Lída Baarová (2016) User Reviews

The one about the actress and the "limping dwarf"

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 11 August 2017]

"The Devil's Mistress" is a 2016 Czech made for television film starring Tatiana Pauhofová as the real-life film star, Lida Baarova, who was Goebbels mistress.

Baarova was Czech, but became a big star in Germany and was involved with another star, Gustav Frolich. Though in the film he is not divorced, in real life, he was. She eventually became the lover of Goebbels (Karl Markovics). Hitler intervened and ordered the relationship severed, which made Baarova an outcast in the social and film scene in Berlin. She was forbidden to leave the country.

With the help of a friend, she escaped back to Prague. She worked in film there and in Italy. When the war was over, she was imprisoned by the Americans and later released. Later on, she resumed acting in Italy. After the fall of Communism, Baarova wrote her autobiography, and the 1995 film Lída Baarová's Bittersweet Memories won an award in Slovakia.

"The Devil's Mistress" deals with her life up to the time right after the war, with a quick narration about the next few years. Her two marriages are omitted. And, of course, there is some dramatic license taken with the story. For instance, while involved with Goebbels, a costar in the film version of Die Fledermaus, Friedl Czepa, was taken out of the film because she was a Jew. Lida appeals to Goebbels so she can be rehired. In real life, Friedl Czepa was a major Nazi collaborator and in no danger of being fired.

One of the reviews mentioned the love scene between Goebbels and Lida. I have to admit, it was a scream, with overly dramatic, loud music, images superimposed on the fire, and Goebbels' hilarious facial expression of ecstasy. That scene and the hair on the actor who played Hitler were over the top.

Tatiana Pauhofová is effective as Lida; Zdenka Procházková does an excellent job as the elderly Baarova. The rest of the acting is fine.

This was a very expensive production with gorgeous sets and clothes, plus the '30s-40s atmosphere. But somehow it had the stamp of TV movie all over it. Possibly it was the music or the fact that the script wasn't biting enough. At any rate, it didn't deserve the one star someone gave it here.

The Nazi casting couch told in Czech

[mls4182 · 5/10 · 2 June 2021]

I highly recommend this film. It is the life story of Lída Baarová, a 1930s Czech actress who became a minor star in Germany and had an affair with psycho Nazi Joseph Goebbels.

Like most biographies, it has a lot of inaccuracies and a messed up timeline but most importantly it has good camp value. First the love scene is so bad you will laugh out loud, the cat fight scene with Goebbel's wife (I doubt that ever happened) and the scene with Goebbels crying like a baby after Hitler yelled at him.

Beautiful costumes, locales and photography and most importantly, unintentional laughs.

An underrated movie

[abidduib · 7/10 · 7 May 2020]

This film gives us a idea about Hitler's "gang of propaganda". This movie can consider a good historiy based content where we can see the key players visions about their life and other life's. A movie about fake love, greed, stardom, misusing of power and fall down. A good movie for all history lovers.

Waste of time

[anntonia5 · 16 February 2020]

Very poorly made. The leading actress was sooo bad. It was like a school project or something. And oh my... Hitler... Taika Waiti one looks more realistic.

Caught in a Dangerous Relationship

[sameergarach · 7/10 · 11 September 2020]

A young actress from Czechoslovakia falls in love with Joseph Goebbles and becomes famous in Nazi Germany. Her career and relationship start well but end terrible. The movie portrayed a different and fresh angle on the time period; i.e. it did not center on the struggle of the Jews.

Cheesy depiction of interesting Nazi history

[dale-51649 · 6/10 · 9 September 2020]

Very interesting story about a Chech actress who becomes a mistress of the Nazi killer Gobbles . In spite of the darkest seriousness of the material they still oddly added the PC soft selling of what this chick was actually doing . Basically , she was doing what ambitious actresses have been doing since the silent film era and before : throwing themselves at powerful men who could advance their career , while ignoring the fact that they and the man were both married to other people . The thing I found most ironic was that the leading lady was portraying a beautiful actress while she was almost shockingly plain . No offense but , she was rather horse faced (if she went to the Kentucky Derby they wouldn't know whether to seat her or enter her ). Every time they would allude you how gorgeous she was , I almost burst out laughing . It was defiantly a lost opportunity to examine a time period which was fascinating and effects the world to this day. Maybe if they used a truly beautiful actress it would look too much like the Nazis could score top shelf women ? Whatever the reason , it just fell flat , and looked a bit like an acid version of a lifetime channel special .

