MovieChat Forums > Idi i smotri (1985) Discussion > Are the Nazis depicted as they are as a ...

Are the Nazis depicted as they are as a surrogate for 1980s America?

posted 5 years ago by whynotwriteme (7122)
2 replies | jump to latest

The movie was made in the Cold War era and the Nazis spend a lot of dialogue denouncing Communism and doing decadent, chaotic individualistic things, like the stereotype of America the Soviets had. The Belorussian peasants in the movie are nondescript, hardworking people who do not stand out from the crowd, but the Nazis all have distinct individual characteristics, even the minor soldiers.

Was the movie meant as anti-Capitalist US propaganda as well as a historical account? Like they were saying, "The Germans did this once and now the Americans threaten to do the same?"

[–] AP (5258) 5 years ago

It was definitely a propaganda piece. I think the Nazis represented the decadence of the West, which would obviously include the US, but also all its allies.

It's a brilliant movie that doesn't get enough credit. Propaganda movies tend to be idealistic and shallow but this one is different. It's one of the most haunting movies I've ever seen and has stayed with me years after seeing it.

[–] SickSpazmoid (704) 3 years ago

Bullshit. By that time nobody was buying anymore the propaganda about the Western decadence and the socialist utopia. No wonder that glasnost and perestroika started exactly around this time. The movie depicts the Nazis as exactly they were - treating the local population like subhuman trash. Even today some people in these parts of the world hold a grudge against the Germans - something you won't see in other parts of Europe, especially the Western part, where the Nazis were more delicate.