FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
MÜNCHHAUSEN (1943)
Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels commissioned
Münchhausen in 1942 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Germany's
UFA Studios. Envious of American and British productions like The Wizard of
Oz and The Thief of Bagdad, he envisioned a lavish epic to rival them. The
colorful and fanciful adventures of Münchhausen - from books in which the 18th
Century nobleman traverses the globe (and even makes it to the moon) - were a logical
choice to provide a cinematic answer to Hollywood's treatment of L. Frank Baum. But in
the end, Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer needn't have worried:
Münchhausen is a fairly tiresome piece of work. Instead of following a path
toward a well-defined goal, this tale simply meanders. It also suffers from a confusingly
talky script. Action scenes are clumsily staged, and Münchhausen's (barely)
climactic trip to the moon has all the professionalism of a grade school play.
In certain places, Münchhausen achieves a visual splendor worthy of
Goebbels' ambitions - in the lavish palace of a Turkish pasha, for example, or in a
balloon ride into the stars. And at other times the excessive dialog at least yields some
interesting pseudo-philosophical musings. But for the most part, it all adds up to an
uninspired and amateurish spectacle. Unlike the recently re-released 1943 German
Titanic, which has at least an interesting point of view,
Münchhausen is a curiosity at best.
DVD Extras: The most interesting extra here is a surreal animated short from
1944, which succeeds in making Münchhausen a compelling hero, even if he never
speaks. The cartoon has an absorbing rhythm, and crams more action into its few minutes
than its live-action counterpart gives you in two hours. There is also an introduction by
the head of the F. W. Murnau Foundation. While he gives some necessary historical
background to the film, and describes efforts to restore it to its condition here, his
introduction would have benefited if more clips from the film played over his speech. The
original trailer is also provided, but is not translated. We have no idea what the German
narrator is saying. Also featured is an excerpt (again, not translated) from Die
Fledermaus (1944), after the Johann Strauss operetta. (Someone must have noticed
that the musical numbers were missing from the "German Wizard of Oz"). It
looks to be worth watching, if (as seems safe to assume) Kino intends to release it. Arthur Vaughan
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