Georg Wilhelm Pabst – Der Prozeß (1948)

Quote:In the tradition of Eötvös, to whom the film is dedicated as a “pioneer for truth and justice”, Pabst portrays the reality of Jewish life in hauntingly designed scenes and explains both religious superstitions and racist, nationalistic and economic-political arguments against anti-Semitism , which is based on anti-Semitic pamphlets such as the alleged ‘Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion’: this forgery had not yet been published in 1882, but predecessor writings were already widespread and Pabst drew a parallel with this consciously used anachronism to Hitler, who in “Mein Kampf “Expressly mentions the ‘protocols’. Further parallels to the National Socialist persecution of Jews are the devastation of the synagogue and the capture of the Jews, which commemorate the Reich pogrom in November 1938; the call “Hungary awaken” to the anti-Semitic turmoil corresponds to the “Germany awake” – roar of the Nazis and with the brutal tortures Pabst accuses the crimes of SS, SA and Gestapo. The shocking torture scenes are influenced by the corresponding scenes in Roberto Rossellini’s anti-fascist film “Roma, cittá aperta”, as is especially illustrated by the montage with the ball taking place on which the examining judge is dancing.
The temple servant Scharf is played by the actor Ernst Deutsch, who has returned from exile in the United States. On the occasion of the German cinema premiere in Berlin in 1950, he wished “that Berliners should not only see the film with their eyes and hear it with their ears, but also speak to their hearts. “German had a special relationship with the material; in 1920 he had played Moritz in the performance of Zweig’s“ Sendung Semaels ”at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Other contributors were personally connected to the subject in different ways: Auguste Pünkdösdy had appeared on the stage as German as Esther Solymosi in 1920, and Max Brod and Erich Ziegel, like German, were persecuted by the Nazi regime.
At the Venice Film Festival in 1948, Ernst Deutsch was awarded a gold medal for his moving portrayal as the best protagonist and GW Pabst as the best director. Contemporary criticism also spoke of a “big hit”, praising the “honest seriousness of the first hour” and the “happy mixture of documentary fidelity to the work and artistic expressiveness.” However, “The Process” was not a success for the audience, it is Pabst’s anti-fascist Films remained the least known, and is not even mentioned in the “Cinematography of the Holocaust” by the Fritz Bauer Institute.~

helmut-g-asper.de

1.84GB | 1 h 43 min | 768×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/DA2D92DCBF18995/Pabst_G._W._(1948)_Der_Prozess.mkv

Language(s):German
Subtitles:French, English (muxed)