Munchhausen

This 1943 film, produced at the UFA studios in West Germany, was refurbished by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation to mark the 50th anniversary of that studio. The Nazi director of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, wanted a big internationally acceptable production to celebrate the studio's 25th anniversary, and the M nchausen story was chosen. It was thought suitable for Germans of the time, because of the ridiculous light in which it shows other nationalities. Baron von M nchausen (1720-97) was an eccentric figure in European history, whose tall tales about his adventures rival anything to be found in the legends of Paul Bunyan, or of the classical figure of Odysseus; they are similar in tone to the stories in Gulliver's Travels. The Baron's tales have been favored reading by the young-at-heart for centuries. This film recounts some of the episodes from the Baron's "autobiographical" stories, which are set in the world of the eighteenth century. In the story, the Baron's 1940s descendant narrates some of the Baron's famous tales; it gradually becomes clear that the original Baron attained immortality, and that his modern descendant is actually the original Baron. The American-born director Terry Gilliam made another film based on these tales in 1988, also titled The Adventures of Baron M nchausen. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi