Undergångens arkitektur

"The Nazi philosophy of beauty through violence"

Oct 13 1989 Not Rated 1h 59m
Documentary, History

Featuring never-before-seen film footage of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, The Architecture of Doom captures the inner workings of the Third Reich and illuminates the Nazi aesthetic in art, architecture and popular culture. From Nazi party rallies to the final days inside Hitler's bunker, this sensational film shows how Adolf Hitler rose from being a failed artist to creating a world of ponderous kitsch and horrifying terror. Hitler worshipped ancient Rome and Greece, and dreamed of a new Golden Age of classical art and monumental architecture, populated by beautiful, patriotic Aryans. Degenerated artists and inferior races had no place in his lurid fantasy. As this riveting film shows, the Nazis went from banning the art of modernists like Picasso to forced euthanasia of the retarded and sick, and finally to the persecution of homosexuals and the extermination of the Jews.

Plot

An absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler's epiphany while viewing Wagner's opera 'Rienzi', the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the 'degenerate' art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.

Written by

Peter Cohen

Directed by

Peter Cohen

Cast

Rolf Arsenius, Bruno Ganz, Sam Gray

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Sweden

Production Companies

Poj Filmproduktion AB, SVT Drama, Sandrews, Svenska Filminstitutet

Languages

Deutsch, svenska

Awards

1 win

Scores
# of Votes
1,171
Average Rating
8 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA