Sydney Film Festival

‘Fake news’ is a term we are all too familiar with. However, it was not invented by one of the candidates in the current USA elections. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda in Adolph Hitler’s ministry of war was a master of fake news long before the immediate past president of the United States of America!

Führer and Seducer deconstructs Goebbels’ evil propaganda machine and reveals how he created the images, speeches and films that form the frame of reference when discussing the Third Reich. It is a powerful insight into historic events and how they parallel today’s ‘fake news’ landscape.

It’s 1938. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, is at the peak of his power, while Hitler is celebrated by the people. But the dictator is marching resolutely towards war, and propaganda up to now has promised peace.

Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda, accompanies Hitler during the seven years from the “Anschluss” of Austria in March 1938 to the murder and suicide in the Führerbunker in May 1945.

Goebbels is the creator of the pictures of loyal crowds and of the anti-Semitic films “Jud Süß” and “Der ewige Jude”, that ready the Germans for the mass murder of the Jews. After the defeat at Stalingrad and the situation worsening to the point of hopeless in late 1944, Goebbels plans the most radical propaganda act, his last hoorah – Hitler’s suicide, the murder of his family, and his own suicide.

Original propaganda footage is mixed with making-of scenes and juxtaposed with fictional private scenes. First-person Holocaust survivor testimony punctuates the drama while, in a final coup de grace, we are shown footage of actual shootings, hangings and other Nazi atrocities.

Director and writer Joachim Lang’s gives us remarkable attention to detail – make-up, lighting and clever editing. His film recreates and deconstructs the original Nazi propaganda – and its mastermind.

His Goebbels enjoys the challenge of maintaining poll ratings despite Hitler’s mind wandering and garbled speeches and policies. Repetitive messages of hate and fear, Goebbels could be talking about today’s small-screen social media when he likens propaganda to a painting: “It’s not the size that counts but the emotional impact.”

Robert Stadlober’s Goebbels is a mixture of manipulation for his own sake and a misguided vision of a Jewish free Germany. He is riveting to watch as he attempts to manipulate all around him, until there is no other remedy but death.

Fritz Karl’s Adolph Hitler is portrayed as a troubled soul, unable to think clearly as the war turns against him. He laments his inability to live like a normal person, to go to the movies, shop or even a walk for please. He admits “With the right advertising, any fool can take power.”. But even power is not enough.

Franziska Weisz’ Magda Goebbels is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband is having an affair and the country is self-destructing. All she can do is protect her children.

My only reservation viewing Führer and Seducer is the lack of viewpoint of the Jewish race during the holocaust. There are references and extremely confronting footage, but more interviews with the Jewish survivors could have added more gravitas to the film. But perhaps, lamentably there are not a lot of survivors left alive now.

With politics and democracy in the West facing its biggest challenge since WWII, Führer and Seducer is a reminder not to believe everything that we hear or see on the media.

As the film warns – “For if only we take a close-up look at the biggest villains of history can we strip the masks from their faces and thus disarm the demagogues of the present”!

“It happened… and it can therefore happen again. Therein lies the core of what we have to say.” (Primo Levi – Auschwitz survivor)

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