The importance of the film "Pour Le Merite"

Several films, adapted to guide viewers on certain topics, were commissioned by the Nazi state before the outbreak of the war. The most important in this category was the "Zeitfilm" style aviation film created by Carl Ritter: "Pour Le Merite" (1938), [Pour Le Merite - for excellence], named after the highest decoration of heroism in Imperial Germany.

"Pour Le Merite" was a founding cultural event, in which, as a matter of fact, all of German history was rewritten, from the end of the First World War until Hitler came to power, in a manner consistent with Nazi ideology. The film deals with a group of former fighter pilots, who according to prominent biographical characteristics are from the flying circus, headed by the commander of the Squadron, whose character is modeled on the biography of Herman Goering.

Goering' name in the film is Frank. He leads his men after the war to revolt against the ruling regime of Democrat Weimar, whom he publicly despises. Out of the hardships of existence the pilots join the small Nazi party. Their struggle is successful, Hitler comes to power, and at the end they see the new German Air Force, which they command.

The film depicts "civil politics as a continuation of the war in other ways" and scenes of violations of the law are presented in it as inevitable, due to the rule of the corrupt left.

The film was described as "the purest Nazi film". At its premiere in Berlin in December 1938, Hitler watched with Carl Ritter by his side, Goering and Goebbels, and outside the cinema hall stood a guard of honor of veterans. Apart from the great box office success, the film was also recommended for viewing by young people, and was watched by millions of teenagers as part of the compulsory screenings held for "Hitler Youth".

Carl Ritter was Adolf Hitler's personal favorite. He congratulated him publicly, describing the film as "a great success, the best film in history so far." The commander of the SS Heinrich Himmler congratulated Carl Ritter on his achievements in the film with warm words. He complimented him on his ability to portray living and believable figures and on reenacting the period before the Nazis came to power, in which Germany was humiliated.

Even outside of Germany, "Pour Le Merite" was considered a great success. An American film critic noted that although non-Nazi audiences would be more interested in the first half, "it is exceptionally made."

The film is based in part on the true experiences of the "Flying Circus" pilots at the end of World War I and after. It begins in the last months of the war in 1918 and in the first half include exciting aerial battle scenes. The euphoria is at its peak and is displayed, among other things, in the festive hospitality of a captive British pilot, who escapes because he is not guarded. 

Later, in preparation for the surrender of Germany, the feelings of disintegration, failure, disappointment and anger are expanded. After the ceasefire, the commander and some of the pilots, all with the prestigious Medal, refuse to hand over their planes to the Allies and burn them, in the midst of the end-of-war celebrations, in a series of dramatic scenes that take place in the middle of the film.

The second half begins with the failed attempts of the squadron commander, Frank, to integrate into the capitalist economy of the Weimar Republic, which is controlled by the occupation authorities. The British pilot who escaped is one of the new regime's heads, where military skills are of no value. This section includes long scenes of Frank's meetings with various businessmen in restaurants and offices, each time his business initiative fails more and he is less suited to the economic reality. Various attempts to rehabilitate German aviation through the gliding sport have been only partially successful, given the obstacles posed by the government. The group continues to meet during the Weimar period and the veterans' fraternity is preserved. They become members of the Nazi party.

The pilots gather at a lone farmhouse of one of them, around a single fighter plane hidden in a barn. The plane is discovered and communist militia forces are sent to take it. In the ensuing battle some of them are killed. The pilots are arrested and on trial. Squadron Commander Frank tells the judge, in a central scene: ''I'm not interested in this country, because I hate democracy like a plague. Whatever you want to do I will avoid, as much as I could. We must establish Germany on its feet, a Germany that will meet the demands of the combatant soldiers."

In the last part of the film, Frank escapes from prison through his friends and escapes abroad. He returns after the Nazis come to power, meets on the harbor wharf his old friends, who have already received senior military ranks. At he end, he is welcomed with royal honor, in front of an endless line of fighter planes. In fact the scene recreates the return of Hermann Goering to Germany, having fled from it to Sweden following the failed putsch in the beer cellar. The scene is combined with a 1935 documentary-like segment: Nazi flags are hoisted in the streets, and the crowd hears over the loudspeaker the re-armament speech of Germany. Later, the crowd gathers in the square at the foot of the monument in memory of the soldiers who fell in the war. The picture is replaced by a dramatic announcement by a veteran pilot, standing on the wing of a plane at an airfield, about the re-establishment of the Luftwaffe.

This last scene in the film is the most cinematically impressive. The scene is initially constructed from a preliminary abstract avant-garde, in which the protagonist is seen up close against the backdrop of the body of the ship that unloads him in port. There he is received by his only friends, who take him to the squadron, over which he receives re-command. In the process, the cinematic image develops and becomes broad, rich in details, realistic and even symbolic. At its peak there is a display of dozens of fighter planes in a straight line to the horizon. At the same time, this lengthy scene incorporates footage of the enthusiastic crowd in the streets.

Ernest Udet, whose public status was far more prominent than that of Herman Goering during the Weimar Republic, appears in an important supporting role. His name in the film is Fabian, and comedic romantic scenes starring him make up the first quarter of the film. In other sections, in the middle of the film, he represents the one who managed to get by in spite of everything, and sets up a small aircraft factory. At the end of the film he happily integrates into the new regime. All excerpts are based on details from his familiar biography, thus further establishing the film's authentic value.

"Pour Le Merite" presents the Luftwaffe as the legitimate successor of the Imperial Air Force, leaning on the heroic status of the air heroes of the First World War, They are founders of the new and powerful Air Force, which was established despite the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. The gneral symbolic value of the airplane and the pilot is demonstrated from the opening exposition scene to the very last moment. 

The film attacks the Jews, but does so in a moderate way, in a short segment that shows Frank's failure in business. The Communists are greater enemies, and a considerable part is of confrontations with them. The greatest enemy is the new German democracy, which has ignored the needs of war veterans. The film highlights the warrior hero, not as a mythical archetype but as a modern flesh-and-blood folk character, whose embodiment as a superhero involves the achievements of the entire nation.

Nazi cinema in "Zeitfilm" style

Joseph Goebbels' call to create revolutionary films with an artistic touch, rather than blatant propaganda, was not understood in the early years. Nevertheless, three "Potumkin"-style films were made, about the period of the struggle for power. The best known of these is the "Hitler's Youth Quacks" (1935), which had a huge success and influence. After the removal of the "brown shirts" from the party, these "Savior Victim" films became irrelevant. The familiar and cumbersome "popular cinema" was not a solution either. It was obligatory to invent something new.

