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Description
The programme examines the characteristics and methods of propaganda displayed in feature films. It looks in detail at three films from the Soviet cinema and shows how the methods altered with the... needs of the regime. Goebbels, who had a deep knowledge and interest in the film, admired the Soviet cineraa and looked to it as a model for his own propaganda schemes. He disagreed with Hitler over the basic nature of propaganda within the medium of the feature film and the programme examines seven Nazi feature films to show the pernicious power and insidious subtlety which were exerted by these feature films particularly during the war period. The programme deals too with the intrinsic solemnity of the genre and concludes that ultimately the most successful film of the Nazi period was a popular musical.
The programme examines the characteristics and methods of propaganda displayed in feature films. It looks in detail at three films from the Soviet cinema and shows how the methods altered with the... needs of the regime. Goebbels, who had a deep knowledge and interest in the film, admired the Soviet cineraa and looked to it as a model for his own propaganda schemes. He disagreed with Hitler over the basic nature of propaganda within the medium of the feature film and the programme examines seven Nazi feature films to show the pernicious power and insidious subtlety which were exerted by these feature films particularly during the war period. The programme deals too with the intrinsic solemnity of the genre and concludes that ultimately the most successful film of the Nazi period was a popular musical.
| Module code and title: | A309, Conflict and stability in the development of modern Europe c.1789-1970 |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A309; 06 |
| First transmission date: | 10-06-1980 |
| Published: | 1980 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:37 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Roger Thompson |
| Contributor: | Tony Aldgate |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Cinema; Feature films; Propaganda |
| Footage description: | An extract from Eisenstein's film Battleship Potemkin is shown in which workers are massacred on the Odessa steps. In voice over Tony Aldgate comments on instances of propaganda in the film. Scenes from Eisenstein's film Strike are shown with English subtitles. Aldgate comments on the film's objectives and its complex filming techniques. Two extracts from the Vassilev brothers' film Chapayev are shown. The second shows workers debating the International. Aldgate contrasts it with the kind of propaganda seen in Eisenstein's films. Scenes from the 1933 Nazi film Ohm Kruger, which Aldgate compares with Eisenstein's Odessa steps sequence. British atrocities in the Boer War are shown, as well as hostile cameos of Kitchener, Churchill and Queen Victoria. An extract from Hans Westmar is shown in which the decadence of the Weimar Republic is portrayed. Aldgate contrasts Hitler's view of film propaganda with that of Goebbels. Aldgate explains the aims of the film Ich Klage An, which dealt with euthanasia. Several extracts from the film are shown, with sub-titles added. Extracts from the anti Semitic film Jud Suss are seen. Aldgate explains the plot of the film and comments on the nature of its hero. Scenes from the 1944 Agfacolour film Kolberg are shown; including spectacular battle scenes. Aldgate emphasises the expense of the film and explains its propaganda aims. Aldgate comments on the forced jollity of Nazi film over a song from Stukas. Over part of the first song in Die Grosse Liebe Aldgate explains why this musical was the most popular Nazi propaganda film. |
| Master spool number: | HOU3191 |
| Production number: | FOUA011S |
| Videofinder number: | 4171 |
| Available to public: | no |
