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7.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Der Führer remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, unless you are a hardcore history student who likes feeling dirty, you should probably avoid this one. Its a hard watch.
People who want to see how easily minds were poisoned back then might find it interesting. Anyone looking for actual entertainment will probably hate it and turn it off after two minutes. 😬
It is not really a movie in the normal sense of the word. There are no characters, no plot, and definitely no jokes.
Instead, we get Herbert Gerdes standing in front of a camera. He just talks and talks about what makes a "perfect leader."
The whole script was written by Joseph Goebbels. Yes, that Goebbels, which already tells you everything you need to know about the vibes here.
Gerdes explains that a leader needs four things: character, will, ability, and luck. He says this with a totally flat face, like he is reading a recipe for baking bread.
The way the camera just stares at him is deeply unsettling. 🎥
There are no cuts or fancy edits to distract you. It is just raw, quiet manipulation.
Unlike early political films like Your Girl and Mine: A Woman Suffrage Play, which actually had some hope and heart behind them, this one just feels dead inside.
The sound quality of these old reels are always bad, but here it is especially annoying. There is this constant hissing noise on the soundtrack.
It sounds like a rusty radiator leaking steam in the background. 📻
Also, Gerdes barely blinks. I started counting the seconds between his blinks because the speech itself was so dry.
He goes nearly a minute without closing his eyes once. It makes him look like a wax figure that somehow learned to speak.
At one point, he gets this tiny, almost invisible smirk on his face. It only lasts for half a second, but it made my stomach drop.
If you actually want to watch a good drama from around this era, go find The Big House instead. Leave this one in the dark corners of the archives where it belongs.