In the professional press, a discussion was held in 1936 on the subject, in which "cinematic avant-garde" was not a derogatory word, in contrast to the other branches of art. The German filmmakers in this abstract style, who were inspired by Futurism and Dada, won great and sympathetic articles. The first sequel was Karl Junghans' documentary about the Winter Olympics in Germany in 1936. It was an avant-garde style film, which was supported by Junghans in an article in which he presented it as representing the "new and modern time". He argued that the clear cinematic language of "Potumkin", with its montages and cutting-edge camera, should be distinguished from the amorphous content presented by faceless masses. Goebbels' demand thus became a criterion. The avant-garde has transformed from art to its name into a modernist tool in the service of murderous rule.

The question now was how to assimilate the artistic criteria of the cinematic avant-garde, having been detached from Soviet bluntness, into National Socialist content. Here Lenny Riefenstahl first provided the creative answer. In her documentary films about the Nazi regime's shows, she combined camera, music, and montage as key and original elements. Riefenstahl preferred sharp shooting angles inspired by "mountain movies". She did "creative research" on the characters using many cameras. She created a dramatic edit and attached all of these to dramatic music. In this way she was able to present mass experiences in a creative way, in the totalitarian regime where every work of art had to have a purpose. This created an original German style, which became known as the "Heroic Reportage". This style was adopted for widespread use in Nazi Germany thanks to its modernity, surprising ability, and visual totality.

The shortage of original feature films, those that portrayed the life of the German laborer as dynamic and satisfying, was even more pronounced. Airman Carl Ritter was the first to fill in the blanks, in a style he called "Zeitfilm". This was in fact Riefenstahl's style, with a plot-propaganda content, inspired by a well-developed artistic sense and strict order, which were his artistic hallmark. Ritter has created feature films in various genres, which have given him the opportunity to systematically shape his modernist artistic message, while at the same time extensively developing the nationalist and propaganda message.

During World War II, the "Zeitfilm" films came to fruition. They presented daily life in Nazi society, but were almost absent from its outward signs, such as salutes. They were also meant for export, and prominent symbols in the background were an obstacle to that. The typical "Zeit [period] film" was certainly required to be used as an alternative to entertainment cinema, but not with the aim of completely replacing it or causing a revolution. It served as an ideological self-affirmation, one that would prove that National Socialism could achieve the same results achieved by Soviet cinema.

Carl Ritter explained the meaning of the term in the lecture "Zeitfilm and Contemporary History", which he gave in Hamburg in September 1936. At the beginning of his speech he sought to give the art of cinema the respect it deserved and to stop treating it as cheap entertainment. The state has already taken this step, when it has organized and nationalized the entire field. He came out as a buffer against the "realist" studio films that were typical of the Weimar period, which were detached from reality, because they superficially characterized the characters, plots, and backdrops. He took an example from Soviet cinema, which managed through real realism to absorb the spirit of the period and excite the audience, because it managed to express a very wide range of human realms. The "Zeitfilm" is mainly a film that makes a cross-section of this time, which create a cinematic report. But there is no need to present criminals in it, but the positive and beautiful, using examples from the classic German street. Cinema in Nazi Germany is a national venture, and is suitable for "Zeitfilm" because it is capable of presenting a quality cross-section of the entire population, culture, and history. Ritter wanted to further create light-hearted entertainment films, which are the bread and butter of the industry, but asked that one in ten films be serious. He claimed that despite their seriousness, the Zeitfilms could be the art of cinema at its best, citing the example of his "Traitor".

"Poetic cinema" is a comprehensive definition, involving the essence of poetry, with many challenges involved. It stands out in its position in relation to the common commercial-entertainment film and characterizes films with a significant statement, created by "Authors". As a rule, the artistic film does not stand in binary contrast to Hollywood cinema, but is placed in a different place across the continuum. An important question is whether "Zeitfilm" is close to poetic cinema. The answer is that the main characteristic of poetic cinema is the ability to understand something from something. In poetic cinema, lyrical expression is a challenge to viewers, existing in the tension between the two basic modes of cinema: realism and formalism, in which all cinema films are located. On one side of the continuum are the documentary and neo-realistic cinema, which are easy for average viewers to understand, as they has no visual surprises that stop the full narrative move. On the other side of this sequence is expressionist, artistic and surrealist cinema, also known as "formal" or "poetic", which uses "open images" that can be interpreted and are intended for elite audience. At the center of the sequence is the "classic" cinema, in which all the elements are intended to serve the plot, with the clear aim of not attracting the viewer's attention to anything else. The "Zeitsfilm" cinema lacks open images and all the elements in it are intended to serve the ideological purpose. It is a classic cinema, designed for a wide audience and all the elements in it, like directing, photography, music, acting, editing, set design and the like, serve the plot narrative.

 

Aviation and photogenicity in Nazi cinema and Carl Ritter films

The Journey film was a popular genre in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. Apparently it was a documentary genre, documenting an authentic journey abroad to obtain scientific information. The documentary filmmaker was described as a lone wolf, often a pilot, who fought heroically to document invaluable scientific information. His expedition presented the fighting values ​​of strength, determination and sacrifice. He fought to bring valuable treasures to the homeland. Using the camera lens as his weapon, the filmmaker captured potential areas for the new living space.

Nazi aerial propaganda began in earnest in the short film "Freedom Day", which was a complement to the film "Triumph of the Will" about the party conference in Nuremberg. Lenny Riefenstahl also made this film, which celebrated the re-armament program, which was announced in March 1935. The film, intended for military personnel who remained dissatisfied with the "civilian" film, deals with the military demonstration that took place at the end of the civilian conference and the concept of the fast war. The Air Force and Air Defense are given central screen time and the film ends with a plane formation in the swastika formation.

Propaganda was strengthened in the cinematic news diaries of the period. One news diary from 1936 revealed the types of aircraft in the corps. The most interesting sections deal with bombers. The background music is threatening and you see bombers loading bombs. A bomber structure maneuvers, and they all hit their targets on the first try. The film ends in a mass flight, then the announcer announces: "The German Air Force is strong and proud, ready to maintain German peace and protect the land of the ancestors."

The cumulative image was strong enough to arouse widespread fear in other countries, enabling Hitler to use the Luftwaffe threat as a political weapon in his foreign policy in the late 1930s. Air operations during the Spanish Civil War, and in particular the attack on Guernica, which was widely covered in film diaries, confirmed the power of the Luftwaffe and the threat it posed.