Thought provoking.....

[s3276169 · 6/10 · 15 October 2019]

I'm not sure why there has been negative reviews of this film. For myself, I thought it was not only quite capably acted but more than that, its shows what happens to those on the "losing side of history."

Did Lida Baarova do anything fundamentally wrong in aligning herself with the Fascist cause in Nazi Germany? What would have happened if she had accepted contracts in the US like actress Marlene Dietrich (an obvious point of comparison)?

How would history have viewed her if Germany had won the second world war? Of course its hypothetical but still though provoking and I think that's why this film is interesting.

The story line follows along well and does touch on some of the worst aspects of Nazism such as the persecution of the Jews if only briefly. Perhaps a little too briefly.

I felt too, there was a little subtle revisionism here. I doubt some of what the German actors and others said in this film would have really taken place in Nazi Germany. At the time, words were as dangerous to a person as actions. Suggesting, for example, Lida would do well to stay away from Joseph Goebbels, would to say the least, be career ending had it gotten back to him.

Moreover, what Fascism represented was not really a new concept in Europe. Totalitarianism in one form or other had a long history in Europe as did mistreatment of minority groups for political gain Viewed from this perspective Baarova's actions can be understood, if not accepted when viewed through modern eyes. It's hard to convey such realities on the screen but its worth mentioning nonetheless.

All in all, an interesting and thought provoking proposition, that looks at the history of cinema from a different perspective.

6/10 from me.

Ambition knows few bounds.

[irvingwarner · 7/10 · 28 April 2022]

This story is true indeed. If the Nazis seem like cartoon characters, it is because they were. Unfortunately, they were cartoon characters who had come to rule a country; this had happened before 1933 and after. In fact, unbelievably, Goebbels was the cream of the crop, Nazi wise. I found the production values high, the acting topnotch. Some of the scenes failed, most obviously the love scene between Baarova and Goebbels before the fireplace, etc. That fell flat. This movie did not do well outside of the Czech Republic, IMBd noted. I can understand that, because if I have one observation, it is that it was very Czech indeed. I do recommend this movie for those interested in historical cinema.

A soap opera starring Goebbels as the sympathetic romantic lead

[rbkiernan · 1/10 · 23 September 2017]

"The Devil's Mistress" is the (allegedly) true story about the Czech actress who became Goebbels' mistress for two years immediately prior to WWII. The story is based on the actual biography of Lída Baarová, though it played loose with the timeline of events and what the actress was doing even after the onset of the war.

Though I can appreciate why a dramatic license was given, it's a tough sell turning Joseph Goebbels into a sympathetic romantic lead. Even with the understanding that a woman could deliberately blind herself to her lover's actions, the actual story is hard to stomach. It is portrayed as Baarová's narration of her own life, told in a way that makes her own actions more palatable. The realities of history were mostly ignored.

*If* the film could have succeeded showing the romance between the actress and the monster, it lost that chance with the narration. Too much plays out like a soap opera, including with its unfortunate choice of music. This train wreck of a movie culminated with a sex scene so unfortunately hilarious that I likely sprained something from laughing so hard.

Then I hated myself for being such a juvenile that I'd laugh at this movie.

Ultimately, this whole film was nothing more than a cheesy disaster, finally coupled with an even cheesier ending. (Remember, Baarová married many times. The last husband left her financially affluent, though this reality would not have meshed with a storyline that portrayed Nazis as being about as ferocious as teddy bears.)

The movie was so bad I couldn't look away. I am not a better person for having seen this. You've been warned.

badder than bad

[bevonola · 1/10 · 28 May 2017]

this was so bad I couldn't stop watching it. A total waste of great costuming and scenery. As once was said of Kate Hepburn, the leading lady's talent ran the gamut from a to b.The burning fireplace sex scene had me laughing out loud. There was absolutely no chemistry between anyone in this mess, and the cartoon Nazis were about as scary as kittens.

Splendid!

[rps-2 · 9/10 · 15 May 2017]

This is a powerful, superbly done, compelling film, produced with that wonderful "European" quality that Hollywood never has been quite able to replicate. It's apparently a true story although, even being a war history buff, I had never heard of it. I suspect it may have been tarted up a bit for dramatic effect. If so, fine! It is a great and captivating couple of hours with brilliant cinematography and wonderful sets that capture the flamboyant Nazi pageantry of pre-war Germany. Most of the characters look real: Pavel Kriz as Hitler, Jan Lepsik as Himmler. But the key character, Joseph Goebbels, played by Viktar Preiss, looks nothing like the man. An intriguing snip of history most effectively converted to an engrossing movie.

