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Movies / On DVD / The Goebbels Experiment
The Goebbels Experiment

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The Goebbels Experiment (2005)

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Reviews Counted: 18

Fresh: 17

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 7/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Aug 12, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: An intimate look at the mind of the master propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who shaped German popular opinion throughout the Nazi rise to power and subsequent fall, THE GOEBBELS EXPERIMENT unfolds... An intimate look at the mind of the master propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who shaped German popular opinion throughout the Nazi rise to power and subsequent fall, THE GOEBBELS EXPERIMENT unfolds through diary excerpts spanning the years between 1924 until Goebbels's grisly death at the close of WWII. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, the text is accompanied by archival photographs and early films taken from the period, and includes many instances of Goebbels himself at the podium, such as his famous "Total War" speech. More interesting is the insight into the evolution and inner workings of Goebbels's character. He tells of his early illnesses, which left him paralyzed, and a youth that "held little joy." Diminutive, clubfooted, and deeply pessimistic, he describes his early literary pursuits, reading Mann and Dostoevski, and the unhappiness and loathing he experienced while working in a bank in Cologne. Searching for meaning in his life, he finds purpose in the Third Reich, and pledges utter devotion to Hitler. Later, this unqualified adoration is beset with paranoia and petty squabbles, and the inner sanctum of the Nazi party is shown from Goebbels's perspective to be a bickering clique of ladder climbers. Goebbels's personal life is equally fraught, as he remains painfully single until he enters his 30s, and then becomes an unqualified womanizer. The artistic and film criticism on offer in the diaries is illuminating, as Goebbels critiques Sergei Eisenstein for being "too propagandistic," and delivers a harshly misogynist view of Leni Riefenstahl. This remarkable view of one of the most notorious, cold-blooded figures to populate the 20th century sheds light of one of the darkest points in history itself. [More]

Director: Michael Kloft, Lutz Hachmeister

Director: Michael Kloft, Lutz Hachmeister
Screenwriter: Kenneth Branagh, Michael Kloft, Lutz Hachmeister

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Release:

May 23, 2006

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Reviews for The Goebbels Experiment

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Although the film's conclusion is rushed and unsatisfying, "The Goebbels Experiment" is a priceless document of one of Nazi Germany's cruelest and most effective architects.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/15/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

While the diary entries fascinate, it's the rarely seen footage that makes The Goebbels Experiment a must-see.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International

The star power in The Goebbels Experiment comes from Kenneth Branagh, who narrates, but it's the images that take hold.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/16/06
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A chilling and often illuminating portrait.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
01/12/06
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/06/05
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What emerges is a view more complex than Goebbels's usual image, without any hint of revisionist excuse-making.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
11/23/05
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

[A] weirdly enthralling film of excerpts from Goebbels's diaries.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/11/05
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is hard to go wrong when your research turned up reel after reel of Nazi era footage and dozens of audio tapes from the regime.

Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
11/02/05
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

Director Lutz Hachmeister neatly hoists the Nazi lie on its own petard in this fascinatingly repellent character study of the Third Reich’s most visionary and psycho propagandist.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/13/05
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club

Lutz Hachmeister and Michael Kloft's fascinating documentary provides a chilling glimpse inside the brilliant but toxic mind of Joseph Goebbels via his extensive diaries.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/12/05
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What's absent from this spiteful, ridiculously melodramatic recitation of grudges and enthusiasms is any sign of either the eloquent orator considered second only to Adolf Hitler himself or the brilliant strategist who wrote the book on perverting public

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
08/12/05
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This intimate look at Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's infamous Propaganda Minister, offers some surprises and a portrait that doesn't quite mesh with the one most people know.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
08/12/05
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

Kenneth Branagh's fierce narration of Joseph Goebbels's di aries makes The Goebbels Experiment a visceral documentary.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
08/12/05
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Devoted family man, aspiring poet and petty whiner, the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels depicted in Lutz Hachmeister's unusual documentary presents a compelling study of the banality of evil.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
08/12/05
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A well-chosen selection of pictures and archival footage, plus some modern sequences in color, concisely sketch the history of Germany during the 21 years Goebbels continuously kept a diary (1924-45).

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/11/05
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Informative and illuminating.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
08/11/05
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

A fascinating film that provides new insights into Goebbels’ personality

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
08/10/05
Phil Freeman
culturevulture.net

The filmmakers largely take Goebbels's injunction against 'aestheticizing experimentation' to heart, eschewing dialectical montage and allowing the clips to merely illustrate the diary entries.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
08/09/05
Joshua Land
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The assemblage of archival footage reveals itself as a rivetingly experimental evocation of the Nazi rise to power.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
08/08/05
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
 
 
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