Posted: April 20th, 2022

Propaganda at the Movies

Propaganda at the Movies
Throughout World Struggle I, the British found the energy of lms to form
public opinion (see studying, Western Entrance at the Cinema in Chapter three).
The Soviets made the same discovery in the 1920s. Joseph Goebbels
realized from each. He started with the newsreels, quick lm-based information
reviews that in these days have been performed earlier than function lms. In Germany,
these newsreels confirmed the nation as the Nazis needed it to be seen—wealthy
and highly effective compared to its neighbors. However propaganda was not
restricted to newsreels; other forms of films made in Nazi Germany additionally
expressed the authorities’s political and social views.
Some lms, like Triumph of the Will by director Leni Riefenstahl, gloried
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Get together. The documentary-style lm was shot at
the 1934 Nazi Get together congress and rally in Nuremberg. American Journalist
William L. Shirer was new to Germany at the time, and that rally was his
rst. He describes it this fashion:
Like a Roman emperor Hitler rode into this medieval city
[Nuremberg] at sunset, previous strong phalanxes of wildly
cheering Germans who packed the slender streets. . . . Tens of
hundreds of Swastika ags blot out the Gothic beauties of the
place, the facades of the previous homes, the gabled roofs. The
streets, hardly wider than alleys, are a sea of brown and black
uniforms. . . .
About ten o’clock tonight I received caught in a mob of ten thousand
hysterics who jammed the moat in entrance of Hitler’s lodge,
shouting: “We would like our Führer.” I used to be a lile shocked at the
faces, particularly these of the ladies, when Hitler nally
appeared on the balcony for a second. . . . They seemed up at
him as if he have been a Messiah, their faces remodeled into
one thing positively inhuman.
1
That was the scene that Leni Riefenstahl captured on lm, and her film
grew to become an instantaneous sensation. It was widespread not solely in Germany however
additionally in France, the place it obtained an award for “artistry” at the 1937 World
Exhibition in Paris.
Different lms weren’t designed to glorify the Nazis however to dehumanize,
criminalize, and demonize weak minorities—notably Jews.
Goebbels even issued particular directions on how such films have been to be
described. Following these directions, a brochure that introduced the
launch of the antisemitic lm Jud Süss (“Süss, the Jew”) claimed it was
“traditionally correct” and summarized the plot:
Clear-shaven and dressed like a gentleman, the Jew Süss
Oppenheimer contrives to be appointed Finance Minister to
the Duke of Wuremberg . . . Matching each other in
treachery, the courtroom Jew and Minister Süss Oppenheimer and
his secretary outbid each other in methods and intrigue to bleed
the folks of Wuremberg. . . . The Jew Süss Oppenheimer
violates the lovely Dorothea Sturm, an outrageous act
which conrms the extent of his guilt. . . . Jew, arms o
German ladies!
One other antisemitic lm, Der ewige Jude (The Everlasting Jew), was praised as
a documentary however contained such blatant lies that components of it needed to be
omied from the model proven in different international locations. Ocials feared the
hostile tone may injury the lm’s “credibility.” Marion Pritchard, then a
graduate pupil in the Netherlands, recalled seeing the lm:
We went to see this film and sat and made good remarks all
the manner by means of and laughed at it as a result of it was so
outrageous. And but once we got here out of the film, one in every of my
Gentile pals mentioned to me, “I want I hadn’t seen it. I do know that it
was all ridiculous and propaganda, however for the rst time in my
life I’ve a way of them and us—Jews and Gentiles. I’m going
to do the whole lot I can to Help them, however I want I didn’t have this
feeling.”
2
Citations
1 : William Shirer, Berlin Diary: The Journal of a International
Correspondent, 1934–1941 (New York: Knopf, 1940), 17–18.
2 : Carol Riner and Sondra Myers, eds., The Braveness to Care (New
York: New York College Press, 1986), 28. Reproduced by permission
from New York College Press.
Connection Questions
. How did the Nazis use lm to create a picture of their perfect “nationwide
neighborhood”? How did they use lm to create a picture of who would
be excluded from this neighborhood?
. What did Marion Pritchard’s pal imply when she mentioned, “I do know
that it was all ridiculous propaganda, however for the rst time in my life
I’ve a way of them and us—Jews and Gentiles”? How do you
clarify her assertion?
. Why does lm have the energy to have interaction our feelings? How do
tv exhibits or lms at the moment Help to form an excellent picture of
ourselves and our society? Give examples.
. What’s a documentary lm? How is a documentary lm dierent
from a propaganda lm? If doable, watch a clip from Triumph of
the Will. Based mostly on the description on this studying, or on the clip you
considered, do you suppose that Triumph of the Will needs to be thought of a
documentary lm?
. Whereas this studying highlights lms with a direct connection to
propaganda, the German lm trade was very energetic throughout the
Nazi years, additionally creating “leisure” films like romances and
comedies. In what methods may these even have had a job as
propaganda? What function can leisure in the media serve
for a authorities?
Associated Content material
Picture
Holocaust
Triumph of the Will Propaganda Movie
Leni Riefenstahl’s documentary-style lm gloried Hitler and the Nazi
Get together. It was shot at the 1934 Nazi Get together congress and rally in Nuremberg.
See full-sized picture for Assessment.
Add or Edit Playlist
Video
Holocaust
Remodeling Germany in the 1930s
Propaganda
Triumph of the Will(Triumph des Willens)
Triumph of the Will is a Nazi propaganda lm made by Leni Riefenstahl.
Add or Edit Playlist
hps://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter6/propaganda-movies

———-

Propaganda in the Cinema
Throughout World Struggle I, the British found the shape-shifting energy of lms.

the common public’s opinion (see studying, Western Entrance at the Cinema in Chapter three).

The Soviets made the same discovery in the 1920s. Joseph Goebbels

realized from each. He started with the newsreels, quick lm-based information

reviews that in these days have been performed earlier than function lms. In Germany,

these newsreels confirmed the nation as the Nazis needed it to be seen—wealthy

and highly effective compared to its neighbors. However propaganda was not

restricted to newsreels; other forms of films made in Nazi Germany additionally

expressed the authorities’s political and social views.

Some lms, like Triumph of the Will by director Leni Riefenstahl, gloried

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Get together. The

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