Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Harlan - Im Schatten von Jud Süss" is a German-language 100-minute movie from 8 years ago. It is probably the most known work by writer and director Felix Moeller. The topic here is the title character: Veit Harlan, a German filmmaker during the days of Nazi German back in the 1930s and 1940s. What Leni Riefenstahl was for documentaries is what Harlan was to fiction films and probably in an even more serious way as he is the filmmaker behind the most infamous Nazi propaganda movie "Jud Süß" that was ordered by the German government in their attempts to make Jews look like the evil guys in order to push their ways of killing millions of Jews in concentration camps and get the support from the people for their genocide.In this documentary here, we find out mostly how Harlan's children and grandchildren see their ancestor today with all they know about him. Some are critical and put the blame on him, some seek to justify, other prepare not to say a whole lot at all. Overall this was a pretty good documentary that is worth seeing for everybody with an interest in the years of Nazi Germany. I believe, however, it is absolutely essential to be aware who Veit Harlan is and you probably either should have seen "Jud Süß" to understand the context or at least know a lot about the film. The scenes from the movie in this documentary help for sure, but I don't think they are sufficient to help people understand the context completely if they are not aware with the film "Jud Süß" or the director Veit Harlan. But then again, why would they this documentary if they don't care about the subject. I personally enjoyed this more than the Tobias Moretti movie as it is so close to Harlan's family and their insights add a lot more than any expert could due to their family history background. A well-crafted work. Go see it.

jake_fantom This is one of those documentaries where a bunch of talking heads yak about the central subject, and there's a lot of cutting back and forth. In this case, the subject is the guy who directed what is easily the most vile and anti-semitic movie ever filmed, and the talking heads are his children and grandchildren, who offer up various excuses or condemnations. The problem is, there's not much to say. The subject of the film, Veit Harlan, is quickly revealed as an opportunistic slimebag, who was more interested in his career than in the millions of lives his film helped end. Once that little detail is out of the way, what's left to talk about? The documentary offers up plenty of padding — scenes from Harlan's overblown, mostly forgotten films, stock footage of Nazis, etc. — but there's not enough to sustain interest. After 15 or 20 minutes of repetition, you've got as much of the picture as you'll ever want.

kosmasp And of course the shadow. The thing is, that there is not that much light into the matter. All relatives of the director of the infamous "Jud Süß", the propaganda film of the Nazi Regime, talk here. And they have different opinions on the movie and their father (or grandfather in some cases).The question if he knew what was going on will not be entirely solved though. If that is what you are looking for you will be disappointed. In general, there is not that much information you will gain from this documentary. It will tell you how some people felt about the movie, what happened in some years, but I am missing the depth. What I did like, was the fact, that there still is some controversy amongst the siblings (some even defending the choice of Harlan, when he made the movie).It is difficult for a filmmaker and it must have been even more difficult. It's just a shame there was never a complete reveal of what happened. Was it the Regime that made him do it or did he believe what he was filming too? If the latter is true, than he was a criminal too. It seems we will never know for sure. I hope that they will make a documentary about the dilemma of directors though that shines a light on this subject once more

ro089 This documentary tells the story of "the most important director of the Third Reich", Veit Harlan, and his infamous film "Jud Süß" (amongst other film of him). In my opinion, the way the documentary's director, Felix Moeller, chooses, is very good for this subject. He does long interviews with nearly all living relatives which leads to a multi-layered portrayal of both the director and the human being Harlan as well as an insight in the conflicts of his children and grandchildren with him. The film also shows some sequences of the main works of Harlan, like "Der Herrscher", "Opfergang", "Kolberg" and "Verrat an Deutschland", so the viewer can get some idea of the visual style and the plots. All in all, this is a great film history documentary and a very useful introduction to the work of Veit Harlan!