The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife
Over 1000 films were produced during Germany's 12-year Third Reich. While some were blatant anti-Semitic propaganda, like the notorious epic Jud Suss, a variety of films were made in line with the "orchestra" principle of Goebbels, which stated, "We do not expect everyone to play the same instrument, we only expect that people play according to a plan." Rentschler (film, Univ. of Califronia, Irvine) examines the Nazi media culture "plan," which created a world of illusion, alternating between "heavy hands and light touches" with the aim of negating "alternative experience and independent thought." His book covers much the same ground as Klaus Kreimeier's The Ufa Story (LJ 6/1/96), but this book is more readable, gives greater detail on important films, and contains extensive chronologies, filmographies, and source lists for obtaining these films. This scholarly book will be useful in large film collections.?Stephen Rees, Levittown Regional Lib., Pa.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.