"Der große König" or "The Great King" is a German movie from 1942 and everybody who knows a bit about history will realize that this was made during the years of World War II in Nazi Germany, so it falls under the category of propaganda film. It is the story of King Frederick II (aka "Frederick the Great") of Prussia and obviously the maker's intention here was to show us the genuine superiority when it comes to military battle and war in an effort to motivate the German population to hang in and believe in the "Endsieg". Of course, things turned out very differently in the years after, but this should not be a matter in this review. The film runs for two hours and was written and directed by Veit Harlan, the man who was also in charge of the infamous "Jud Süß". The cast includes some of the actors who worked on many propaganda films (especially Kristina Söderbaum), possibly Germany's leading female actor at this point. But there are also people like Paul Wegener, who is today mostly known for his early silent film and whose participation in films like this leaves a bit of a stain on his career, even if it is easy to believe that it was all about being a working actor than about promoting this film's message.
Then again, I personally must say the reason why I disliked this film was just the lack of really interesting characters, great acting and a convincing story and plot. I did not really care for the political message this film was trying to send to the world and the German population. I may be a bit biased as films about emperors or old kings have never been my preferred genre choice, often because they are much more about the costumes and art direction and set decoration instead of focusing on the characters in a fascinating manner. This is also true for this black-and-white movie. It dragged on really a whole lot occasions and I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.
Then again, I personally must say the reason why I disliked this film was just the lack of really interesting characters, great acting and a convincing story and plot. I did not really care for the political message this film was trying to send to the world and the German population. I may be a bit biased as films about emperors or old kings have never been my preferred genre choice, often because they are much more about the costumes and art direction and set decoration instead of focusing on the characters in a fascinating manner. This is also true for this black-and-white movie. It dragged on really a whole lot occasions and I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.