The Nazis accepted from Italian Futurism the adherence to technology and speed, but refused to accept the abstract style by which Italian artists expressed these values. The Nazis disliked abstract art, which in their opinion was "Jewish" and boycotted it. Instead they gradually formulated their own style, which was the empowerment of the neoclassical style prevalent in Europe. 

The style stood out especially in architecture, in the erection of public buildings wit facade of high marble columns. Albert Sapir expands on this in his book "Inside the Third Reich". It depicts the fever of Nazi construction for public buildings in a grandiose-global-imperial style. Hitler closely supervised the redesign of Berlin in this megalomaniacal style. 

But the architects and designers aspired to adapt the style requirements to the everyday reality as much as they could. As a way to integrate the classic line into the modern reality of life, where technological design demanded more modern lines, Nazi designers also developed a style with cleaner, simpler and more versatile lines, called the "passenger ships" style.

The airplane in Carl Ritter's films was part of that design concept. According to the formalist conception, photogenicity, which is the aesthetic quality conferred on photographed objects, is a consequence of how the object is presented with the film's means of expression and does not depend on the object's essence or its hidden qualities. Photogenicity evokes the emotional, aesthetic mode of cognition that allows for direct knowledge of the world. The photogenicity in the film evokes the emotional consciousness, from its appeal to the visual sense through the movement in space and time, which is taken for granted.

The airplane is a key photogenic element in the cinematic expression in Ritter's films. The most impressive photographic expression is of the aircraft at close range and in particular of the front part which includes the propeller, hood, wings and cockpit. These parts are always photographed from the low upward point of view, which worships the object. The ground crew takes care, while demonstrating expertise and avoiding the impact of the propeller. They prepare the aircraft for the flight, with the pilot arriving after everything is ready and handing out the orders for takeoff.

A clear example is the movie "Traitor" which is apparently not even defined as aviation flm. Many scenes in it are focused on airplanes. The opening scene, for example, in which the spy is given one last briefing before entering the factory, ends with a flight of three airplanes passing over, as if to warn him. Another important scene, in the middle of the film, is the one where the spy sits on a plane, photographed from the front from the ground at an upward angle, with the propeller actually above the camera, to show that the airplane is an independent force entity dictated by reality and human destiny. The climax of the film is a multi-participant aerial chase after the spy who escapes on a plane he stole. Numerous and sharp photographic passages are repeated between the close-up of the pilot figure, the sight of the plane, the large ground crew, and the distant landscape.

The ground crew is a large and complex ground-based human system, which envelops the limited air crew, and is also featured prominently in Ritter's aviation films, as part of an entire complex that forms the new Germany. This system includes the masses of professonal jobs holders in the various professions at the airfield,in aviation, technical and logistics wings. In this complex, whose economic and social possibilities are virtually endless, any person who is willing to dedicate himself to the new order is able to find his place. Several scenes in Ritter films deal with the moments of tension in which the radio contact with the plane is lost and the ground headquarters tries to locate it. The headquarters include ground crews for radio, maps, meteorology, udjutancy, medicine, firefighting and the like. They all work in perfect coordination and timing. Just as the plane is the embodiment of the new German man, the airport crew is the embodiment of the new German society.

In the third circle, after the airplane and the airfield, is the home front, which is prepared for a borderless war. In this circle are the loved ones of the pilots and in particular their loved ones who are waiting for them while they work in the hospitals, or are recruited for one position or another. Significant civic activities, such as concerts and performances, are also designed to support the front. In all of Ritter films there are sharp transitions between dramatic war scenes that take place at the front and romantic and amusing scenes that take place at the rear, in many cases between wounded airmen to the female staff at a hospital. Ritter, therefore, found a perfect format for designing his films according to aviation formalism and semiotics, using the airplane and the human apparatus that surrounds it.

Ritter developed, step by step, the myth of the airplane and the pilot, in a series of five aviation films he created between the years 1936-1943: "Traitor" (1936), "The War on the Enemy of the World" (1937), "Pour Le Merite" '(1938),' 'Shtukas' '(1941),' 'The Dora Crew' ' (1943). In most of these films he served as screenwriter, director and producer.

The real star of the movie "Traitor" is the airplane. The plot takes place in a state-of-the-art airplanes factory into which a spy penetrates. The complex technological processes of aircraft manufacturing are described in various scenes. They are accompanied by test flights and finally a dramatic aerial pursuit of a spy who escaped with a plane.

The movie "War on the Enemy of the World" established the plane as an excellent photogenic show piece in the movies. This is a documentary about the actions of the "Condor Legion", the unit of airplanes sent by the Nazis to fight in the Spanish Civil War. This film also has a feature film sequel.

In the film "Pour Le Merite", Carl Ritter portrays the fighter pilot, according to the fascist ideology of Ernest Junger. The pilot is not a mythical hero, but a popular soldier who is forged in the war and returns sober to the democratic civilian world, with the aim of establishing a new order in it. The film is based on the biographies of Herman Goering, Ernest Udet and their comarades in the "The Flying Circus". It depicts Hitler's rise to power through their eyes and includes many aerial scenes. The film became a founding cultural and political event in Nazy Germany.

"Shtukas" tells the story of a two-seater attack squadron that played a major role in the fast wars at Poland and France. The motif of the archetypal pair is prominent and central. Carl Ritter has created in "Shtukas" various scenes of a pair of fighters in the air, who collaborate back to back in many ways, thus establishing the ideal binary pair in terms of fascist ideology.

"The Dora Crew" is the story of a reconnaissance aircraft crew and is considered a sequel to "Shtukas". The plot is about four crew members, who travel to Berlin to receive their airplane and meet in their girfriends, in what becomes a romantic entanglement. Using intelligent use of the "quartet" archetype, Ritter manages to express a need for order and organization, which is equivalent to the four compas directions. A wrist watch received by one of the girls appears occasionally in close-ups. In analogy to the watch, the team mobilize between the fronts in the north, south, east and west. The film's core is the sharp transition from dramatic war scenes to amusing urban scenes.

Nationalist propaganda in Nazi cinema

 

At the end of World War II it became clear that the influence of Nazi propaganda was very great. The process of de-Nazification in Germany was virtually impossible. So great was the power of propaganda and especially that of the movies. For the young people the films were the most effective tool. Nazism relied on youth's love of cinema and created an organized network that captured it. After coming to power, propaganda films were the most important tools for establishing these achievements. A major demand of educators was for more war propaganda films with heroes.