Interesting but more than flawed

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 7 February 2018]

The story it is telling is really interesting. You may want to know how and why a woman fell for someone the general public does view as a monster now but wasn't really seeing as a sex symbol either back then. One of the main flaws I already mentioned is the fact that everyone is talking Czech, even the Germans/Nazis, which doesn't really make much sense. Especially because when they film movies from time to time the same characters speak German. Even our main character has to learn German for her career ... so the Czech part of it all, is to make it work for home/origina country this is from.

But that's not all of course. Looking back on those things, we do realize that a few things seem out of order. The chemistry is not the best between the actors and you might get bored from time to time. So while overall an interesting topic, this cannot convey and convince as it should be able to

A magnificent story made boring

[gizemgergin · 4/10 · 23 February 2021]

It is astonishing how such an interesting story could become so dull. Just google Lida Baarova and read any article you find, it will be more exciting than this movie. There are zero feelings in the movie and considering it takes place during the most devastating period of modern history, is about a tragic love story and a broken family -- it must be pretty difficult to achieve that. It is also not even close to being abjective, looks like the whole point is to show Lida as poor, innocent girl in who fell in love with the wrong guy. She is portrayed a clueless victim but it is too overstated so the movie can not make the viewer but this idea. Like, you can't be a Nazi masterminds girlfriend and recognize he has **something** against Jewish people.

HURRY spend the money, we need a tax write-off!

[eclecticladyy · 1/10 · 22 March 2019]

My head is reeling. Where to even begin? This was a bizarre product of amateurish players given a huge Hollywood budget.

Costume design gets an A. Cinematography a C. The camera work looked like a student. All those endless close-ups of the lead actress showing her full range of 3 strained expressions: Surprise. Seductive. Questioning. She looked like a very ordinary Meghan Markle in a perm-fried, bad wig and was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

This movie was so shallow that if you scratched the surface there was nothing left. It should have never have made it out of the reject pile. ZERO character development. I had ZERO sympathy for ANY of these characters. The characters all appeared to be in a chaotic dress rehearsal and there was no chemistry between any of them.

The street scene where the merchants were attacked looked like a stage play (Lida in her perpetual SURPRISE expression) then later we see her SEDUCTIVE expression at hideous Goebbels. The lizard Goebbels had the sex appeal of a dirty dish rag.. Truth is they ignored that fact that superficial, ruthless women like Lida were mesmerized by the money and power of the Nazis and were attracted to the comfort, benefits, and protection they received in exchange for sex. Instead, they pretended Lida was sexually attracted to the little lizard Goebbels and "in love with him." Any woman who looked the other way while Jews were being burned tortured and murdered in the streets was as soulless and evil as the brown shirts that did it. How fascinating this story could have been if it had dived into Lida's flawed greed and ruthlessness instead of sugar-coating it!

There were two unintentionally hysterically funny scenes in this film. The first was the love scene in front of the fire. We see his leather leg brace rubbing over Lida's legs. Then his floating face of ghoulish ecstasy through the flames. Oh such sophisticated analogy! Fire. Flames. Devils. Gee I wonder that meant? It was so shockingly amateurish, even for this film. That love scene is memorable as probably the worst in cinema history. The second was Goebbels calling Lida on the telephone to end the affair because "Hitler made me do it." And he is bawling like a pathetic baby. You just want to slap him hard and tell him to "MAN UP GOEBBELS You still have millions of people to slaughter!."

ALL THAT MONEY WASTED when there is such untapped REAL raw talent in NYC and L.A. screaming to be discovered! Netflix is going down a rabbit hole. They need new leadership.

On Netflix, just swith to German?

[roblaingjoeblog · 9/10 · 27 February 2021]

Many of the one star reviews I've seen complain about Hitler and Goebbels speaking Czech, the language it was originally filmed in.

German is my second language, so initially abandoned watching this until someone pointed out Netflix offers a dubbed version. When I rewatched it in German, it was brilliant.

it's a conflicted story (how could anyone sleep with the Nazi's top propagandist?) which makes it interesting.

