Council of the Gods ("Gotterrat")

(East Germany, 1950, Black and White, English subtitles).

This film has never been screened commercially in this country. It is an indictment by German laissez-faire attitudes in the years preceding the second World War, during the resurgence of militarism and the Nazi rise to power.

Opening in the industrial Rhine-land of 1933, it tells the story of a chemist who is too wrapped up in his work to notice what is happening in the Fatherland. In particular, he fails to notice that the board of directors of the factory where he is employed, is helping to back Hitler.

During the war, the chemist's research and work is put to terrible use and he only then realises that he is partly responsible for the Nazis' crimes. After the war he finds himself and his friends suffering hardships—his previous employers are making an excellent recovery.

Some people may find parts of this film distasteful.

(Council of The Gods will be screened on June 21).