Silberman Article

In reading the silberman article I found many aspects to be very interesting. The way that he described the characters and the director was very insightful. He made it very obvious that Kautner was a very different director than the one's that we are accustomed to seeing within the Third Reich. He was able to kind of get away from the obvious propaganda that was portrayed in many films. Kautner focused more on the morals of his characters without comparing them to the Jewish people to make a point to the rest of the world. Take Madeline's husband for example. He is portrayed as such an oblivious man, not attentive to his wife at all, and very selfish. When looking into his character it does not go with the times, because he is not lazy or an awful German, he is just trying to make due for his family. We are supposed to look and think that it is not his fault that he is so oblivious to what is going on in his own house. Then we look at Madeline, who is actually even more confusing. Madeline is such a polar opposite of what a "good German Woman" should be that it is almost ridiculous. Madeline is a married woman, and yet she is cheating on her husband, not with just one man but two. During this time period it is not acceptable for a woman to act that way, and even in this day and age it still isn't acceptable. I think this is the point that Silberman is trying to make in regards to Kautner. It is so amazing that he was even aloud to make these kinds of films during the Third Reich rule of Germany.