There is debate as to how much impact cinematic films have on the general public and in particular how effective investment in propaganda films is. The answer to the question is simple: the number of viewers. The number of viewers is a crucial testament to success and influence. Ritter's movies have been watched by tens of millions of viewers and there is no better proof than that of the extent of their impact.

Karl Ritter was the talented, uncompromising and unscrupulous Nazi campaigner who best suited the task of shaping the Hitler Youth. Ritter won praise from the leadership of the young Hitler and the SS As a "dear friend, soldier and political artist, and a true Nazi". He made films that became "compulsory screenings" and influenced millions of young Germans. He was a personal friend of Adolf Hitler, and the favorite Nazi director. Ritter summed up his philosophy about his films as follows: "My films deal with the insignificance of the individual… Everything that is personal must disappear for the sake of the goal."

In the list of the ten films that most influenced Nazi German youth, there are two of Ritter's films, after epic historical films such as "Bismarck". Before becoming a director, Karl Ritter was a producer at UFA, including of the film "Hitler's youth Quacks" (1933), directed by Hans Steinhof. The film deals with the death of a boy who belonged to "Hitler's Youth" at the hands of the Communists and is based on a real case. The film became the No. 1 propaganda piece of the Nazi regime, influencing millions of young Germans to join the party. Despite this, it is not clear in the film who the Nazis are and who their enemies are. They all look like Germans who are similar to each other. The prominence of the values ​​of the Nazi regime, which are mainly order and cleanliness, in the face of consistent disregard for the Communists, is what makes the film effective as a propaganda tool.

The Nazis functioned as a modern corporation running a brand, which was the key to their success in shaping German public opinion. The Nazis understood the power of the brand, and used it to create a parallel universe of images and symbols. The outer layer of this brand were: Hitler himself and his image, the pressure for solidarity, the declaration of a modern utopia with an antique garnet, and the creation of an existential threat to the German way of life. But beneath all of these were marketing principles like targeting and segmentation, and a comprehensive insight into the concept of design and packaging. Beyond that the regime was anchored in a kind of banality of normalcy and it seemed, on many levels, like a normal Western society. This element became more credible by promoting a vigorous consumer culture. In many ways the Nazis were ahead of their time, dominating political marketing arts like spins and speedy denials. 

UFA studios were prominent, by their ''stars system'', in that approached and dictated the consumption culture. The company became known for its designed productions. The rich scenery, and especially the lavish costumes, were a prominent hallmark of the films produced in it. As an added value to films, UFA studios have also dictated the entire popular culture, similar to the Hollywood film industry at its peak. UFA movie stars have shaped, through careful planning, the tastes, fashion and lifestyle in Germany. UFA has promoted itself and the industry sectors close to it, through the intensive distribution of posters, advertisements, newsletters, magazines, movie diaries and of course a carefull selection of the content in the movies.

The mainstay of Hitler's propaganda machine in the early years was his rhetorical performances. The show took place, in the early years, up to five times a day, to different audiences. There is a chronological parallel between the elite of Hitler and the entry of the soundtrack into cinema, which took place at that time. It was a period of crisis for the film industry, which found it difficult to adapt to the innovation. The talking Film has created a new cinema, based on a direct speech soundtrack instead of improvised backing music, with such an abundance of dialogues that the films were called "Tokies".

Nazi Germany was not a closed kingdom. Fashions and styles with an international interplay thrived in it and were sometimes adopted by the regime, including an imitation of Hollywood. "Ordinary society" was perpetuated, in the media in all its branches, through an ethos of lightness and openness. The media specialized in everyday issues that are characteristic of the innocent community, and this expertise was strengthened through a constant appeal to social solidarity. The Nazis created their own narrative, through an explanation of their worldview, in which everything was self-evident.

An important part of Nazi propaganda dealt with consumer culture. The Nazis saw it as a means of training the regime. The individual was entitled to strive for property and private goods, as in the whole of the modern Western world. Plenty of brands have been offered to the masses. The Volkswagen car is perhaps the most obvious example. Material culture created an aspiration for social progress and careerism and a regime that relied on providing benefits to loved ones. The consumer culture creates a person who is limited in terms of his ability to contribute to society, since his cognitive skills are not honed. Such a person tends to be very much influenced by publicity and political propaganda and at the same time has a self-focused personality, with a low psychiatric stimulus threshold. UFA led the consumer culture in Nazi Germany through films, stars, and adherence to aesthetic code, which created an imitation model.

The "Icarus complex" was defined by the psychoanalyst Murray, who also analyzed Adolf Hitler's personality for American intelligence. The complex describes a person with an alpha personality, who does not recognize his limitations as a result of mental complexes, which cause an imbalance between his desire to succeed and the ability to achieve goals he has set. Such a person strives for a kind of over compensation. Because of feelings of inferiority, he formulates grandiose aspirations for future achievement. He often exhibits elitism, driven by hubris and detachment from social reality. The massive ego of some celebrities is a type of such distortion, which can be called a malignant ego. They appear as a supernova star, which explodes after shining brightly for a short time. Politicians may demonstrate the same qualities and in extreme cases they have even reached their status thanks to them. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Carl Ritter are historical examples, for which this diagnosis is literally valid.

Myth, formalism and semiotics

Myths are a universal and interesting cultural phenomenon. They have existed since the dawn of civilizations, and probably have the greatest perseverance, similar to the important of religions. Every culture has created mythical images, which suggests that myth is a fundamental component of human expression. Although Western culture is generally defined as scientific and secular, it also includes many active mythical contents. There are many archetypal symbols, which believers believe to have a divine origin. For example, a bird may be the "forerunner", a high place may be the "place of revelation", and a giant tree "the tree of life".

Mythological origins are central to semiotics, which is the professional field of sign language practice - the basis for brand design. In mythological legends anything is possible. This is also the feeling that a marketer of almost any product tries to instill. Marketing is a mix of products, services and ideas. The marketer seeks measurable results, as an answer to every consumer's search for meaning in modern life.

