This is a 1940 German movie about famous politician Bismarck. If you know the very basics of history, you will realize that this was made during the early years of World War II. And yet, there is not that much propaganda in it as you may have seen on several other films from around that time. Here and there, it has a bit, but it's not particularly antisemitic all in all compared to other films that were made roughly 75 years ago. And just like today, it was a common trend to make films about people who had a severe historical impact, no matter if friend or foe. The film is in black-and-white of course and was directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner. And even if this name is probably hardly known to anybody today, he directed over 100 projects until his death in the 80s. If you count his very early years as an actor, he had a career lasting over 50 years. He was not the most prolific writer compared to his work behind the camera, but here and there he also worked on the scripts for his films. "Bismarck" is one example.
The cast includes Paul Hartmann and Lil Dagover, who you may have heard of if you have quite an interest in German cinema from the first half of the 20th century. Or maybe you also read about the latter in crossword puzzles, where they occasionally ask about her first name. Anyway, to me personally this film was not too appealing, but that is just a subjective attitude. I myself enjoy a good politically-themed film here and there, but the years before World War I (or maybe even World War II) never really interested me particularly and this film did not get me interested in this ear either. It's certainly an interesting watch taking into account that this film was made in Nazi Germany and how Bismarck was seen and displayed there, but that is pretty much it. You can be very sure that Joseph Goebbels had great influence on which scenes were shown in this film and which weren't. A core topic in this film are turf wars. I won't go a lot more into detail about the action, but you really should not watch this film without a great historical interest in the times depicted here. Otherwise it will be as underwhelming for you as it was for me. Not recommended.
The cast includes Paul Hartmann and Lil Dagover, who you may have heard of if you have quite an interest in German cinema from the first half of the 20th century. Or maybe you also read about the latter in crossword puzzles, where they occasionally ask about her first name. Anyway, to me personally this film was not too appealing, but that is just a subjective attitude. I myself enjoy a good politically-themed film here and there, but the years before World War I (or maybe even World War II) never really interested me particularly and this film did not get me interested in this ear either. It's certainly an interesting watch taking into account that this film was made in Nazi Germany and how Bismarck was seen and displayed there, but that is pretty much it. You can be very sure that Joseph Goebbels had great influence on which scenes were shown in this film and which weren't. A core topic in this film are turf wars. I won't go a lot more into detail about the action, but you really should not watch this film without a great historical interest in the times depicted here. Otherwise it will be as underwhelming for you as it was for me. Not recommended.