Jew Süss: Rise and Fall is a 2010 film from Germany directed by Oskar Roehler. The original German title is Jud Süss: Film ohne Gewissen ("Jew Suss: Film without a Conscience").
It is a biopic of Ferdinand Marian (played by Tobias Moretti), the German actor who starred in the notorious antisemitic propaganda film Jew Süss. The film starts in late 1939 with Marian, rehearsing for a German-language version of Othello, coming to the notice of Nazi Minister of Propaganda and film boss Joseph Goebbels (Moritz Bleibtreu). Goebbels decides that Marian will be perfect to star as Suss Oppenheimer, the Villain Protagonist of Goebbels' new anti-Semitic movie, Jew Suss.
Marian is reluctant to do it. He fears typecasting as an evil Jew, and beyond that, he is not a Nazi. In fact, he and his wife Anna (Martina Gedeck) are hiding their Jewish friend Willi (Heribert Sasse) in their garden shed. But people don't really say "no" to Joseph Goebbels and Marian winds up starring in the movie. Marian gets carried away with the praise he receives for the film, which is a genuine hit in German-occupied Europe. Only too late does he realize what a monstrous thing he has done.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Marian's shame over playing the part of Suss leads him to drink, which leads to full-blown alcoholism by the end of the war.
- Artistic License – History:
- The character of Anna, Marian's wife, is fictional. His first wife, the one he had a daughter by, was Jewish pianist Irene Saager. His second wife, the one he was married to through the war and in fact until his death, was a woman named Maria Byk, who was not Jewish and who outlived him (she committed suicide in 1949).
- The film opens with Marian and his Jewish friend Willi rehearsing a scene from Othello together, in late 1939. In real life, by this time Jewish actors had been banned from German film and stage for several years.
- As You Know: Veit Harlan introduces "My wife, Kristina Soderbaum," something that Marian would obviously know since Harlan was one of the biggest directors in Nazi cinema and Soderbaum was a huge star.
- Bad "Bad Acting": It backfires on Marian. Hoping to avoid playing the part of Suss Oppenheimer, he insists on a screen test and then delivers his only line in a flat, affectless manner. Unfortunately Joseph Goebbels, who was looking to avoid a cartoony Large Ham villain, loves it, and gives Marian the part.
- Biopic: Of the unfortunate career of Nazi-era film star Ferdinand Marian.
- Driven to Suicide: In Real Life it is unclear whether Marian's death in a 1946 car wreck was a DUI accident (supposedly he was celebrating after a de-Nazification process that would have allowed him to work again), or suicide. In this film it clearly is suicide, as he deliberately drives his car into a tree.
- Fatal Family Photo: The ending has Marian, driving drunk, looking at a picture of him with his dead wife and his permanently estranged daughter. He proceeds to deliberately drive his car into a tree.
- Faux Affably Evil: Goebbels can project an air of good cheer and bonhomie, like when he throws an arm over Marian's shoulder at a cast party and congratulates him for his skillful performance as Suss. But the atmosphere of barely contained menace is always there, and people like Marian are always aware of that when speaking with him.
- Feet-First Introduction: With a dash of Evil Cripple, as Joseph Goebbels is introduced with a close-up shot of his club foot as he limps across a foyer.
- Historical Domain Character: Most everyone in the film except for Marian's wife, Marian's Jewish friend Willi Deutscher, and Marian's lover Vlasta, who are all fictional.
- Last-Second Chance: The Marians go to Italy for the premiere of Jew Suss at the Venice Film Festival. Anna says that they can seize this chance, fly to Italian North Africa, and thence to Casablanca where they can escape to America (possibly after stopping at Rick's). Ferdinand, who despite his better instincts is loving the fame and praise coming his way after the movie, refuses. It's a bad mistake.
- Let the Past Burn: An extremely hypocritical instance of this as Veit Harlan is shown burning a print of Jew Suss before American reporters, and lying that he was forced to make the movie. A savvy reporter notes that Harlan must have more copies of the film.
- Making the Masterpiece: Well, not a masterpiece. But the central plot involves the making of Nazi propaganda film Jew Suss.
- Meaningful Look: The early scene where Marian is at home with his family has him and Britta, the maid, share several meaningful looks as she putters around the dining room. Sure enough, Ferdinand and Britta are having an affair.
- New Year Has Come: The early scene where the Marian and Goebbels households are both celebrating New Year's 1939-40, mainly shows how hostile and aggressive even a New Year's celebration speech would be when it comes from Joseph Goebbels.
- Rage Against the Reflection: Marian's self-loathing over playing Suss leads him to smash a mirror he's looking into.
- Shrunken Head: Werner Krauss has a couple of shrunken heads, apparently just because he's weird. He uses them to recreate the conversation where he persuaded Goebbels to let him play several parts in Jew Suss.
- This Cannot Be!: Mr. Engel, the producer of the Othello show Marian is starring in, says this word-for-word (in German) when he's told that the production is being cancelled by Nazi censors.
- Time Skip: The film skips from 1941 or so and the aftermath of Jew Suss to 1944, to show Marian as a drunkard making a spectacle of himself at a nightclub. Then there's another skip to 1946 and the finale, showing Marian as an alcoholic sad sack after the war in the American zone of occupation.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Marian is deeply disturbed when his little daughter recites the anti-Semitic poem she wrote for class.
- You Look Familiar: In-Universe and Discussed Trope. Werner Krauss says that he wanted to have a bigger part in the movie, so he got permission from Goebbels for him to play "all the minor Jewish roles". And in fact Krauss did play at least four parts Jew Suss.
- Young Future Famous People: Not seen, but mentioned. After Jew Suss premieres at the Venice Film Festival to great acclaim, Marian is shown a review by a young Italian film critic who praises both the movie and Marian's performance. The critic? Michelangelo Antonioni.