For the semiotician, any simple object may have a symbolic meaning. Such symbols are, for example, Sigmund Freud's cigar, Charlie Chaplin's walking stick, and Michael Jackson's glove. The symbols can be exchanged in the free market. Despite this, they are endowed with a multiplicity of meaning, and what for one person is in the nature of "reality", for the other is in the nature of "imagination". Barter is conducted according to clear rules of the game. The domain of symbols is never higher than the domain of products, and there is always a product attached to the symbol, otherwise the symbol is not valid. The airplane became by the propaganda artists an object of symbolic significance of the highest degree.

Humans live by the stories they hear and experience throughout their lives. These stories are steeped in common symbols and myths, and involve riddles and answers. They showcase the human ethos, and so do the commercials. The cinematic plot is an expression of this. The cinematic or advertising story is multidimensional, and is integrated into a system of matching symbols, resulting from behavior, myth, tradition, and the like, in the lives of viewers and consumers. The purpose is of creating an integrated narrative in all popular culture.

Because the myths express central cultural values, they appear in all media and cultural channels, both mass and elitist. Myths exist in the world of advertising, propaganda and also in the world of films. Cinema is a place where the use of myths is gaining ground, and incorporating myths into feature films is a major phenomenon. The Hollywood studio film is a product that many people share in the production process. Hence, similar to the myth, it turns to as broad a common denominator as possible.

In the twentieth century, as human society became more modern, technological, and complex, so did the need to use myths in popular culture to define the role of each person in the masses. Cinema is a connection between reality and imagination, and offers a space for transition between them. It is a total art, combining many fields of art, and many movie stars have also become role models. Movie heroes belong to the "superhero" category, which is one of the most important archetypes in human culture. They are at the top along with the archetype of the "family" in its extended definition, as a group of people with close ties.

The seismic change in the political structures of post-World War I Europe spawned the fascist movements and regimes, built on the principles of mythical modernity. Mythical modernity was based on an aspiration for advanced technology, using belief and archetypal conditioning for its application, rather than the enlightened mind. The desire for a mythical fascist order developed during the war. The events of the war, the fall of the dynasties and the political upheavals were the most visible result of a rupture in the old order, and gave rise to fascism.

An influential German thinker was Ernest Junger. Junger, the decorated combat soldier who became an influential philosopher of the Nazi movement, clearly recognized the shocks around him, and preached a new civilian reality, taking an example from the war. Junger described the war in hygienic terms: war is an end in itself, it is the ideal existential situation. The war created a new kind of human being, a new race of warriors who adopted an ethos of military masculinity, discipline, power and heroism, and a fusion of man and machine. Civilian life is a continuation of the war in other ways. Technological and political warfare continues in them and with it human forging intensifies.

The clear symbol of mythical totalitarian modernism in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy was the airplane. The linguistic symbols and metaphors associated with aviation discourse, its perception and interpretation, are many, and the sources that can be relied on in this context are very numerous. They include important cultural events, artwork, books, magazines, propaganda products and more. It was not the aviation itself, but its connections, not the pilot himself, but the concepts involved, that were the focus of attention. They served as a means of revolutionary liberation from the burden of the past.

The social agenda, which has been the focus of attention in fascist regimes, is clarified through the narrative of aviation heroes, and through the vision of the new man that fascism has tried to make a reality through an anthropological revolution. The protagonists were models and prototypes that citizens were required to use in order to shape their lives. The norms and values ​​that the media published as embodied in those heroes permeated the social reality and the world was understood according to their register.

The airplane and the pilot were totems, in the fullest sense of the word of icons with archetypal characteristics. They reflected the desire for order, and they were the epitome of modernity. The spiritual reciprocity between fascism and aviation was unequivocal. It has created mythical modernity, as opposed to liberal modernity.

This worldview fits into the formalist film style, in which directors are interested in expressive and subjective re-creation of their experiences of reality, rather than the way others perceive it. In formalist films one can find a high degree of manipulation, a re-design of reality. Formalist cinema tends to emphasize form, technique, and style of expression.

There is a parallel between marketing characters with the goal of becoming celebrities and states marketing, with the goal of making them more attractive in the international community. Specifically, the image of political leaders is the result of intense professional investment, measured by the field of consumer product marketing as brands. Hitler was an icon in the international community, as was Nazi Germany, which became a brand. The state as a brand exists for the purposes of domestic and foreign policy.

Roland Barth, one of the forefathers of semiotics, examined images through the analysis of the messages they contain, in order to know to what extent visual images create an ideological worldview. Key concepts in the analysis are the "signifier" and the "marked". The "signifier" is what we see, hear, feel. "Marked" is the meaning we derive from the signifier. For example, photography is perceived by us as a reality, but it has an ideological and cultural construction. A photograph of a polished soldier of local descent, against the backdrop of the flag of his country's colonial power, reflects his loyalty and identity which may not actually exist.

UFA studios - the German Hollywood

The German film industry, originally a small part of entertainment shows, grew at a dizzying pace, producing 353 films in 1913, more than 10 times that of 1910. During World War I, imperial Germany created the need to concentrate cinematic resources to produce regime-compliant films. The acting commander-in-chief, Ludendorff, issued a letter on the subject in 1917, creating the UFA company, which united virtually the entire German film industry.

Post-World War I economic crisis gave UFA excellent conditions to continue to head the local industry. But the company was put under economic supervision, which dictated the production of commercial films and a partnership with Hollywood studios. Another step was the privatization of the company. In 1927 it was taken over by the right-wing industrialist Hogenberg. The invention of the soundtrack at the time put many companies in crisis and allowed for a further strengthening of UFA.

The huge company continued to exist during the Weimar Republic and during the Nazi regime, until the end of World War II. The Nazis nationalized UFA immediately after coming to power, banning Jews from working there. It was part of a move to nationalize all the media firms in Germany, such as the press, radio and cultural institutions.

Joseph Goebbels closely monitored what was going on UFA and it was actually his private yard. He personally supervised the works, from the selection of the script to the final approval of the finished film. During the Nazi period, about a thousand films were made in UFA and its subsidiaries. There were quality films among them, in parallel with commercial films. The works were in a variety of genres, and reflected the artistic, economic, and political tension that prevailed in Germany.

Cinema, which originally created a cultural revolution, gradually became a major means of directing observation of reality. As a result, the fear that it would become a tool in the hands of subversive elements increased. These conflicting elements prevailed in the productions. It was a constant competition between artistic creativity, connected with radical social factors, versus the commitment to financial stability, bestowed by the upper classes and their conservative taste. What gave UFA its shape was its contradictory nature, as society was a force field composed of capital, politics, cinema and the public.

