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Article: The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife.
(book reviews)
- Article from:
- The Germanic Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Eric Rentschler, The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996. Pp. xviii + 456.
Eric Rentschler's study underscores the common notion that the viability of National Socialism depended on the agitational and propagandistic power of the mass media. Film, in particular, the author argues, played a crucial role in the subjection of the German populace to the dictates of the NSDAP, since no other medium has its capacity to "mobilize emotions and immobilize minds, to create overpowering illusions and captive audiences" (1).
Focusing on the feature films produced in the Third Reich and working from ...