Le grand roi

'Der Große König' ('The Great King') was a Nazi propaganda film which won the 1942 Coppa Mussolini prize as the best foreign film released in Italy that year. One assumes that Mussolini's film critics were not completely objective. And yet this movie has excellent production values and a gripping story which (despite its too-long running time) still make it an appealing film for those of us who aren't Nazis.

This film recounts the travails of Prussian king Friedrich the Second during the battle of Kunersdorf, when his army were decimated by the Austrian forces. Just when defeat seemed certain, Russia's czar Peter the Great sent reinforcements.

When this movie was made, the early victories of Hitler's army were long past ... and it was now starting to look as if Germany might lose the war after all. 'The Great King' was clearly made to inspire German audiences to continue the struggle against overwhelming odds. Despite its odious Nazi agenda, this film is still eminently watchable. The battle scenes are impressive, and Otto Gebühr gives a fine performance in the lead role as Friedrich. There's also a splendid turn by Paul Wegener as the leader of the Russian forces. Wegener was a stiff and very mannered actor, but he manages to turn those traits to his advantage here.

Gustav Fröhlich, best known for playing the idealistic youth in 'Metropolis', gives a splendidly earnest performance here as Sergeant Treskow, who violates orders to give a crucial command to his men ... with disastrous results. The propaganda message here is that good Germans shouldn't take the initiative and think for themselves: instead, they should follow the orders of their wise leaders who know what's best for them.

Even though this movie is Nazi agitprop, the Third Reich imagery isn't crammed down our throats here the way it is in 'Triumph of the Will'. You can enjoy this movie without feeling any urge to goose-step. But the story could have been told more effectively in a shorter running time. I'll rate 'Der Grosse Konig' 6 points out of 10.

Watching this film through a historical rear-view mirror reveals plenty of of prophecies. Nazis managed to predict their own end and most of the movies about it - including the famous rant from Downfall played by the star of Youtube - Bruno Ganz. The trick to understanding the movie is - reversing key scenes in the right chronological order. It is unbelievable that German propaganda and censorship allowed this reel (which makes Eisenstein's Ivan Groznyy look like an étalon of subtlety) into theaters of a war-waging Germany. The best documentary evidence of the utter stupidity of Nazi state, which failed due to the irrational stupidity of its leadership.

Hitler liked to gaze into the mirror of the past and see himself reflected in the guise of Frederick II of Prussia. This reflection is nowhere clearer than in Veit Harlan's 'Der große König'. Purportedly, the film sticks closely to actual history, but in fact it is a propaganda piece that distorts the past at every turn of the way. The aim was preparing the German population for a long and desperate war without allies, which is why for example the British contribution to the Prussian war effort of 1756-63 is not mentioned (in fact, about one-third of the Prussian costs of the Seven Years War war were borne by Britain. Another third was covered by debasing the coinage, and the rest by squeezing the Prussian population and looting occupied territories such as electoral Saxony). One relatively subtle piece of propaganda is provided by Kristina Söderbaum, who plays the daughter of a miller. She is initially heavily critical of the war and its leader but develops into a proper, good, German 'soldier's wife'. The way the film uses every chance to allow its main character Frederick II (Otto Gebühr) to engage in lengthy propaganda tirades is less subtle. In this context, I found one thing particularly striking: At one point, Frederick is faced with the political and military criticism of his brother prince Henry (Claus Clausen). He throws a tantrum that vividly reminded me of Bruno Ganz's famous tantrum in Hirschbiegel's 'Der Untergang' (2004). My first idea was that Ganz must have modelled his performance on Gebühr's in 'Der große König', but the link may be less direct. After all, Hitler was a passionate admirer of Harlan's film. It is entirely possible that he modelled his performance in the bunker under Berlin on Gebühr's, acting out his fantasy of being a reincarnation of Frederick II. Technically, 'Der große König' is a well-made film. The plot moves fast and is engaging enough, and the acting is good. There are some impressive mass scenes, and the photography in general is excellent. I am of course prepared to recognise all this, which is why I am rating the film - a disgusting piece of Nazi junk, after all - 6 stars.

When Josef Goebbels wanted to make a propaganda film he didn't do things by halves. All those extras you see in one of those cast of thousands worthy of a DeMille film from Hollywood are soldiers taken from the front and probably grateful for the chance to play 18th century soldiers instead of being 20th century ones.

The Great King is about Frederick the Great whose reign was probably the height of the Hohenzollern rule in Prussia. We should be exceedingly glad that Old Fritz as his subjects called him didn't have the resources of the modern German state that was united in 1871. As it was the man was a military genius who as we see in this film managed to snatch triumph out of defeat. For a while there it looked like the upstart state of Prussia was going to be overrun by all of Europe in the Seven Years War. Prussia's nominal ally was Great Britain, but the British had a lot of far flung adventures in places like India and North America where we were fighting The French And Indian War.

Otto Gebuhr who looked a whole lot like Frederick the Great made several film appearances as him. Kind of like character actor Frank McGlyn who was always being cast as Abraham Lincoln. The film was directed by Hitler's favorite director Veit Harlan who found a role for his wife Krista Soderburg as the wife of a Prussian soldier who learns too late the value of discipline. That was a message that Hitler wanted to send loud and clear to his audience, have faith in me because I'm the 20th Century version of Old Fritz.

Even the Nazis tell in the film that part of the reason for Prussia's triumph was some court intrigue in Russia after Empress Elizabeth died. That whole story is told in both the Elizabeth Bergner and Marlene Dietrich films on Catherine the Great. Suffice it to say in the film and in real life Frederick was shrewd enough to exploit matters.

The Great King is a great film, certainly the equal of any Hollywood production even if it is propaganda for the Third Reich.