Bismarck 1940 Wolfgang Liebeneiner

I'm including this film as a type of curio.

It was a film made in 1940, in Germany, and so you'd have to assume it was a total propaganda film. But 'great' propaganda films become great propaganda films based on the extent to which they might be viewed as something objective. The more objective you make your propaganda seem, the more effective the propaganda is. So this is a propaganda film that passes itself off as history.

So this is a bio-pic about Bismarck that only, to my reckoning, has one overt homage to the Nazi government which was in place when this film was made - a scene of Prussian soldiers goose-stepping.

Otherwise, if this film were colorized and mis-dated as being from the 1950s, I'm not sure a lot of folks would even catch the propaganda.

The film shows Bismarck as a strong leader who often eschews democratic processes and freedom of the press as being counter-productive to the unity and destiny of Germany.  Yet, he seems to attack the Prussian parliament and press as being inherently anti-democratic (both institutions allegedly serving wealthy and powerful interests).  Bismarck seems to argue that he embodies the will of the people and will use his personal will and influence to achieve the unity Germany has been lacking but needs to survive in an increasingly volatile and hostile Europe.

So it's interesting to me whether Hitler, in his rise to power, tried to model himself on Bismarck (claiming to represent the true will of the German people) or whether the character of Bismarck, in this film, was tailored to fit into a Hitlerian mold.

In any case, here's a Nazi propaganda film to think about.  Frankly, this is the only movie blog on the internet highlighting such interesting films from all different angles. I'm so happy you found it. Please spread the word about it or please drop me a line with films you would like to share here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHj54dxRvK8