea	....	post-production manager
Katrin Steuder	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christian Wagner	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Tilo Busch	....	sound mixer
Marcello Busso	....	sound recordist
Rainer Gerlach	....	sound recordist
Kevin Granahan	....	sound recordist
John Jenkins	....	sound mixer
Hans Schumann	....	trailer sound designer
Daniel Weis	....	sound designer

Camera and Electrical Department
Oliver Bungert	....	grip
Marco Disturini	....	grip
Nikole Erksmeier	....	assistant camera
Arnd Geißheimer	....	assistant camera
Sascha Kaiser	....	assistant camera
Antje Neumann	....	lighting technician
Karim Rahmani	....	assistant camera
Thomas Schäfer	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Spencer Gentry	....	on-line editor
Mark Steele	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Mark Adler	....	composer: theme music

Other crew
Keith Bartlett	....	translator
Bill Brummel	....	assistant researcher
Maria Daniels	....	news director
Federica D'Urso	....	voice
Nancy Farrell	....	series project administrator
Jay Fialkov	....	legal
Vanni Gandolfo	....	voice
Pamela Gaudiano	....	project administrator
Frank Gensthaler	....	researcher
Mary Fran Gilbert	....	translator
Sherene Ing	....	project administrator
Ravi Jain	....	series project administrator
Maureen Jordan	....	legal
Neil Kreppel	....	assistant researcher
Arno Krüger	....	assistant researcher
Francesca Leita	....	voice
Susan Mottau	....	production coordinator
Daphne B. Noyes	....	publicist
Sonali Patel	....	series project administrator
Lauren Prestileo	....	publicist
Christian Remiger	....	title designer
Vanessa Ruiz Ezersky	....	project administrator (as Vanessa Ruiz)
Anja Siebertz	....	assistant researcher
Rebekah Suggs	....	project administrator
Susan Trabucchi	....	marketing director
John Van Hagen	....	business manager
Mathias von der Heide	....	researcher

Distributors

• Cinema Delicatessen (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• First Run Features (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Polyband (2009) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Goebbles Experiment (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:108 min

Country:

Germany | UK

Language:

German | English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Certification:

Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Movie Connections:

Features Panenství (1937)

No better than fair

I was really hoping this film would give some real insight to the life of a very complex and horrible person. Unfortunately, it is, for the most part, a chronological retelling of events. It tells you little about his early life, his switch from socialist to Nazi, next to nothing about his joining and rise in the Nazi party, his reaction to events like the Putsch, the Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, the assassination attempt on Hitler. It gives no information about the making of films like "the Eternal Jew" or any of the inner workings at UFA studios. It does show his dislike of Reifenstahl and then, subsequent fawning over her when giving an award, but the commentary is very limited.

I understand they wanted to limit it to his diary entries but they just aren't enough to give a full perspective on Goebbels. No mention is made of his families' and his deaths (portrayed so well in "Downfall") and nothing of his life in the bunker. Too many gaps, way too much left out. There are some interesting comments about his mistrust and jealousies with Himmler and Goering, but all stuff that has been well reported elsewhere. Some of the footage is interesting including pieces I haven't seen before, but really not much that is of an informal nature. If you're hoping to gain more perspective on why someone would do what he did, or even the inner workings of Nazi Germany, sadly you might as well skip this film.