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The Goebbels Experiment

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The Goebbels Experiment

The Nazi propaganda mastermind behind Hitler speaks in first person as actor Kenneth Branagh reads pages of the diary kept by the chief of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, revealing the man's most inner thoughts.

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Release : 2005
Rating : 7.3
Studio :
Crew : Director, 
Cast :
Genre : Documentary

Cast List

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Reviews

Rijndri
2018/08/30

Load of rubbish!!

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ChicDragon
2018/08/30

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

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Tyreece Hulme
2018/08/30

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

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Celia
2018/08/30

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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TOMASBBloodhound
2016/09/09

Perhaps if this diminutive propaganda minister hadn't been such an outcast as a youth, he wouldn't have grown up to be such a jerk. The Goebbels Experiment is definitely worth your time if you're into WWII history, and hope to learn what might have made some of these villains tick. Kenneth Branagh lends his voice to an hour and a half of diary entries from Joseph Goebbels, a would-be novelist, poet, propagandist, and fascist anti-Semite who rose from obscurity along with Hitler, and helped his fuhrer terrorize a great many people. We learn of his painful and lonely childhood marred by crippling polio and then being shunned by his schoolmates. We hear the angst felt by many during the Weimar years, and the antisemitism pooling inside him. By the early 1920s, Goebbels has fallen under Hitler's spell, and the two men's destinies are intertwined for the rest of their lives... until their brutal suicides.Anyone looking for insight into the cause of this man's hatred of Jews won't find much. Antisemitism in Europe hardly began with the Third Reich, and didn't end with it either. The bulk of this film centers around squabbles within the party, and Goebbels' ideas of what make good or bad propaganda. Despite his extramarital affairs (which he only hints at), Goebbels still attempts to portray himself as the quintessential German family man. With WWII raging around him, he still lives the high life by hobnobbing with actors, traveling to swanky Paris and Venice, all the while enjoying the power his position has afforded him. The journal entries turn noticeably pessimistic and more urgent, from the moment he mentions reading a letter from a commander on the eastern front. Suddenly, the fortunes of war seem to be turning. Not much in the way of specific battles are mentioned. Again, this is not exactly a blow- by-blow account off the war. Just the musings of one of the key players. His relationship with Hitler starts as some sort of a man-crush, then goes through a phase of distrust, then ultimately ends up trying to reason with him over mistakes he has made fighting the war. Goebbels also claims to be one of the few Nazi leaders respected by their soldiers on the battlefield.From the time he hears of the trouble in Russia, Goebbels can most likely guess that his future, and that of the people closest to him, looks quite dark indeed. Still he urges the German people to fight on, and many do... until the very end. And we see this end in graphic detail. Do we the audience feel in any way sorry for him? Maybe for his family, but the words of this man deserve a harsh punishment. And they must never be forgotten. The Goebbels experiment is worth your time. A good blend of newsreel footage, speeches, and an inside look at one of the most notorious figures of perhaps the most evil regime of all time. 8 of 10 stars.The Hound.

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DarthVoorhees
2011/06/17

This is a sorry excuse for a film. The fact that it qualifies as one is really kind of odd and amazing. There isn't a great deal to be said about The Goebbels Experiment other than it looks like these filmmakers slapped it all together. Essentially we get History Channel stock footage narrated by Kenneth Branagh. Branagh isn't in this in the least bit. He seems bored by what he's reading and does little to create a Goebbels character. Branagh is one of my favorites in the business and a great attraction to him is his voice but his voice isn't interesting enough to sit through just pure recitation without inflection or much interest.And the film has no narrative to speak of. It has a certain chronological order to the events but never do we get an understanding or staging of the links.What do I make of the diary? None of it really surprises me. Joseph Goebbels was a sadistic screwed up anti-Semite and surprise, surprise that's what the feeling we get here. Branagh's narration doesn't create a character even a monstrous Nazi as we might expect an actor to do.There isn't anything to comment on here. Some of the footage and Hitler's speeches are frightening to see as they always are but it isn't to the credit to anyone involved with these project. I find it amazing that it has a credited director when it should merely have a credited editor. Amidst all the horrible things Goebbels was responsible for you have to admit he was a far more competent filmmaker than the people behind this project.

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valis1949
2010/02/01

In the fascinating documentary, THE GOEBBELS EXPERIMENT, Kenneth Branagh elicits a dramatic reading from Goebbels's personal journal while the viewer watches vintage film and news clips from the era. Carefully crafted and diligently compiled, the film reveals Joseph Goebbels to be a very human, three dimensional character- equal parts loathsome, and possibly brilliant, yet clearly trapped in a doomed and misguided chapter of world history. Joseph Goebbels was arguably the highest ranking 'non-gangster' of National Socialism's inner circle. Although a virulent anti-semite, and certainly afflicted by megalomania, Goebbels did exhibit a certain degree of intellectualism which was noticeably absent from the rest of Hitler's ruling elite. All historically significant men, and unfortunately, Hitler was one such man, require a facilitator who can translate their fundamental message to the world at large. And, Joseph Goebbels became the perfect individual who aptly aided The Fuhrer to codify, clarify, and disseminate his demented political and social policies. Certainly Goebbels was on the wrong side of history, but this fine film examines his reasons and motivations quite admirably.

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Jonah Falcon
2005/08/14

This film basically has the narrator reading from Josef Goebbels diary from the early 20's through to his death in 1945. The film is bookended by the charring corpse of Goebbels, though the film reveals his dead daughters, since Goebbels had them poisoned rather than be captured. You learn a lot of things about Goebbels. He critiqued movies, panning The Battleship Potemkin for being too unsubtle in its propaganda (and obviously being inspired by it at the same time.) He thought Churchill was a better speaker than "that idiot Chamberlain". He was paranoid, often attacking then loving Hitler. You learn that Hitler's favorite men were not friends (Goebbels hates Goring, for example.) This is a must see for anyone interested in the goings-on in the inner sanctum of the Nazis.

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