The Goebbels Experiment (2005)

Excerpts from the diary of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, covering the years 1924-1945. Events are illustrated through archival footage, film clips, contemporary video of places refereed to in the journals, and the most minimal of reenactments. Kenneth Branagh's reading of the mans words is as strong a performance and you might suppose from the Irish Shakespearean.

The draw of the film is a glimpse inside the mind of this key Nazi leader. Goebbels obviously thought a lot of his own ideas and observations, and of all the big name party members, he kept the most extensive personal records. From a depressed and angry college years (one entry read might have been a veiled reference to a future suicide), Goebbels finds his meaning in the National Socialist Party, and in Adolph Hitler, a man with whom he would have a varied relationship.

At times Goebble's worships his Fuhrer, and can't seem to say enough good things about him, at other times it appears the Hitler is now an 'idiot' or has "lost his way, he no longer leads us." These shifts in perception seem to have a lot to do with the amount of attention he feels he is being paid ("Sunday: Breakfeast at the Furher's"), and the extent to which he is then currently in the fickle mans 'good graces'. Also highlighted is Goebble's opinions on other important Nazi's and world leaders, which also seem to change. Goreing for example is "a megalomaniac" then "a nice guy really" and finally "an idiot" and even "effeminate". The propaganda ministers assessment of Churchill also changes with time, going from "ugly, fat" to "an adversary to be respected, he's not as stupid as Chamberlain was."

As Goebbles was in charge of propaganda he spends a good deal of time in his diary's talking about movies. He is mostly a very critical reviewer, at least when it comes to forgone films, thought he had his issues with Leni Refensthal as well. In one entry he tells how a certain Czech film, while well made, had no effect on him, while words on the screen inform us that he later had an affair with the lead actress. Joseph's obsession with film and image lead to his own home as well, as the mans children where routinely photographed for propaganda purposes. Seeing his seemingly loving and happy large brood prance around on screen is all the more sickening when one knows that he and his wife poisoned them in Hitlers bunker, so that they would never live to be 'brainwashed' by the Allied powers. The Goebbels Experiment ends with footage of Allied troops inspecting the bodies of the dead children, and the burned corpse of the Joseph Goebbels.