Jud Süß - Film Ohne Gewissen

''Jew Suss: Rise and Fall'' (German title: ''Jud Süss – Film ohne Gewissen'' üss the Jew – Film Without Conscience is a 2010 German historical drama film directed by Oskar Roehler, dramatising the creative process behind the antisemitic Nazi propaganda film ''Jud Süß'' (1940). It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.

In Germany, the film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and, mainly because of the controversial subject matter, received mixed reviews. Nevertheless, the German critics lauded the actor Tobias Moretti in his role as Ferdinand Marian. In 2011, cinematographer Carl-Friedrich Koschnick received the Austrian Romy award for cinematography.

Plot

When Austrian actor Ferdinand Marian's career is on the rise at the end of the 1930s, he is personally selected by the Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels for the title role in the feature film ''Jud Süß''. He at first rejects the offer, but then succumbs to the temptation of becoming famous. Whilst filming under director Veit Harlan, Marian's personality begins to change, which leads to an argument with his Jewish wife, Anna. ''Jud Süß'' premieres at the Venice Film Festival at the beginning of September 1940 and opens in German cinemas a few days later. The anti-Semitic propaganda film reaches an audience of millions, and from then on Marian is identified with the role of the threatening-looking Jewish tax officer Joseph Süß Oppenheimer; he receives many offers to act in other films.

Through his involvement with the Reich, Marian becomes aware of the threat behind the National Socialists, which drove many of his professional colleagues into exile. The Jewish actor Wilhelm Adolf Deutscher, hidden in Marian's garden house and disguised as a gardener, is betrayed to his friend Lutz by the domestic servant Britta, with whom Marian apparently had an affair. Marian then takes solace drinking alcohol and cheats on his wife with a Czech woman named Vlasta. Joseph Goebbels deports Anna in order to gain control over Marian, but this causes an opposite effect.

As the Nazi regime falls at the end of the Second World War, Marian is not allowed to resume acting because of his involvement in ''Jud Süß'' and the Nazis. At the same time, he sees many of his professional colleagues go into hiding, and he is confronted by the American military. ''Jud Süß'' director Veit Harlan insists (only after the fact) that the authorities forced him to make the film. Marian encounters his friend Wilhelm, who survived a Nazi concentration camp, and learns from him that Anna is dead. Marian later discovers that Vlasta is having an affair with a U.S. soldier; this leads him to a breakdown, and he kills himself by crashing his car.

Historical accuracy

In the film Marian commits suicide by driving his car into a tree at high speed. According to Marian's biographer, Marian did die in his car, but it’s unclear whether the reason was suicide, drunkenness, or something else.

Cast

* Tobias Moretti as Ferdinand Marian
* Moritz Bleibtreu as Joseph Goebbels
* Martina Gedeck as Anna Marian
* Justus von Dohnányi as Veit Harlan
* as Wilhelm Adolf Deutscher
* as Knauf
* Anna Unterberger as Britta
* Milan Peschel as Werner Krauss
* Armin Rohde as Heinrich George
* Paula Kalenberg as Kristina Söderbaum
* Erika Marozsán as Vlasta
* as Fritz Hippler
* Robert Stadlober as Lutz
* as Malte Jäger
* Rolf Zacher as Erich Engel
* Waldemar Kobus as Eberhard Frowein
* as Magda Goebbels
* Johannes Silberschneider as Hans Moser

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jew Suss Rise And Fall
2010 films
2010 drama films
2010s historical drama films
Films set in the 1940s
Films about films
Films about actors
Films about Nazi Germany
Films set in Berlin
Films set in 1939
Films set in 1940
Films directed by Oskar Roehler
Films scored by Martin Todsharow
Films shot in Cologne
German historical drama films
2010s German-language films
Cultural depictions of Joseph Goebbels
Biographical films about actors
2010s German films