The Nazi's produced "Jew Süss", a vile piece of anti-Semitic propaganda. After World War II, the movie was taken out of circulation : as far as I know, showing and distributing the movie is still illegal in Germany and Austria, or at least subject to draconian restrictions. (However, it's a pretty safe bet that there are neonazi's around who keep and venerate an illegal copy, next to a photograph of the Great Guide kissing a darling child with a bouquet of wild flowers.)
"A film without a conscience" tells the story of how and why the "Jew Süss" movie was made. It does so by focusing on the life and times of the actor who played the title role.
When "A film without a conscience" was made, there was a fair amount of controversy : people feared that it would revive interest in "Jew Süss", thus creating a new audience. I understand and respect this position. However, after having seen "Without a conscience" I think that this fear is misplaced, since "Without a conscience" slowly and carefully explains, with admirable didactic clarity, that "Jew Süss" was created as a weapon against the innocent and inoffensive. As a result it's very hard to imagine a sane and decent person watching the credits and saying : "So there's a lying piece of Nazi propaganda out there ? Quick, I want to enjoy it, share it, embrace it ! Or even better, let's watch it with the whole family, so that we can all indoctrinate ourselves. It's high time we became hate-filled fanatics".
Personally I give "Without a conscience" high marks for bravery and usefulness : confronting and condemning the errors of the past is the best way of preventing their come-back.
There are other things to admire about the movie, such as the intelligent dissection of the Nazi propaganda machine : the Nazi's had such a need for industrial-strength propaganda because they told such industrial-strength lies. (But then, how could it be otherwise ? The truth is such a radiantly beautiful maiden that she can afford to show herself in the nude ; the lie is an old prostitute, who needs shawls and feathers and make-up and fur coats in order to hide her sores.) "Without a conscience" also does a good job of capturing the venality and decadence of the Nazi brass : these people may have talked a lot about ancestral virtues and moral rectitude, but they were not averse to mistresses, dirty weekends and casting couches - on the contrary. Give Caligula a blonde rinse and a uniform, and he would have fitted right in.
Finally there is a memorable performance by Mr. Bleibtreu. His Goebbels is deeply, deeply frightening : a coldhearted creature of whim and calculation both, born in order to deal out carrots and sticks and capable of switching from debonair benevolence to vicious threat (or back) in five seconds flat.
"A film without a conscience" tells the story of how and why the "Jew Süss" movie was made. It does so by focusing on the life and times of the actor who played the title role.
When "A film without a conscience" was made, there was a fair amount of controversy : people feared that it would revive interest in "Jew Süss", thus creating a new audience. I understand and respect this position. However, after having seen "Without a conscience" I think that this fear is misplaced, since "Without a conscience" slowly and carefully explains, with admirable didactic clarity, that "Jew Süss" was created as a weapon against the innocent and inoffensive. As a result it's very hard to imagine a sane and decent person watching the credits and saying : "So there's a lying piece of Nazi propaganda out there ? Quick, I want to enjoy it, share it, embrace it ! Or even better, let's watch it with the whole family, so that we can all indoctrinate ourselves. It's high time we became hate-filled fanatics".
Personally I give "Without a conscience" high marks for bravery and usefulness : confronting and condemning the errors of the past is the best way of preventing their come-back.
There are other things to admire about the movie, such as the intelligent dissection of the Nazi propaganda machine : the Nazi's had such a need for industrial-strength propaganda because they told such industrial-strength lies. (But then, how could it be otherwise ? The truth is such a radiantly beautiful maiden that she can afford to show herself in the nude ; the lie is an old prostitute, who needs shawls and feathers and make-up and fur coats in order to hide her sores.) "Without a conscience" also does a good job of capturing the venality and decadence of the Nazi brass : these people may have talked a lot about ancestral virtues and moral rectitude, but they were not averse to mistresses, dirty weekends and casting couches - on the contrary. Give Caligula a blonde rinse and a uniform, and he would have fitted right in.
Finally there is a memorable performance by Mr. Bleibtreu. His Goebbels is deeply, deeply frightening : a coldhearted creature of whim and calculation both, born in order to deal out carrots and sticks and capable of switching from debonair benevolence to vicious threat (or back) in five seconds flat.