Undergångens arkitektur (1989)

An absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Cohen

Writer:

Peter Cohen

Stars:

Rolf Arsenius, Bruno Ganz, Sam Gray

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rolf Arsenius	...	Narrator (original version) (voice)
Bruno Ganz	...	Narrator (German, subtitled English versions) (voice)
Sam Gray	...	Narrator (dubbed English version)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Martin Bormann	...	Himself (archive footage)
Karl Brandt	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Dr. Karl Brandt)
Arno Breker	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hermann Giesler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Goebbels	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Josef Goebbels)
Heinrich Himmler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Wilhelm Keitel	...	Himself (archive footage)
Viktor Lutze	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jeanne Moreau	...	Narrator (French version) (voice)
Alfred Rosenberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

An absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler's epiphany while viewing Wagner's opera 'Rienzi', the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the 'degenerate' art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.

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Plot Keywords:

degenerate art | jewish | nazi | washroom | shower | 

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Taglines:

Skönhetskult och barbari i Tredje Riket

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

13 October 1989 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Architecture of Doom

Company Credits

Production Co:

Poj Filmproduktion AB,SVT Drama,Sandrews

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While researching this film in Germany, 'Cohen, Peter' stumbled upon an obscure industrial documentary about various methods of vermin control for factory use. This short, entitled "Kleinkrieg" (or "Little War"), proved invaluable as it was the first to advocate the use of Zyklon-B as an effective means of mass extermination.

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Connections

Features Der ewige Jude (1940)

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Soundtracks

Rienzi (excerpt)
Music by Richard Wagner

User Reviews

The Raise and Fall of the Nazism, in the Megalomaniac Dream of Rebuild Germany First and Later the World, in a Artistic and Aesthetic View

The raise and fall of the Nazism, in a artistic and aesthetic view, is brilliantly showed in this film. I regret only that the economic situation of Germany is not presented at the same time, to give a complete big picture of Germany along this dark period of history. The focus is the megalomaniac dream of a sick leader of rebuilding the world in a standard of beauty. This is exposed magnificently in this stunning documentary. Probably it is one of the best ever made. It should be part of the curriculum of any high-school around the world. Indeed, the history teacher of my daughter recommended their students to watch this fantastic movie as a complementary of their class. The raise and fall of the nazism, their concern with arts, the megalomaniac dream of Hitler with pure race and a beautiful and aesthetic Germany first and then the world, are amazingly well presented in this great documentary. The research of Peter Cohen is great, and the clear, didactic and logical presentation gives a class of history to the viewer. Outstanding and remarkable. Two points along this film called mainly my attention: the first one is the dream of Hitler in designing a Berlin more beautiful than Paris (with an Arc of Triumph larger twice than the French one). The images in the end of the documentary shows how it ended. If the viewer has a chance to watch also Roberto Rossellini's movie 'Germany Year Zero' (of 1947), he will have a chance to see the rest of this megalomaniac dream. The other point was the initial preoccupation of Hitler in not dropping bombs in Greece, due to its historical patrimony to mankind. Unfortunately, recently in Iraq, the same respect was not demonstrated, and we watched on TV the destruction of a great patrimony of mankind, with museums, archaeological fields and other historical monuments being bombed. In Brazil, this film is spoken in German with subtitles in Portuguese. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Arquitetura da Destruição" ("Architecture of the Destruction")