"Kolberg" is a German film from 1945 by the infamous writer and director Veit Harlan and even if Germany had already lost the war at this point, the film industry had not yet understood that the fight was lost. The core message of this Nazi German propaganda is that they are telling the German population to hang in because no matter how hopeless and bad the situation seems, there is always the possibility to turn the tables. The core hatred in here is not against Jews anymore as in many other propaganda films, but it is the French guys getting their fair share this time. It plays during the days of Napoleon and he is also one of the main characters in here, the main antagonist as we watch the (likeable) Prussian forces desperately and bravely fight the evil French forces. In order to include an emotional impact, Heinrich George's and Kristina Söderbaum's characters were included. They do not necessarily have a whole lot to do with the military battle, but they are inevitably confronted with it. And the ending of course, in old Nazi manner, shows that all the dying, all the sacrifice and all the losses were worth it and had to happen in order to gain victory. Well.. I must say there were a couple solid moments in terms of storytelling, more than usual for a Harlan film, but overall it was not enough for a 100-minute movie I must say. The message to hang in is worth discussing if it is really that bad to allow people to ban this movie. I don't really think so. But I also do not think that storytelling or acting in here are memorable enough (or memorable at all) to say this film is worth watching. I personally give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend checking it out.
Review of Burning Hearts