Why are Hitler and Goebbels not talking German?

[mumzzen · 1/10 · 7 March 2020]

When they made the actress Lída talk in German during the filming of her German movies but couldn't let her keep that German whenever she spoke to Hitler and Goebbels. If they can make her talk German in some scenes of course it would make sense for her to talk in German to Goebbels and Hitler, afterwards too. So I skipped most of the movie. But after reading another review about the awful "sex scene" between the Lída character and Goebbels I had to fast forward to watch it. At least it was so bad that it was funny and made me laugh! But yes, it makes more sense that Hitler and Goebbels would speak German and if Lída has already spoken in German (there is even a pointless scene where she is learning to speak and pronounce perfect German by a female teacher) then why not make her speak German whenever she speaks to Hitler and Goebbels and other Germans? Makes no sense that the Germans would all speak her language when she is in G.E.R.M.A.N.Y. The acting is also flat that I wasn't sure if all the actors just hated each other on set or not and I have done a good deal of acting myself to recognize when it's horribly done. There was absolutely no chemistry between the leads, except awkward cringeworthy "I-have-to-smile-and-pretend-to-like-this-person-because-I-am-in-a movie-and-my-character-in-this-movie-is supposed-to-like-this-person". Usually I love movies about the old school nazi's, Hitler, the holocaust and WWII, (no I am not a neonazi just really interested in that historic period) but this crap was very easy to skip. If you want a good laugh you can fastforward to the "sex scene by the fireplace" between Lída and Goebbels but otherwise you should avoid this trash all together!

Amateurish

[BigDuck2022 · 1/10 · 30 October 2018]

Amateurish, inconsistent, humanizing Nazis, horrible waste of an amazing story.

Sad Czech Debut

[matukonyc1 · 2/10 · 14 September 2020]

I could not watch this film in its entirety. It has all the hallmarks of a bad television movie, and is possibly the worst thing I've ever seen from Netflix. The production is silly, the plot pedestrian and oddly framed. The scene where Magda Goebbels fights with Baarova while swimming in the Wannsee made me laugh out loud, it was so preposterous. It really was a waste of a good story, and it succumbed to the same shallowness exhibited by its characters.

Great movie - well paced and costuming excellent

[nowackiandrew · 8/10 · 28 December 2020]

Like others here I don't understand the low reviews. The movie is subtitled, and sometimes people rate lower for that. I thought it was well paced and acted. I like WWII films; this is a good one.

A chance not taken

[thomas-leitha · 3/10 · 20 November 2018]

What could have been an interesting story turned out to be little more than a conventional TV soap. Lida was Goebbels mistress, but don't expect to be told why.

Absolutely terrible movie

[laurennsquire · 1/10 · 4 July 2019]

Do yourself a favour by not watching this film. Absolute trash paired alongside terrible acting. The movie is sympathetic towards Nazi's. If I could give it 0 stars I would.

Chick lit but with Nazis

[borgolarici · 4/10 · 19 November 2020]

This movie has many flaws but my main problem with it is the actor who plays Goebbels: he doesn't remotely resemble him. He doesn't look like him and he doesn't do a good job at imitating him either. Which is distracting because the man had a very distinctive appearance. Other than that, the script is very basic and the fireplace scene is... terrifying.

Respect to creators, Director and actors!

[mlss_neumann · 10/10 · 16 November 2020]

Very well made..... Exceptional! The cast all preformed extremmly well, the reference to history. The decoration and settings all stunning! Loved it!

Disgusting attempt to humanize the Nazis

[buystuffrnh · 1/10 · 24 April 2022]

Yet another film neo nazis and Holocaust deniers love. It is consistent with a growing number of films attempting to make evil butchering muders and those who support and benefit from them to be "not such bas guys after all ".

Looks like a movie shot by a high sch student

[leeforlazy · 3/10 · 16 February 2022]

One of the worst movies i have seen so far. The entire movie is very naive and cliched and it feels like it is produced by high school students. It has wasted such an interesting theme - the mistress of a man in Hitler's inner circle. It is supposed to be a great chance to explore political themes in nazi germany together with the danger and lust in Berlin. But it has failed completely. The dialogues are not only unoriginal and unnatural, they are worse than soap opera. The script writer's understanding of nazi germany and hitler seems to be no more than a high schooler who just took history lesson 101 on nazi germany. The main actress shows nth more than beauty. The entire story is empty.