"Opfergang" or "The Great Sacrifice" is a German movie from 1944, so this one is already over 79 years old. It was directed by Veit Harlan and the lead is once again his wife Kristina Söderbaum. The male lead is played by Carl Raddatz and this trio worked together on more occasions around that time. Also co-writer Alfred Braun was not new in collaborating with Harlan, the man who is responsible for the most infamous propaganda film of the 3rd Reich. This 95-minute film here is really harmless compared to "Jud Süß". But it is pretty dramatic and tragic in terms of story and apart from one wild celebration/party scene, there is little positive or uplifting about this one. As usual with Söderbaum who was possibly Germany's biggest star by 1944, the film is in color which makes it look much more modern than most other films from that time. By 1944, World War II was (obvious to be )lost for Germany and this film, which deals with a young woman's severe and lethal illness can somehow be seen as a statement of how Germany felt at that point. They were slowly dying just like their (despicable) idea(l)s. But the film also oozes hope with the fate of Raddatz' character at the very end. Hope for the future.
These interpretations and the political situation when the film was made / came out are possibly the most interesting thing about it. The story otherwise was not good enough in terms of quality for almost 100 minutes and I personally don't see great talent in Raddatz or Söderbaum. They were at the right place at the right time to have such booming careers, especially Söderbaum. But their craft leaves me relatively unimpressed. So yeah, you can probably call it a political movie, even if politics itself are never referenced in here. Could you call it a propaganda film? That's your choice to make, it's a pretty fine line overall I guess. In my opinion, all in all, the negative/forgettable was more frequent than the positive/memorable, even if I would not call this film a failure. I give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend the watch. Maybe I would have with a better lead actress.
These interpretations and the political situation when the film was made / came out are possibly the most interesting thing about it. The story otherwise was not good enough in terms of quality for almost 100 minutes and I personally don't see great talent in Raddatz or Söderbaum. They were at the right place at the right time to have such booming careers, especially Söderbaum. But their craft leaves me relatively unimpressed. So yeah, you can probably call it a political movie, even if politics itself are never referenced in here. Could you call it a propaganda film? That's your choice to make, it's a pretty fine line overall I guess. In my opinion, all in all, the negative/forgettable was more frequent than the positive/memorable, even if I would not call this film a failure. I give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend the watch. Maybe I would have with a better lead actress.