Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Süss (2008)

Too much of everything

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I fully agree with the statement of another commentator of this film. It is confusing and does not give any new information. In fact, if you have not heard much about Veit Harlan before, you will be rather lost. I would like to see how he grew up, what background he came from, what his friends thought of him and so on. Instead we get a lot of interviews with his children and grand children and nieces and nephews. But many of them don't really have much to say and time is running… At the end of the movie you wonder that so little info could be given in so much time! It would have been great for example to have a closer look at his earlier films, which he did before he got the full attention of Goebbels, as well as the films he did after the war. Since he claimed that the Nazis had a huge influence on how his most notorious films of that time look, I would like to know how they differ from the uninfluenced ones. But they are hardly mentioned here. One can only dream about the idea of what for example Marcel Ophuls would have found out about Veit Harlan

This eagerly anticipated 2008 documentary is a disappointment. Although offering information about a dedicated craftsman, it fails to give a comprehensive overview of Veit Harlan's life or a clear outline of his relationship with the studio bosses. A series of interviews with his wife, children and grandchildren elicits confusing details which this viewer struggled to put into chronological order. The director, or editors, seemed to enjoy withholding details about the different members of Harlan's extended family, the way William Faulkner holds back information about his anguished Southern families.The Harlans comprise diverse and complex personalities - architect, actors, investigative journalist, painters - and, as highly intelligent and well-educated personalities, they presented diverse interpretations of their father's or grandfather's character and career. These figures provided more substance to the narrative than the intermittent story of Veit Harlan himself.His allegedly infamous film "Jud Suss" seems very tame when judged by the sequences shown. Although the work of a craftsman, its melodrama is antiquated; and it might be time to remove it from the historical spotlight and consign it to "strictly film school". Clips from his other films make Harlan appear more interesting and innovative.

And of course the shadow. The thing is, that there is not that much light into the matter. All relatives of the director of the infamous "Jud Süß", the propaganda film of the Nazi Regime, talk here. And they have different opinions on the movie and their father (or grandfather in some cases).The question if he knew what was going on will not be entirely solved though. If that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. In general, there is not that much information you will gain from this documentary. It will tell you how some people felt about the movie, what happened in some years, but I am missing the depth. What I did like, was the fact, that there still is some controversy amongst the siblings (some even defending the choice of Harlan, when he made the movie).It is difficult for a filmmaker and it must have been even more difficult. It's just a shame there was never a complete reveal of what happened. Was it the Regime that made him do it or did he believe what he was filming too? If the latter is true, than he was a criminal too. It seems we will never know for sure. I hope that they will make a documentary about the dilemma of directors though that shines a light on this subject once more

This documentary tells the story of "the most important director of the Third Reich", Veit Harlan, and his infamous film "Jud Süß" (amongst other film of him). In my opinion, the way the documentary's director, Felix Moeller, chooses, is very good for this subject. He does long interviews with nearly all living relatives which leads to a multi-layered portrayal of both the director and the human being Harlan as well as an insight in the conflicts of his children and grandchildren with him. The film also shows some sequences of the main works of Harlan, like "Der Herrscher", "Opfergang", "Kolberg" and "Verrat an Deutschland", so the viewer can get some idea of the visual style and the plots. All in all, this is a great film history documentary and a very useful introduction to the work of Veit Harlan!