Review – Munchausen

Anyone striving to disprove the stereotype that Germans have no sense of humor should do everything in their power to prevent this movie from being shown. Back in 1943 Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels decided that UFA needed to produce something big to commemorate the studio’s 25th anniversary. He also wanted to prove that Germany could create a spectacular fantasy feature to compete with Hollywood productions such as The Wizard of Oz. Not even close. The story starts out with an awkwardly-grafted contemporary bracket before plunging into the tale of Baron Munchausen (and no, there isn’t a trace of irony to be found in this Nazi-spawned picture about a compulsively lying aristocrat). Most of the screen time is devoted to humor that’s at best “quirky” and more often downright bizarre. Quick example: one of the characters is attacked by a rabid dog that tears his coat. Back at home, he puts the coat in a wardrobe with other garments. They all get rabies, break out of the wardrobe and float around the room until he shoots them. Even the picture’s marketing angle is peculiar. The most obvious audience for fantasy of this caliber is kids, but some elements – boring bracket, gratuitous nudity – suggest that it was made with adults in mind. Perhaps the regime just assumed that any people dumb enough to buy Nazism would be dumb enough to be entertained by this. See if desperate