Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageSwastika (1973)
Director: Philippe Mora
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Philippe Mora's study of Nazism (using documentary material, including 16mm colour footage shot by Eva Braun) works best as a testament to the lost hopes of a duped generation, charting the slow slide from apparent peaceful prosperity to the takeover of more sinister elements; by which time the process of seduction was well under way. You realise what an insidiously high standard of propaganda the Nazis developed. The portrait of Hitler, mainly through Eva Braun's home movies, although fascinating, is less successful. It attempts to give the man a human face, but the strange washed-out colours, the repetition of footage to a point where it assumes a hallucinatory quality, and the credit sequence of a huge gold swastika revolving in space, do little to make the myth more accessible. Rather, they reinforce it. A fascinating document, none the less, that spares us a commentary, letting the material speak for itself.Author: CPe
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now