''The Devil's Mistress'' is a 2016 Czech–Slovak historical biography film directed by

Filip Renč Filip Renč (born 17 August 1965) is a Czech film director, screenwriter, and actor. Biograph Filip Renč was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Since his childhood, he already proved his enthusiasm for movies and drama. As a young boy he appear ...

and produced by Jiří Jurtin. The film stars the Slovak actress

Tatiana Pauhofová Tatiana Pauhofová (born 13 August 1983) is a Slovak actress born in Bratislava. Life and career Tatiana (Tania) Pauhofová studied Acting at Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She was chosen among the 'Shooting Stars' of European Fi ...

who plays

Lída Baarová Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress who for two years was the mistress of the Nazi propaganda minister of Germany, Joseph Goebbels. Biography Life and career Born in Prague, Baarová ...

, the mistress of Nazi propaganda minister

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

. Lída Baarová was a star actress in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, later moving to Germany to appear in the film ''Barcarole''. There, she would be roped into the life of Joseph Goebbels and into the political lives of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

elite.

Synopsis and summary

The film largely centers around the experiences of Lída Baarová and her feelings regarding the

moral dilemma In philosophy, ethical dilemmas, also called ethical paradoxes or moral dilemmas, are situations in which an agent stands under two (or more) ''conflicting moral requirements'', none of which ''overrides'' the other. A closely related definition c ...

of being romantically involved with a senior Nazi officer. Political and social turmoil within the early

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

are also shown, with the ending of the film featuring the events of

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

. Jewish persecution is also a feature of this film, but this is opposed by the colorful depictions of Nazi brass engaging in quaint social festivities. The film never shows crude depictions of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, but instead shows the lighter side of the upper crust of Nazi Germany's officials. Inner politics of Nazi Germany is also shown, with interactions between Goebbels and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

showing Goebbels facing repercussions by the

Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany ...

for his failings, while Lída Baarová is

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

from Nazi film. The family of Goebbels and the families of other Nazi Party members feature in this film, again adding to the personal aspect of the movie.

Cast

Karl Markovics Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria. Biography Markovics' mother worked as a clerk and his father was a bus driver. Markovics did not want to go into a professional career but wanted to become a ...

Gedeon Burkhard Gedeon Burkhard (born 3 July 1969) is a German film and television actor. Although he has appeared in numerous films and TV series in both Europe and the US, he is probably best recognised for his role as Alexander Brandtner in the Austrian/German ...

Gustav Fröhlich Gustav Fröhlich (21 March 1902 – 22 December 1987) was a German actor and film director. He landed secondary roles in a number of films and plays before landing his breakthrough role of Freder Fredersen in Fritz Lang's 1927 film ''Metropoli ...

Simona Stašová Simona Stašová (born 19 March 1955) is a Czech stage, film and television actress. Since making her theatre debut in 1976, she has acted on stage in theatres and appeared in numerous films and television productions. Stašová has won multiple ...

as Mrs. Babková, Lída's mother *

Martin Huba Martin Huba (born 16 July 1943 in Bratislava) is a Slovak actor and director on stage and in film. In 1964 he graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). He joined the Východoslovenské štátne divadlo (Košice State ...

as Mr. Babka, Lída's father *

Pavel Kříž Pavel Kříž (born 18 April 1961 in Brno) is a Czechs, Czech actor and psychotherapist. In December 2010 Kříž won the StarDance (Czech season 4), fourth season of StarDance (Czech TV series), StarDance with his professional partner Alice St ...

as Adolf Hitler * Anna Fialová as a young Zorka, Lída's younger sister *

Zdenka Procházková Zdenka Procházková (4 April 1926 – 25 August 2021) was a Czech actress. She was married to Karel Höger, who she starred with in the 1949 film ''A Dead Man Among the Living'', but they were already divorced by the time of his death in 1977. ...

as an older Lída Baarová *

Lenka Vlasáková Lenka Vlasáková (born 27 April 1972, in Prague) is a Czech actress. She played the title role in ''Lea'', released in 1997; Lucie in ''Kawasaki's Rose'', released in 2010; and ''U mě dobrý'' (''Fine with me''), released in 2008. Selected fi ...

Magda Goebbels Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels (née Ritschel; 11 November 1901 – 1 May 1945) was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. A prominent member of the Nazi Party, she was a close ally, companion, and politic ...

, the wife of Joseph Goebbels *

Jiří Mádl Jiří Mádl (born October 23, 1986, in České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech actor, director and screenwriter. Among his most prominent roles are a part in the 2008 film ''Night Owls'', for which received the Best Actor award at the ...

Hans Fischer Hans Fischer (; 27 July 1881 – 31 March 1945) was a German organic chemist and the recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of haem ...

* Matej Dadák as

Miloš Havel Miloš Havel (3 November 1899 – 25 February 1968) was a Czech film producer and studio executive. Havel was a director of the film production company Lucernafilm, which was founded by his father in 1912. He was also a chairman of the film studio ...

* Jan Révai as Diether von Wedel

Nominations and reception

The film, while doing quite well in the Czech Republic, did not do too well on the international market. The film received a 70% rating o
Novinky.cz

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil's Mistress 2016 biographical drama films Films about Nazis Cultural depictions of Joseph Goebbels