During World War I, UEFA military inspectors wanted to make a patriotic glow to the melodramatic tensions that cinema thrived on, and to allow viewers to enjoy visuality. The branding of the nation was the great ambition of the Nazis. Cinematic coverage has steadily corrected reality by allowing audiences to immerse themselves in larger collective destinies.  Cinematic setting was powerful. Through its credit strong emotional power was imparted to nationalism. War and cinema renewed the meanings of the modern nation-state and cultivated fantasies about it.

Because the UFA was an economic business, as well as a propaganda arm and a place of artistic and technical experimentation, in which Social Democrats and Jews played key roles, UFA films could not be reduced to a single influence. Neither Ludendorf, nor Hogenberg, nor even Goebbels, achieved complete command. Their empire was difficult to cover and control by its very nature.

At its peak, UFA competed against the major Hollywood studios and the German film industry was the second largest in the world. Its film studios covered vast areas of the Bubblesberg neighborhood of Berlin. The thousands of films made by the company, in all genres, were watched by hundreds of millions of viewers, for whom it was a symbol of the good life. 

During the Weimar Republic, in addition to entertainment films for the masses, experimental expressionist films were made in it. After the Nazis came to power, in 1933, they made it their main propaganda tool. Therefore the Allies eliminated it after World War II. Many of the professionals in Germany were Jews, and were banned from working for the company as soon as the Nazis came to power. They escaped, and some joined the rival Hollywood film industry. Enthusiastic Nazis took the place of the Jews.

The company became known for its designed productions. The rich scenery, and especially the lavish costumes, were a prominent hallmark of the films produced in it. As an added value to films, UFA studios have also dictated the entire popular culture, similar to the Hollywood film industry at its peak. UFA movie stars have shaped, through careful planning, the tastes, fashion and lifestyle in Germany. UFA has promoted itself, and the industry sectors close to it, through the intensive distribution of posters, advertisements, newsletters, magazines, movie diaries and of course a selection of the content in the movies.

UFA reflect the fate of the Nazi regime. The state-owned company initially created a production plant that ensured orderly productions, fixed salaries, and orderly film distribution. All the partners in the filmmaking, from Joseph Goebbels to the last crew members in the production, were dedicated film lovers. The productions were characterized by order and organization that were typical of the Nazi regime, compared to the relative disorder that was typical of the Weimar period productions. German order and discipline are immediately reflected to viewers in accurate scenes. Another value of the disciplined production was the ability to go out in cohesive outdoor filming teams in difficult conditions. Under crisis conditions, as during extensive military recruitment, manpower could be streamlined relatively easily. The production of any film was expensive, so it was important for the ability of the various studio managers to choose, through their centralized power, to create films according to artistic and national considerations, and not according to cheap commercial considerations.

The method has created a shortage of good scripts. The nationalized film industry has worked as a production line, and this is contrary to the original creative process, which does not succumb to the dictates of time. So when a pattern of success was identified, like aviation movies, it was repeated over and over again.

Important films made in UFA include:

During the Weimar Republic:

"Metropolis" (1927) - a film in the science fiction genre, with social significance, which was a prestigious production that almost brought UFA into bankruptcy. The plot of the film revolves around two groups of citizens in a futuristic society, the elite of the executives and the masses of workers, who live in two separate worlds, upper and lower. A robotic woman whips up a conflict between them, which ends in reconciliation.

films from the Nazi period:

"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1943) - a fantastic, big budget and colorful comedy created by Goebbels, influenced by the Hollywood's "Wizard of Oz", about the Baron's imaginary stories known from children's books. The Baron has in the film the image of a superhero, who lives forever and possesses miraculous technologies. The festive premiere in Berlin took place during the announcement of the surrender in Stalingrad. The film thus reflects the illusion of victory through miracles and miracle weapons.

"Kohlberg" (1945) - a colorful, high-budget historical film, in the genre of Prussian war films, dozens of which were made at UFA studios. The film was made with the participation of tens of thousands of soldiers as extras. The plot of the film revolves around the resistance of the inhabitants of Kohlberg to the siege imposed on them by Napoleon's army. The protagonist of the film is a young officer, similar to Goebbels in appearance and speech, who shows decisiveness and leads the citizens to dig a defense system in preparation for the enemy attack, which crush the city by bombardment. The film is intended to prepare the German people for a long war on the home front.

Myth, nationalism, aviation and cinema in Nazi Germany - part 2

Even before the invention of the airplane, the invention of the airship in the late 19th century, named after its inventor "Zeppelin", aroused great patriotic enthusiasm in Germany and left a deep impression on popular culture. Throughout the first third of the 20th century, airships outperformed airplanes, but their advantage gradually waned, with an international arms race. At the international level, the "Zeppelin" gave Germany a sense of control over the skies. In the German internal politics, the Bavarian-born invention gave the southern part of the people a temporary sense of superiority over Prussian rule in Berlin.

Enthusiasm for airships gradually waned during World War I, in the face of the many casualties inflicted on them. They continued to operate successfully on international passenger lines after the war. For this purpose, funds were raised through well-publicized public funding, whose success increased German patriotism. "Graf Zeppelin" was an airship that operated commercially between 1928-1937. It became the world's first transatlantic flight service. The pioneering world tour, carried out by the ship in 1929, was documented in numerous cinematic news diaries, received an unprecedented public response, and in the end its participants won a victory parade in New York. The "Hindenburg" disaster of 1937, about which the news video became one of the best known in history, caused the airships to finally give way in favor of the airplane.

Airplanes aroused admiration, enveloping those who flew them in an immediate aura of daring, vitality and youth. The flight was more than a forward movement in the air. The airplane was more than a means to an end. The flight experience was seen as the ultimate empowerment of life. Aviation has become the form of the new era, on which it has made its mark. The pilot was a new kind of person. The German pilot was not just a new German man. The model deserved to have a formative impact on the entire world. There is no machine that requires so much concentration and willpower as the airplane, and the pilot knows what it means to control. In this way the spiritual connection between aviation and fascism is created. The cultivation of the new man was one side of the fascist regime, and the elimination of the others was the other side.

Oscar Meister was one of the pioneers of cinema in Germany, and the one who established the studio system that UFA. In September 1914 Meister was appointed to survey the fronts of the war. He turned the occasional news videos he had created until then from time to time into a weekly news diary. During the war, his studios worked around the clock. In addition, he also invented a sophisticated aerial camera, which contributed greatly to the war effort. This camera first used film rolls instead of glass panels. The plane became the epitome of the sense of sight.

