Tonight's movie was "Rotation" (1949), a German film by a director named Wolfgang Staudte. I had never heard of this director until I read about him in one of my current books, "The Devil's Chessboard", which is about the rise of Allen Dulles and the CIA as major forces in American government. As the Dulles story really gets going in World War Two, when he worked as a spymaster in Switzerland, and was responsible for bringing Nazis into the United States after the war, there is a brief mention in the book of something that took place on the other side. In the sector of what became East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union, there came about a type of cinema called "Trummerfilm", which translates as "Rubble Film". Apparently, from what little I have read since seeing the reference in the book, the making of "Trummerfilms" was a way for the Russians to use now-captive East German filmmakers to promote the idea of German guilt for the war. Russia had suffered more than any other country, and - despite how the Soviet Union eventually turned out for the worse - they wanted to use the filmmakers at that time to show how Germany was to blame to the unequaled catastrophe.
In the book, it is explained that director Wolfgang Staudte had made "compromises" to enable himself to continue working in Germany after the Nazis took over. Since I had never heard of Staudte, I don't know what those compromises entailed. Perhaps he agreed to make propaganda films, I don't know.
One thing is for sure, however. There is no way he could have made "Rotation" during the Nazi era.
And in fact, even though he made it as a "Trummerfilm" during the immediate Soviet post-war directive to produce such films, it is important to note that even the Soviets banned the film upon seeing the final cut, because it was too Pacifist for them. Apparently they wanted movies that would extent no grace, even to the German people, which is exactly how this story is told, by way of a young couple who meet in 1924, twenty years before the annihilation of the Reich.
They soon marry and have a baby, but by that time the world is in the grip of the Depression, and the German economy is in dire straits. Hitler is gaining power by the early 30s, by promising to restore the economy through National strength. The husband of the family is non-political and wants nothing to do with the Nazis, but he is forced to join the party to keep his job. His wife's brother is a rebel, a Communist who had fled to Prague to escape arrest.
Slowly the noose tightens around the family. The couple's son, born in happier times, is now 18 years old and has been a member of Hitler Youth for several years. One of the widely remembered precepts of Hitler Youth is that they were instructed to report anyone whom they witnessed denouncing the Party or the Fuhrer. In the movie, this happens between Father and brainwashed Son.
That is all the plot I am gonna give you, to avoid too many spoilers.
I don't know the history of Wolfgang Staudte's career as a filmmaker, and therefore I don't know the extent of his artistic compromise that allowed him to keep working after Hitler took over. It could be similar to other artists such as the legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan, who joined the Party out of being given an ultimatum. He only wanted to conduct and make music, but has since been branded by some as a Nazi collaborator, which is not true.
I think the same is true of Wolfgang Staudte. He may have "compromised" - whatever that means in his case - just so he could continue working. It doesn't make his compromise good or bad, but keep in mind that he was an artist and not a war monger. If you ever want to know why I write a lot about the Nazis, it is because they were quite literally the closest representatives to The Devil that have ever been seen on the Earth. And they were in power only 75 years ago. That's just a couple of Grannys ago.
So that's why I write about them, and also because American Monsters like Allen Dulles collaborated with them. These were the true monsters, not any artist that may have been forced to "collaborate or die".
Very simply, then : "Rotation" by Wolfgang Staudte is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made, and in fact, you will not find a more pacifist message in a WW2 picture, nor will you find a message as succinct and skillfully delivered as in this film. In my mind, Staudte goes down as a great filmmaker just for "Rotation" alone. In it's telling, we see that not all Germans were in support of evil. Some knew what they were looking at.
The term of "Trummerfilm" (Rubble Film) is quite accurate, because Staudte uses stock footage to show you exactly what a city looks like when it has been bombed into the Stone Age. In that regard, he gave the Soviets the Rubble Film they wanted, to show the result of the war and the German guilt. But he also delivered a pacifist message against all war, for any reason, and against propaganda, that resonates down to this day.
I think "Rotation" is one of the greatest films I have ever seen. There are so many, of course, so many "greatest films". But this one was filmed in the aftermath of the worst war in world history, on location in the country that was responsible for that war, and it was directed by a filmmaker who felt some guilt for his country, and so he released an artistic torrent against all war in a tour-de-force of movie making.
"Rotation" should be more well known, I think. I am a big movie fan, I know lots of movies and yet I had never heard of it until I read "The Devil's Chessboard".
So I will give it the highest possible recommendation here : Two Gigantic Thumbs Up.
It's the Real Deal, of Real Life. One of the greatest films ever made. ////
Elizabeth, if you are reading I hope you had a nice day. I saw a couple of posts, one about " Happy New Year from my wife and I", and another about "making 2018 our year".
I agree to both of those proposals!
So let's do it. :):)
I Love You and will see you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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