L'épreuve du temps

I saw this film a few years ago at a UCLA showing of Nazi-era German films. It's a big, fluffy blend of music, comedy and romance with several story lines, and is very well-crafted and entertaining. You forget you're watching a Nazi film until someone gives the occasional Hitler-salute, or someone speaks of "chopping up Englishmen," and then you're unpleasantly--if temporarily--jarred back into an awareness of the historical and political context of the film. Thus, it is a valuable springboard for reflections on the nature of mass entertainment, escapism and propaganda, both in Nazi Germany and one's own country, and also suggests (as has been focused upon in recent historical scholarship) that for the average German, life in the early years of the Third Reich wasn't all that "unusual" or ideological by modern standards. The elderly German man sitting in front of me in the theater was quite excited by the many cameo appearances of mid-20th century German entertainers--much as my parents would be delighted to uncover an old gem featuring Bogart, Hayworth, Abbott & Costello, etc. So, it's all very interesting.

`Wunschkonzert' (Request Concert) – whose inspiration came from Goebbles – provides an idealised self-portrait of National Socialism's society of spectacle. It starts with Hitler's arrival at the 1936 Olympics and takes us on a tour of Berlin. Its subsequent points of interest include the battlefield of war, an affair of the heart, and above all a popular radio broadcast that binds private destinies to an imaginary collective fate. The film features many of Germany's movie- and show-stars. `Wunschkonzert' is filled with popular (German) songs of the 1930s and 40s and therefore, was a big success with the soldiers on the front.

Wunschkonzert (1940) combines a romantic storyline with clear messages that reflect the ideals of the Nazi regime. Directed by Eduard von Borsody, the film begins at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The tone is set with the imagery of the Olympics with scenes that emphasize national pride and collective spirit. These images establish the connection between personal lives and the broader goals of the state.

The movie tracks Ilse Werner's character and Carl Raddatz's Luftwaffe officer as they navigate love and duty. Their relationship often takes a backseat to military service, showing how individual desires are secondary to national responsibilities. This theme is reinforced by the central role of the "request concert," which ties the characters' lives to the similar lives of the likely German audience. The concert serves as a unifying element, blending entertainment with a sense of collective purpose.

The film uses visual techniques like crowd scenes and shots of synchronized movements to form an idea of community. These choices make this theme of community seem very important, reflecting the values promoted by the regime. At the same time, the musical elements, which are introduced late in the film, feel disconnected from the main story. This uneven pacing can make the film feel fragmented, which some critics have noted as a weakness.

Scholars, including Eric Rentschler in The Ministry of Illusion, have pointed out that films like Wunschkonzert were designed to provide comfort while reinforcing political ideas. The mix of romance, music, and military imagery in the film shows how entertainment was used to deliver subtle ideological messages.

The film may not be everyones cup of tea but it does offer the audience an idea of how cinema was used during Nazi Germany.

I enjoy totalitarian entertainment as much as the next man, which maybe is why I was so let down by this movie, recently shown at the 16th International Film Historical Congress in Berlin. I expected singing, dancing, and good cheer. But it was straight propaganda instead. Ilse Werner meets craggy, Aryan Carl Raddatz, when he gives her tickets to see the opening of the '36 Olympics, in particular Hitler and the crowd of 500,000 Hitler-saluting. They fall in love that weekend, but then Carl is ordered to go to Spain on a secret mission for the Luftwaffe. After, we presume, bombing Spanish peasants, he comes back three years later and wants to find Ilse, but the new war gets him distracted flying missions locating British shipping for U-Boots to sink. This means a lot of really loud heel-clicking and outlandishly fascistic uniforms (Carl has the usual eagle-and-swastika badge, then a gold Nazi eagle pin on his breast pocket, and a little ceremonial sword hung from his hip). Nearly all of the comic relief is military (e.g. a fat butcher in the Wehrmacht who steals French pigs; Luftwaffe mechanics with thick Berlin accents). And every third shot is framed to include a) a Nazi eagle and/or swastika, b) a framed photo of Hitler, or c) a poster shouting, "Watch out for spies! Be careful in conversations!"

Despite the hurried appearance of big-name stars, there's almost no music in this picture, and a lot of that isn't hit songs, but Nazi children's choirs in regional dress, blond and muscular U-Boot sailors singing mournfully to an accordion, and rousing march music played alongside documentary footage of aerial bombardment. Nor is there ever any tension that Ilse won't marry Carl; the surprise is that her old beau/would-be beau (this is unclear), who ends up as Carl's bomber navigator, abandons his passion immediately on learning that she's his commanding officer's squeeze and gives her away with immense enthusiasm.

Some Nazi entertainment is a blast ("Gasparone," for example.) This film isn't; there's not much there for humor, romance, or music, and the pacing is leaden. But the film is a powerful experience. With its unintended ironies, "Wunschkonzert" is more painful and shocking than any Hollywood weepie about the Second World War. "The young people today," Ilse's aunt says knowingly, "act as though we hadn't made the same mistakes 30 years ago!" That was in 1940, supposedly referring to flirtation and love. Then the troops are marching off to war, and Auntie, Ilse, and her suitor drink: "To the beautiful future!"

There are much, much better and more interesting films from the period of WW II. This one actually isn't one of them: Ilse Werner, a wonderful and fresh actress who appeared on many great Helmut Käutner films (and a musical star as well) is quite wasted and doesn't get to sing a note. Why she chooses the immensely ugly (though sometimes very talented) Carl Raddatz over the wonderful boyish Joachim Brennecke, is a total mystery. I grew very tired of the storyline very soon, and started waiting for the many songs, which I knew would be in the film. In fact these songs - or excerpts rather - are all crammed into the final ten or fifteen minutes. That's sad. So, once again: if you want to see a good Nazi musical, there are films like "Frau Meiner Träume", "Fledermaus", "Wir Machen Musik" and dozens of others. If you want a love story, there's "Under the bridges", "Grosse Freiheit nr 7" or "Romanze in Moll". If you just want to see Nazi uniforms and stock footage - well, there always are documentaries, such as the amazing series "Third Reich in colour".