a model kit of cliches

First let me say that I am German, which might put the following remarks in perspective and give the discussions on this board a different spin, at least offer a different point of view.

Since it is always dangerous to criticise a movie about the Third Reich and WWII without being accused of being a Nazi, let me say that I am far from condoning anything done in the name of the German people during that period. On the contrary – my political leanings are more to the left (or what some US Americans might call “liberal”).
Let me now enumerate my points of criticism:

- It is painful to watch a movie set in Germany with people speaking a horrible mixture of stilted English (with fake German accents) and German reduced to a few words, which neither are nor were very common (“Saukerl”, “Dummkopf”), simply because these are the words international (esp. American) audiences know from other WWII movies. Be consistent and let them all speak proper English (even in their own dialects (English, Australian or whatever), if you produce for an international audience. This is much more acceptable than this tower of Babel.

- In my opinion, the majority of people always behave the same (in whatever political system they are forced to live); 95 % percent of the people do not care at all what kind of political system rules and they either try to ignore it as best as they can or arrange themselves with it (just like they do today). That was certainly no different during the Nazi period. You do not have the good guys and the bad guys, but simply normal people trying to get along. Here the movie fails miserably and makes the actions of the different characters highly predictable.

- If you used a model kit for a movie about Nazi Germany, what are the elements that should be included to provide all the necessary cliches? Brutal and cold-blooded Nazi officials, SS and soldiers – done; hiding Jews – done; Reichskristallnacht – done; deportation of Jews – done; quiet resistance against the bad guys – done; innocent children / young adults forced into youth organisations / the army etc. – done; burning books – done; the stupid school bully harassing the good kids – done; Nazi flags at every corner – done; school organised like a boot camp / teachers straight with the party line – done … I could go on and on; I am not denying that these were (sometimes) realities, but a good movie (novel, song, symphony, painting etc. etc.) should avoid piling up these cliches, because the audience simply get their expectations fulfilled, but are never challenged in their opinions and attitudes.

- And lastly I have a general kind of problem (and I must admit that I have not read the book): But a novel written by an Australian (even if of German/Austrian descent) 60 years after the event, cannot and will never really show the realities of the 1930s and 1940s in Germany. If the movie in any way reflects the contents of the novel (which I cannot be sure of), it is just the book written by someone who has seen some American or British movies about the Third Reich and WWII and read his school textbooks carefully and then put all the elements he can remember in a blender. Imagine a German novelist writing about the USA in the 1930s and 1940s based on the Hollywood movies of the time (mainly film noir, John Wayne western movies, Errol Flynn adventures, Boris Karloff horror and Abbott & Costello) mixed with our schoolbook knowledge (the Great Depression, gangsters in Chicago, prohibition and bootlegging, the New Deal), mixing all these elements and presenting this as a picture of the real United States. Would Americans not be justified in complaining about the distorted image of their country and that no “real” people were presented, but walking puppets spurting out cliches. Imagine everyone talking and acting like Philip Marlowe (respectively the bad guy depending on which movie you saw).

I hope I made myself clear. Please don’t flame me or insult me for my opinion – because it is simply that: an opinion. If you enjoyed the movie, good for you. But do not think that you have learned anything about the realities of the Third Reich (to which I am much closer, simply because I have been living and have been raised in this country), but realise that simply all your preconceived ideas (which may partly have a slight correspondence to what life was really like) have been met, but that not one original idea was presented to you. I – for my part - do not think that it is a good movie (and I dare conclude the same about the book), despite all the praise they both received.

PS: I am aware that the movie is a German co-production, but I ascribe this more to the (justified) bad conscience and regrets about our history than to the conviction of creating a historically accurate and valuable piece of art.