Apparently, this propaganda film (funded by none other than Goebbels, with the aim of strengthening the idea of a "Volksfront") had the largest budget and took the longest to complete of any German wartime film. The producers mention that the events portrayed are rooted in historical events. Sorry. "Kolberg" is loosely based on the exploits of Ferdinand von Schill's Freikorps in the Hanseatic City of Stralsund. In the film, the citizenry, their patriotic passions aroused by the dashing Schill, successfully vanquishes the French troops. In reality (1809), the French routed Schill's Freikorps, decapitated him posthumously, and sent his severed head in a bottle to King Jerome of Westphalia (Napoleon's brother-in-law). Hmmm. I have to say that I prefer my Nazi propaganda straight, without the anachronistic melodrama. In short, this film can only be stomached by academics and true psychos.
Review of Burning Hearts
