A German Life

2016 [GERMAN]

Action / Biography / Documentary

4
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 470 470

Plot summary

Brunhilde Pomsel was a stenographer for Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Many people think that the dangers of fascism have been overcome, but she makes it clear that this is not the case.

Director

Christian Krönes Photo
Christian Krönes

Top cast

Brunhilde Pomsel Photo
Brunhilde Pomsel as Self
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1000.3 MB
1280*714
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds ...
1.81 GB
1920*1072
German 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by zapatosdelaquema 5 / 10

Confusing & disturbing

The documentary starts interesting, then about 26 minutes in it gets a bit weird: She talks about a '(...) person from (...) India or Japan (...) Indian or Japanese? Some totally foreign animal (...)'.Nazis often described their enemies as monkeys, rats, dogs etc. So was this a moment where the Nazi brainwashing methods were still active in her brain, a careless moment in her narrative? Very confusing.Later she says that 'we didn't know anything about what happened (...)'. This is an excuse that is often used by German or Austrian people which always leaves a very bitter aftertaste. It's one of these excuses that made processing these times in a reasonable way impossible and led to the fact that -until today- people try to downplay the crimes of the Nazis.Even later she tries to find more excuses for people clapping for the Nazis, people being 'bewitched' etc. And finally she talks about her bad conscience, in a side note that sounds like she is seeking justification for her looking away, her ignoring the truth.She finally says 'God doesn't exist, but the devil does.' I say: No, but ignorant and selfish people exist. The devil is just the last excuse: She was scared, ok, but at least admit it and don't continue this narrative full of excuses and lies.Now I sit here and can't decide if this is a good documentary as it shows what went wrong in and after the German Reich, or if it is a bad documentary as it gives all these excuses a stage. I guess the truth lies somewhere inbetween.
Reviewed by kosmasp 9 / 10

Aware

I was aware of this (though the summary headline is meant to mean something different of course, so no pun intended), but I did not come around watching this until today. This is quite riveting - a personal look back to what happened .. and even more important how it happened.It is easy to point fingers, to claim "I wouldn't do that" - "I would know" - "I would have handled things differently" ... but as the then 103 year old woman says and remembers: probably no one would have been able to succesfully fight against what was going on. Not that people didn't try to. She talks about them too.You will have your own view about what she says and how much you want to blame her or anyone from back then who didn't fight back. We can't actually imagine what was happening. As we have seen with experiments (Wave as a book and movie come to mind), people are easy to manipulate. Nowadays it is conspiracy theories that get a lot of attention. A new danger that people get triggered by something that may not even be real.But back to what this is about: a horrific part of German history. A part that still weighs on the people today. And is being (mis)used to get people on the wrong side of things. Like when it comes to vaccinations. Nazis were against vaccinations and yet people nowadays claim they are being treated like Jews were back in the day ... this is quite infuriating and really insulting to anyone who lived back then - and those who died. But also to the Secretary who opens up here and should be a clear warning sign ... a riveting movie that everyone should watch for multiple reasons.The interview with her is intercut with footage from back then (films, propaganda and other stuff). Very well edited and really not something that is easy to stomach.
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