Simply A Masterpiece

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

In film history class we were usually shown a silent era German movie followed by Triumph of the Will. This film ought to be included. It is surprising on a few fronts. One is the high production values. Not a cheap movie at all. Even when compared to a US technicolor film of the period, this had a few advantages like real European locations, access to the Venice canals (a movie in colour first?). It could also be the first colour film to show a space-science fiction sequence. The effects were impressive for the time and its clear that the Gilliam version borrowed some fx ideas from this. The often heard assumption that Germany's best film technicians all fled or were killed simply isn't true judging by this. Very colourful film. The language barrier prevented me from judging the comic timing very well but looked as though the performances were on target. As others have pointed out the nudity and sexual talk is rather jarring to see when you think of the US censorship board of the period. Probably the two biggest surprises were the black people(!) and the not so unsubtle digs at the regime. The villain with the moustache talking about invading Poland really came as a surprise. This flies in the face of what I often heard-that Germans were brainwashed by Hitler-clearly there was some dissent judging from this. And it also counters the idea that was put froward in the last 10 years that in war time one doesn't criticize the sitting president. They did in Nazi Germany!

I never even knew a version of Munchausen's tale was made before Terry Gilliam's 1989 movie; I stumbled across this version on TCM tonight and was bowled over. The sets and costumes are very detailed and elaborate, this must have been a very expensive movie in its time. Hans Albers is wonderful as the ageless Baron, wandering through the wacky adventures in this film without taking it seriously for one moment. In some respects the acting is ahead of its time, as the actors almost seem to be making fun of themselves, for example when the princess earnestly utters the line "fate bestows us luck, but the interest is very high." The goofy special effects only add to the fun, for instance when the cannonball-riding Baron crash-lands in the Sultan's palace and greets him with a hearty "Salaam!", or when the balloon drifts all the way up to the moon, which is populated by people who can remove their heads at will. I find it astonishing that there are so many sexual references in this movie, the one-liners fly pretty fast in the sultan's palace, especially the scenes between the Baron and the eunuch, who speaks in a comically high-pitched squeak, like a mouse. I know it's stupid, but there are two parts where I laughed the most: when the Baron takes a gun in each hand to shoot in two different directions and his eyes act independently of each other; the camera holds on his expression just long enough for it to be a hilarious sight gag. The other time I laughed was when the Baron used his sword to humiliate the princess's brother in Venice. This is a very good movie that deserves a lot of praise. I think it has more depth than Gilliam's version and the acting is top notch.

If this clever, intelligent and visually stunning 1943 German version of the Baron Munchausen story was made elsewhere, and not under Nazi rule, it would surely rank as one of the great classic fantasy films. Films made in Germany during World War II received almost no worldwide distribution. Up until now, the only way to view MUNCHAUSEN was through faded video bootlegs. Kino Video, with the assistance of the F.W Murnau Foundation (who helped preserve Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS) has released a handsomely restored version of this colorful, dreamlike fantasy treat.MUNCHAUSEN begins with a great visual gag regarding an elaborate 18th century costume ball attended by the charming but constantly fibbing Baron Munchausen (Hans Albers, whom film fans will recognize as the strong-man who steals Marlene Dietrich away in THE BLUE ANGEL) Munchausen tells of his wild adventures. One moment he rides a cannonball to a sultan's grand palace, at others he takes a trip to the moon, does battle with flying barking clothing, and encounters a man-hungry Catherine The Great. MUNCHAUSEN was filmed in Agfacolor, a bright and stunning color process developed in Germany. You will see the storybook-like colors that make this film so enjoyable. MUNCHAUSEN also has some really wild moments for a film made in 1943. In one scene, topless slave girls are auctioned off. In other scenes, Russians are depicted as weasely gluttons slobbering over vats of caviar. As MUNCHAUSEN neared completion, the Germans suffered a crippling blow at Stalingrad. Any jab at the victorious Russians would have been welcomed by German audiences. MUNCHAUSEN was the film that heralded the 25th anniversary of UFA, Germany's grandest film studio. During the bombing raids on Berlin, UFA studios and its vast achieve were severely damaged. It is true miracle that MUNCHAUSEN survived as well as it did

This is a perplexing film. For all of its ambition, it falls to pieces regularly. There are moments of beauty and spectacle, but never long enough to stick; moments of humor and sentiment are brief and forced. There is no suspense, no real sex, no warmth and ultimately, no heart. One can be impressed, but not moved. For all the fashionable dumping on Hollywood, American pictures of this era, even when stupid, never reached the bleak, impersonal aridity of this epic.Also, the VHS version I saw began with screen notes mentioning that there were few technicians in 1943 Germany who were familiar with special effects. The reason given was that nothing on this scale had been attempted since the silent era. This is dishonest nonsense. The real reason was that the majority of German special effects people had either exiled themselves abroad or been incinerated. The German film industry didn't begin to recover from the Nazis until the 1970's.Terry Gilliam's recent remake is neither better nor worse, just different.