At the end of 1917, in an attempt to raise civil morale, significant propaganda film collections began to appear in Germany as well. One of them was the 10-minute production called "Pilots on the Western Front." In the first part, the video showed a photo of enemy lines, an attack on observation balloons, and the dropping of small bombs. The second part focused on the air heroes. The main theme was Richthofen, the "Red Baron". The video ends in an air battle that ends with a British plane being shot down. The message was clear: quality propaganda for the elite corps, the young and promising eagles of the Second Reich.

After 1918, the German film industry quickly re-established itself as a serious enterprise, and within five years its output was lower than that of the United States alone. The aviation films, however, reflected little of Weimar's democratic spirit. Most of them were propaganda works. Under a spectacular mantle they attacked the enemies of the nation, praising national achievements.

Germany shaped the fighter pilot myth, originally intended for propaganda purposes, as early as World War I, using the figure of the "Red Baron" Richthofen. Ernest Udet was his deputy, survived the war, and later became the heir to the myth. This is through bold airshows that have given him worldwide publicity. The publicity brought him to the film industry, where he played his character in the "Mountain Films" series, which were a substitute for war films. They were a face of masculinity and purity, according to which the conquest of the mountains was a symbol of the personal power in a world that had lost direction. They provided a description of human control over the forces of nature.

The addition of aiplanes, especially when Ernest Udet flew them, made them much more meaningful, linking war, the conquest of nature, and aviation, in a symbolic relationship. His appearances in films were a constant reminder to the audience of the romantic heroism of the war pilot, and a means of using the character, who through "will", controls nature and technology. They praised the aircraft as a tool by which human willpower was expressed, and as a model of technological achievement.

These films created continuity between the Weimar Republic and the Nazi regime. The pilot and the mountain films in Weimar restored to German society the sense of mobility it had lost. In contrast to the political rift, German cinema in the period between the world wars was characterized by continuity, in which mountain and aviation films were a central axis. Through them there was a continuity and clear development of patriotic themes, from productions during the Weimar period to those created after 1933.

The book "A Nation of Pilots: German Aviation and the Popular Imagination" describes the transition of German public attention from airships to airp;anes and pilots. The various chapters in this book focus on the various components of the Nazi regime of  air consciousness: zeppelin, ideological coordination, gliding sport, schools indoctrination, media, civil defense, and more. The book ends in the mid-1930s and does not go on to describe the impact of aviation at the height of the regime.

In the Nazi regime, it was not the airplane itself that mattered, but the overall discourse about aviation. The aviation expressions in the regime were not only direct. They were also indirect. Hitler created a dramatic dynamic image of himself through the personal use of the passeneger airplanes. He and Mussolini had a passion for speed, and powerful planes and cars were refuge to their actions. Moreover, the airplane  provided a powerful symbol of military force. It described the German character. Accordingly, It worked to make the Third Reich air-conscious, and thus one capable of fully dealing with the challenges of the 20th century. Airplanes, with their huge and complex infra structure: airfields, industry, civil front, transportation and so on, became the wide base of the new society of the total state. 

When Goering declared "We must be a nation of pilots",He declared the Nazi commitment not only to training the reserves of military pilots, but also to assimilate and cultivate the moral values ​​of aviation, which were self-sacrifice and service to the nation community. Through a special ministry, the Nazis reorganized the aviation clubs, took full control of all activities on the subject, and began planning the establishment of the Luftwaffe - the new air force. At the same time, the entire media and the film industry were nationalized.

Herman Goering was the patron of Udet and his former commander in the "Flying Circus" squadron. He managed the Nazi economy and was also responsible for the issue of the Jews. Udet became a senior general under him, responsible for the design of fighter airplanes and the doctrine of air strikes. 

Hermann Goering was the second most important person in Nazi Germany, the figure most identified with aviation and in many ways the true leader, with the title of the most popular person in Germany. He was the man who signed the Nuremberg Laws and the "Final Solution" order, made the Gestapo the main tool of power in the dictatorship, was first and foremost to use forced labor in the economy he ruled, commanded in World War II, looted European art treasures, and more. The German public loved him for his colorfulness, popularity and despite his weaknesses, in contrast to Hitler who had a distant image.

Myth, nationalism, aviation and cinema in Nazi Germany - part 1

The airplane and the pilot are myths with an ideological connection, They are in a natural relationship with the government, and are meant to serve it, like any other political symbol. They are parallel to Daedalus and Icarus from the mythological legend, which is a central pillar in the canon of Western culture.

The flight, which depends on the constant movement of the airplane in the air, was a source of inspiration for action in every country, in almost every sphere, in the 20th century. Precious technology obliged the industry to be upgraded at all costs, the abolition of the importance of physical boundaries justified an arms race, and the aircraft became a source of inspiration for original nationalism, which also found widespread expression in film culture.

Given the large number of aviation films, it is surprising that the subject of "cinema, aviation, nationalism and myth" has been so little researched. The relationship between them exists from the first aviation films, made in the early twentieth century, to those dealing with the Vietnam War and beyond. Hollywood has created more aviation movies than any other country. But similar processes have taken place around the world. They created an icon of the knightly fighter pilot, a stereotype that influences popular culture to this day.

The golden age of aviation, from the end of World War I to the 1950s, coincided with the golden age of cinema. Cinema developed at the same rate and drama, and both quickly established themselves as the most exciting and popular form of leisure and activity, while becoming an incredibly effective channel for disseminating ideas, attitudes and qualities that society deserves to preserve. The first aviation films reflected the Gospel of the Wings, according to which air transport would bring with it a golden age of progress, and the pilot is a romantic and chivalrous figure.

In the interwar period, popular cinema still paradoxically promoted these familiar themes, but also exploited fears of an aerial bombardment in the next great war. At the same time, cinema during this period used photographs of the pilot and the aircraft for nationalist propaganda, which showed achievements in the subject as the spearhead of the national technological initiative.

Flight is an archetypal symbol of human spirit and freedom. The original experience in the early days of aviation was a religious experience, full of hopes for peace and equality. In contrast, flight and pilot were also significant metaphors for the mythical modernity of Italian fascism and German Nazism. The biographies of Gabriel D'Annunzio and Herman Goering establish the connection between the war experience and the hyper-masculine culture of the 1920s and 1930s. They had supreme feelings and racism, similar to those of right-wing groups at the time.

