As a serious classic film fan. I just learned that the escapist films of Germany during the war was a part of the propaganda machine. For example how Club Foot let jazz and swing be played in a percentage of the musicals of the time like Es Lebe De Lebe, Hallo Janine, Women of My dreams , ex cetera. Inspite of the ban on jazz and swing at that time,Club Foot was hoping to get more members of the Nazi party through buttering up the audience. Mariak Rokk and Christine Soderbaum were queens of AGFA color mainly because of their Aryan looks.So the escapism types were propaganda too in a way. Opfergang is the name of Christine Soderbaums horse,maybe. This is a German Nazi version of a Harlequin romance novel on film. The art direction for the AGFA color cinema photography was gorgeous. The costume ball sequence was great.Although the music in that party was tango and no fox trot ,Aka a sneak word for swing and jazz at the time to get through the third Reich bias.Irene Mynahoff was a lot warmer acting as Carl Radatz wife than she were in Kolberg. She was an ice queen. Chrisitne play a wealthy women who's either divorced or husband had died and left a fortune. She has a little girl but has either a paid servant or her aunt or her mother to take care of it for her.She and Carl meet and ride horses together they succumb to an affair or that it looks that way.Eventually Carl convinces Irene to move to a new house without her realizing he's doing it to be closer to Christine.Frank Sheihaflin play Carls work associate or best Friend.He's playing his age. In Csadaristfurstin he played Johanne Heesters father ,too young .One day as both Irene and Carl are out doors. she starts to get suspicious of the reason why Carl bought the house. When she sees Chrisitne go out of her house and she starts following her until Frank sees her and wonder why she following her. Both discover that she visiting her child. Eventually as with Camille she succumbs to a heart conditioning. Carl gets sick too but pulls out of it .If this was made in united states under the production code Alth and Carl would of both have to pay for their sins any how . In this case Alths died to pay for her sins to following the guidelines of the Nazi production code when a character commits adultery. This thing happen in Das Goldene Staht too. So adulterers didn't get away with it neither in Nazi Germany. There's a scene in the costume ball sequence where a contest is being played and the prize is a barrel of beer from Scholtzes beer garden, Just teasing. I got this print it's a warn video master the color is intact still not sharp but watchable. The restored DVD version has not been put out yet.I got it at German War Films dot com. They tell you the quality of the prints. The only problem with this picture ,other than video print, is that the story is slow moving.05/20/11, Just received the subtitled version.A better print too The story is more understandable.From German war films dot com. 09/01/11. I got the premiere restored print, from Riechs Kino, It a digital transfer. The contrast is even balanced too. But no subtitles.But the print is beautiful. 09/18/11 There was a misunderstanding with Reichs Kino and me. The print they gave me was good but it wasn't restored version. I got suspicious about it .It wasn't perfect. Then they told me . The restored version won't be available till 2012.
Review of Opfergang
