The Mortal Storm

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Meri S. @mschroeder Nov 4 A very good classic movie; hard to go wrong with Jimmy Stewart. So many relevant themes that ring true during this current administration. So a bit unnerving to watch and see how individuals are brainwashed. See more Maximus T 06/07/2024 Awesome in every way, a must see. See more Aldo G 05/17/2024 Its message is as pertinent now as it was in 1940. See more Steve D 01/13/2024 Important but not really good. Stewart is wasted. See more 03/14/2022 This movie is incredible, the acting, the story, the heart, all great. This is movie ages incredibly well and I down to earth think everybody should watch this movie, it teaches a great lesson of how innocent people can get corrupted over dictatorship and just corrupted leaders in general. Even if you're not a fan of old movies you should watch it, because one of these days we might have another Hitler (or at least something like him). See more William L 03/16/2021 There are plenty of times where The Mortal Storm shows its age - in technical proficiency (some skiing scenes were very much not on location) and in filmmaking conventions, for instance (among this supposedly all-German character sheet, there are a confusing mix of accents, from heavily Teutonic to good ol' American Boy Scout). But the film compensates in its political stance, as an unabashedly anti-Nazi film released well before the United States became firmly involved in World War II, when the US was still ambiguous in its geopolitical leaning and, just a year before, the German American Bund had hung swastikas alongside portraits of George Washington before an audience of 20,000 at Madison Square Garden, promoting their fascism as "pro-Americanism". West's screenplay (ably adapted from Bottome's novel), focuses on the disintegration of a family based around the tenants of a rabid political mania, as young men eager to 'restore Germany to glory' quickly adopt party dogma as their own, enforcing unquestioning obedience, anti-intellectualism, and racial discrimination ("non-Aryan" is namedropped a few times, though it's not an overt focus) even to the extent of imparting mortal consequences upon those they once loved. There are depictions or implications of social control, book burnings, the removal of "offensive material" (regardless of its factuality), ethnic purity, the focus on a political 'other' as the root cause of all problems, and many other trends that have reemerged among far-right movements in the United States and abroad, only sharpening viewings of this film today. Performances are solid, but none are really standouts, though Sullavan in her primary focus (and as the result of multiple tragedies) feels empathetic. Shocking in 1940 for its willingness to depict ugliness in ideologies that some thought acceptable, and sadly relevant today for the same reason. (4/5) See more Read all reviews

The Mortal Storm

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