Harlan - Im Schatten von Jud Süß

HARLAN IN THE SHADOW of JEW SÜSS Viewed at LA Jewish Film Festival, 2010 by Alex Deleon-Pevner.

Though almost forgotten today, Veit Harlan was one of Nazi Germany's most notorious filmmakers. His most famous film was the venomous anti-Semitic propaganda film Jud Süss (1940) -- required viewing for all SS members during the Nazi era.

First off it needs to be made clear that this new documentary is not be confused with the German dramatic feature, "Jud Suess – A Film without a conscience" -- which was premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year. "Jud Suess" (A film without a conscience) is basically a fictionalized docu-drama focusing on Ferdinand Marian, the actor who (perhaps unwittingly) played the Jud Suess title role in the original Nazi propaganda film, and director Veit Harlan is a secondary character here. Both Veit and Marian are, of course, played by contemporary German actors.

The new documentary zeroes in on the director himself, Veit Harlan, with various swatches of archival footage of him and his associates included -- but it is primarily about the legacy of guilt feelings passed on to his progeny right up to the present. Some illustrative scenes from the 1940 rabidly anti-Semitic "Jud Suess" are shown, but most of the film centers of interviews with the direct descendants, children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, of the notorious director who was indicted for war crimes immediately after the war, but was twice acquitted by a "friendly" (i.e., Nazi sympathetic) judges.

Harlan continued to make films after the war and never apologized for his key role fostering the intense racist policies of Goebbels and the Nazis, but various excuses have been made for him, such as that he was not really an anti-Semite but rather an opportunist who made the films offered him under the Nazi regime "as best he could". One son however, violently disagrees and became such a hater of his father's Nazi collaboration that he has devoted his entire life to exposing it over and over in every way possible. Another son has no such qualms and claims that nobody has a right to ask him how he felt or feels about his father — a hard one to argue with. A grand daughter raised in France and speaking in French admits she has always been somewhat ashamed to be identified with him. A nephew living in Capri, Italy, where Veit died and was buried, takes the guarded view that his uncle was basically an artist who merely "got carried away a little". A daughter, Maria Koerber is an actress who took her mother's last name to avoid the indignity of carrying the Harlan name around with her and makes no bones about her disgust with Harlan's activities.

Most peculiar of all is the testimony of Christiane Kubrick, (birth name Christianne Susanne Harlan, born 1932) who is a niece of Harlan's and the widow of the late American movie director Stanley Kubrick! -- She also takes the shaky position that Veit was more of an artist than a Nazi per-se, and claims that Stanley always wanted to make a film about her uncle working in Nazi Germany, but never quite got around to it. Too bad — that would have been something to see!

All in all, Felix Moeller's film is less about Harlan than about his immediate descendants and the burden of guilt they bear (or do not bear) up to the present day half a century after the director's death. Mr. Moeller spent a lot of time tracking these people down and getting them to talk to the camera about their feelings, being the progeny of a man who, whether he was a card-carrying member of the party or not, unquestionably made a major contribution to the extermination of the Jews. What comes out is an amazing spectrum of commentary: defensive, offensive, tentatively neutral, anger, excuses, leave-us-the-hell- alone, silence, befuddlement, sorrow, who cares anyway — just about every kind of response one can imagine under the circumstances. Director Felix Moeller has a certified filmmaking pedigree, being the son of outstanding German director Margarethe von Trotte and has made a number of other bio- documentaries, but this one is very special in that it amounts to a depth probe into the collective psychology of an extended German family with a rich Nazi pedigree which, in passing, can easily be seen as the reflection of the mixed feelings regarding the legacy of the Third Reich that still float about in the collective unconscious of Germans today. Kudos, Herr Moeller. Too bad your film was not seen by more people (Jewish and Non- Jewish) here. Chaim Pevner; (Alex Deleon) Miracle Mile, L.A. May, 2010

And of course the shadow. The thing is, that there is not that much light into the matter. All relatives of the director of the infamous "Jud Süß", the propaganda film of the Nazi Regime, talk here. And they have different opinions on the movie and their father (or grandfather in some cases).

The question if he knew what was going on will not be entirely solved though. If that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. In general, there is not that much information you will gain from this documentary. It will tell you how some people felt about the movie, what happened in some years, but I am missing the depth. What I did like, was the fact, that there still is some controversy amongst the siblings (some even defending the choice of Harlan, when he made the movie).

It is difficult for a filmmaker and it must have been even more difficult. It's just a shame there was never a complete reveal of what happened. Was it the Regime that made him do it or did he believe what he was filming too? If the latter is true, than he was a criminal too. It seems we will never know for sure. I hope that they will make a documentary about the dilemma of directors though that shines a light on this subject once more

This documentary tells the story of "the most important director of the Third Reich", Veit Harlan, and his infamous film "Jud Süß" (amongst other film of him). In my opinion, the way the documentary's director, Felix Moeller, chooses, is very good for this subject. He does long interviews with nearly all living relatives which leads to a multi-layered portrayal of both the director and the human being Harlan as well as an insight in the conflicts of his children and grandchildren with him. The film also shows some sequences of the main works of Harlan, like "Der Herrscher", "Opfergang", "Kolberg" and "Verrat an Deutschland", so the viewer can get some idea of the visual style and the plots. All in all, this is a great film history documentary and a very useful introduction to the work of Veit Harlan!

This eagerly anticipated 2008 documentary is a disappointment. Although offering information about a dedicated craftsman, it fails to give a comprehensive overview of Veit Harlan's life or a clear outline of his relationship with the studio bosses.

A series of interviews with his wife, children and grandchildren elicits confusing details which this viewer struggled to put into chronological order. The director, or editors, seemed to enjoy withholding details about the different members of Harlan's extended family, the way William Faulkner holds back information about his anguished Southern families.

The Harlans comprise diverse and complex personalities - architect, actors, investigative journalist, painters - and, as highly intelligent and well-educated personalities, they presented diverse interpretations of their father's or grandfather's character and career. These figures provided more substance to the narrative than the intermittent story of Veit Harlan himself.

His allegedly infamous film "Jud Suss" seems very tame when judged by the sequences shown. Although the work of a craftsman, its melodrama is antiquated; and it might be time to remove it from the historical spotlight and consign it to "strictly film school". Clips from his other films make Harlan appear more interesting and innovative.

During WW2 filmmaker, Veit Harlan (1899-1964) was widely considered to be one of Nazi Germany's most important directors.

Harlan's most well-known film "Jud SuB" (1940) was a blatant work of anti-Semitic propaganda that was required viewing by all members of the Third Reich.

Through stills, archival footage, and interviews - This documentary focuses in on the wildly varying attitudes of Harlan's children and grandchildren and how they struggle, even today, with the legacy of their ancestor's work.