Review of Mein Leben für Irland

My Life for Ireland was a film made by the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda to vilify the United Kingdom, specifically British rule in Ireland. Ironically the film was mainly made to be shown in countries Germany was then occupying. It had the goal of changing positive perceptions of Britain, though it often had the unintended and humorous consequence of making the local audience identify the Irish struggle against the British with their own country's struggle against the Germans. The film is largely set in 1921, the final year of the Irish War of Independence. Sons of Irish nationalists long since executed are brought up in a school where they are thought to behave like proper Englishmen. All this time they are assisting the ongoing revolution as best as they can. Michael O'Brien Jr. (Will Quadflieg) is the natural leader, his mother Meave O'Brien (Anna Dammann) living nearby helping to shelter Irish Republican Army fighters on the run. Patrick O'Connor (Heinz Ohlsen) is a loner who is suspected of being a spy, though he is actually giving the British wrong information. Interestingly the film also stars Paul Wegener, one of Germany's all time greatest actors, known for the Golem movies and The Student of Prague, all made before the Nazi years. In My Life for Ireland, however, he's given a role as an often talked about but seldom seen politician. Though obviously based on real life British imperialist rule in Ireland the film can hardly be counted as accurate (as it is, after all, a Nazi propaganda film). The film also is somewhat boring as well. As a film, basically average but nothing more. Mainly interesting from a historic perspective but that's all.