Munchhausen
In early 1943, just as Nazi Germany began its collapse with the surrender at Stalingrad, the famed Ufa Studios released an elaborate super-spectacle to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. Produced at the enormous cost of 6.5 million Reichsmarks, and filmed in Agfacolor, "Munchhausen" was the bizarre Nazi response to such extravaganzas as Britain's "The Thief of Bagdad" and Hollywood's "The Wizard of Oz", both of which were jealously admired by Propaganda Minister Goebbels. This lavish, impudent, adult fairy tale takes the viewer from 18th-century Braunschweig to St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Venice, and then to the moon using ingenious special effects, stunning location shooting, and a rich colour palette, supervised by cameraman Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, who had worked for Fritz Lang in earlier Ufa films. Escaping the grim reality of the time with the illusion of luxury and pure fantasy, "Munchhausen" daringly glorifies a braggart and liar, and was scripted by the banned Jewish author Erich Kustner under a pseudonym.
Year: 1943
Genre: Recent Releases (7 day), Foreign Language Films, German Cinema
Country: Germany
Director: Josef von Baky
Starring: Hans Albers
Duration: 111 Minutes
Rating: PG - Adult themes.
Subtitles: Yes
8.6/10
Location in store: Foreign (Germany)
ALICE ALSO SUGGESTS:
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989)
Gulliver's Travels (1996)
The Thief of Bagdad (Sabu) (1940)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Gulliver's Travels (1939)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen ( Blu-ray ) (1989)
