Synopsis
Leon Feuchtwangler's novel Jud Suess was originally about a powerful ghetto businessman who believes himself to be a Jew. Suess' ruthless business practices result in the betrayal of an innocent girl, for which he is arrested and sentenced to be hanged under the anti-Jewish laws of the 18th century. While he waits to be executed, Suess discovers he is not Jewish. Rather than turn his back on the people of the ghetto with whom he'd grown up, Suess courageously refuses to declare his "Aryan" status, even though it means he will die on the gallows. The Feuchtwangler book was designed in roundabout fashion to strike a blow against anti-Semitism. But when Jud Suess was filmed in Germany at the behest of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1940, its original message was twisted and perverted into an argument in favor of "ethnic cleansing." As played by Werner Krauss, Suess is not only genuinely Jewish, but also an amalgam of every vicious caricature ever concocted by the anti-Semitic propagandists of the past two centuries. With hooked nose and greasy beard, Krauss portrays Suess as a whining, wheedling, hand-wringing subhuman rapist; small wonder that Krauss was proclaimed an Actor of the State by the Nazis. The final scene of Jud Suess shows a screaming, protesting Suess being hanged in the public square; the scene is directed to cast Suess' tormenters in an utterly sympathetic light, and perhaps even to invoke cheers from an impressionable audience. Though disgusting beyond belief, Jud Suess should be seen at least once, if only to show what a dangerous weapon film can be in the hands of hate merchants. www.allmovie.com
About the Film
If there ever was a movie that constituted the case of a hate crime, it is this despicable s.o.b. of a movie by German director and nazi collaborator Veit Harlan. Certainly not a masterpiece, but of historical relevance.
Much has been said about this film, some might even question the need of this upgrade (maybe an ugly film just deserves an ugly print) but nevertheless, a film which should be seen. In Germany, this film is categorized as a "Vorbehaltsfilm", which means it can only be shown for educational purposes and with a proper introduction/contextualization. The source is an Region 1 DVD published by an – admittedly dubious – company called Arcive DVD in the so-called Holocaust Studies Series. (They also sell other nazi films!) Link The educational approach is stressed by the bonus material: the nazi propaganda film "Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt" (The Fuhrer gives the Juden a city) about life in a concentration camp and "Death Mill" about the liberation of German concentration camps by the US army.
The film derives from quite worn film material. "Jud Suss" is a digital (unrestored) transfer from a 35mm fine grain master of a print held by the National Archives in Washington, DC. Some tramlines in the original elements are also clearly visible in parts of this film (see screens). The extras are taken from video – not great quality there (looks like a vhs rip) but good enough. "Der Führer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt" has hardcoded subs, "Death Mills" has English voiceover.
http://rapidshare.com/files/228602067/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/228647752/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/228720679/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/228763992/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/228805395/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/228844282/Jud_Suss.Harlan.1940.XVID.AC3.part6.rar
English subtitles hardcoded
no pass
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