Why the USSR insisted on ban of the 1943 German film Munchhausen in Nuremberg?
Upvote:1
I think you're reading far too much into this film; its actual content is merely pure escapism for the masses, without any intentional ideological or propaganda significance, other than Goebbels commissioned the film to demonstrate that Nazi Germany was capable of producing sumptuous cinematic fantasies in glorious technicolor the equal of anything Hollywood could produce. It was probably banned in the USSR simply because the nudity in the film offended Stalin.
Upvote:9
From Simon Sebag Montefiore's Stalin: Court of the Red Czar:
After the war, Stalin's tsarist tendencies became even more pronounced. [...] He called Sergei Eisenstein to tell him how to improve his latest installment of Ivan the Terrible. It is certainly not difficult to see in his advise that Stalin considered himself some sort of reincarnation of the historical figure.
"Historical figures", added Stalin, "must be shown correctly... Ivan the Terribe kissed his wife too long". Kisses, again. "It wasn't permitted at that time". Then came the crux: "Ivan the Terrible was very cruel", said Stalin. "You can show he was cruel. But you must show why he needed to be cruel." Then Zhdanov raised the crucial question of Ivan's beard. Eisenstein promised to shorten it. Eisenstein asked if he could smoke.
"It seems to me there's no ban on smoking. Maybe we'll vote on it". Stalin smiled at Eisenstein. "I don't give you instructions, I merely give you the comments of a viewer".
[...]
Stalin now possessed a new library of American, English and German films that had until recently been the property of Goebbels. If Stalin was in a bad mood, one of the Goebbels films would please him. He liked detective films, Westerns, gangster films—and he enjoyed fights. He banned any hint of sexuality. When Bolshakov once showed him a slightly risqué scene involving a naked girl, he banged the table and said: “Are you making a brothel here, Bolshakov?” Then he walked out, followed by the Politburo, leaving poor Bolshakov awaiting arrest. From then on, he cut even the slightest glimpse of nudity.
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