In Hollywood, three major aviation films were made between the two world wars. Dozens of imitations were made on them, including using unnecessary photographic materials. The films are:

"Wings" (1927) - the first Oscar-winning film to be named "Best Picture" at the 1928 Academy Awards. The film deals with the young and popular American fighter pilots of the First World War, and includes light-hearted romantic dialogues alongside dramatic aerial combat scenes. There is an impressive soundtrack of an uninterrupted dramatic concert throughout.

"Hell's Angels" (1930) - The prestigious production of billionaire Howard Hughes, the personality who is identified with the entire period, as a film producer and aircraft manufacturer. In the biographical film about him, "The Aviator" (2004) by Martin Scorsese, the individual and capitalist dimension of his character is shown, which is typical of American culture, which presented the character of the pilot in parallel to the character of the cowboy. The movie featuring dozens of real airplanes, was filmed several times, partly due to the transition to the sound film, which took place during its production. Despite the lengthening of production and the increase in expenses it became profitable. The plot is about two friends who fight as fighter pilots against the Germans, sharing love with the same girl. Dramatic aerial scenes depict the bombing of airships and bombers.

"Dawn Patrol" (1938) - a film that is unique in that the emphasis is not on the romantic and chivalrous pilot character, but on the many sacrifices demanded by the air front. It includes clashes between commanders on the subject, and criticism of senior command policy. This approach highlighted an ideological difference compared to German-Nazi cinema, which advocated sacrifice for the nation. The stars of the film were David Niven and Errol Flynn, and it is the second version of a production from the early 1930s.

Aerial propaganda films were more important in countries where national pride suffered a blow as a result of the war, and they were defeated or angry. In Germany, one way to achieve this was technological progress, which was seen as proof of recovery and superiority. During the 1920s, the rapid development of aircraft began to gradually offer more practical insights than other nation-building aircraft. The heroic status of the air crew members, the rapid spread of soaring and flight sports clubs, the growth in commercial aviation, the success of the national company "Lufthansa", all testified to the popularity and public support on the subject.

Important German aviation film productions during the Weimar Republic were:

"Icarus" (1918) - represents the fighter pilots and aviation films of the First World War. The plot revolves around a German fighter pilot who invents a revolutionary engine, which his beloved French Countess tries to steal from. It production began at the end of the war, and a patriotic ending was originally planned for it. After the surrender of Germany, the scene ending the film was changed to cosmopolitan.

''Money'' (1928) - a Franco-German co-production that represents the cosmopolitan atmosphere and the abandonment of financial speculations in France before the economic depression. The improvements in aircraft made it possible to search for raw materials in places that had not been explored until then. The film depicts entrepreneurs who are only interested in financial gain, invest in new planes and send daring pilots to look for resources. The result is a stock market surge, followed by a landslide.

"Woman on the Moon" (1929) - a film by Fritz Lang that deals with the gold rush, but includes in its second half long scenes depicting the launch of a manned spaceship into space, as will actually be done decades later. The German public's much interest in missiles began in 1923, culminating in 1929. The music in the film is semi-hypnotic, as are the actors' movements under the condition of "lack of gravity", which evoke similar feelings in the viewer.

"Mountain Movies" starring Ernest Udet - Arnold Punk began serially producing, beginning in the 1920s, once a year or so, movies that dealt with the Germans' love of mountaineering in the Alps, which were called "Mountain Movies". It was a unique German genre, initially characterized by symbolism, but gradually became nationalist, presenting climbers as a social cult that values ​​physical and spiritual forging, as opposed to expressionist films which delved into the depths of the individual's psyche. In three films which he made in the years before the rise of the Nazis, Punk, for a significant supporting role, alongside his film star Lenny Riefenstahl, presented the pilot Ernest Udet, who appears in these films in his own role, as a pilot rescuing trapped in the snow. Udet became a senior Nazi general.

Riefenstahl directed "Mountain Films" herself, and at the same time developed the style of "Heroic Reportage" in her well-known documentaries, such as "Triumph of the Will" (1935) and "Olympia" (1938). Her films have greatly influenced German feature filmmakers.

Carl Ritter - filmmaker, agitator and Nazi pilot

Carl Ritter is the personal embodiment in the Nazi regime of the Gordian tie between aviation, cinema, myth and nationalism. The Gordian tie was developed as a result of: A. The importance of aviation to mankind. B. The parallel development of cinema in the twentieth century. C. The widespread use of mythical modernity in the Fascist regimes. D. The embodiment of airplane and pilot myths in many popular movies. Carl Ritter is a key figure in a group of Nazi filmmakers identified with this connection.

The golden age of aviation, from the early 20th century to the 1950th, coincided with that of cinema. Cinema developed just as fast and dramatically as flight, and both quickly established themselves as the most exciting and popular form of leisure and activity, while becoming an incredibly effective channel for spreading ideas. During the interwar period, popular cinema took advantage of fears of an aerial bombardment in the next great war. At the same time, cinema during this period used photographing of the pilot and the aircraft for nationalist propaganda, which showed achievements in this subject as the spearhead of the national technological initiative.

The flight experience was seen as the ultimate empowerment of life. Aviation has become the form of the new era, on which it has made its mark. The pilot was a new kind of person. The German pilot was not just a new German man. The model deserved to have a formative impact on the entire world. Germany shaped the propaganda pilot myth for propaganda purposes as early as the First World War. Ernest Udet, heir to the stereotype, came to the dream industry, where he played his character in a series of mountain films that created continuity between the Weimar Republic and the Nazi regime. Through its popular commander Hermann Goering, who was Hitler's deputy, this regime became identified with the subject of aviation. The airplane became in Nazi Germany a social-industrial-military locomotive and a mythical-propaganda icon that propelled world-wide political processes. The aviation films of Karl Ritter and his colleagues, who were all very popular in Germany, were mobilized for politics.

At the same time, the Nazis nationalized the German film industry, under the framework of the huge UFA company, which was established at the end of the First World War. At its peak, UFA also competed with the major Hollywood studios, and the German film industry was the second largest in the world. The thousands of films produced by the company, in all genres, have been watched by hundreds of millions of viewers. After the Nazis came to power, in 1933, they made it their main propaganda tool.

Carl Ritter, who came to the film industry by chance in 1926, was a fighter pilot and flight instructor in his military past, and a successful and enthusiastic Nazi graphic artist as a citizen. With a close family relationship with composer Richard Wagner, he sought to present the flight skills as appropriate to each person. The issue of aviation was identified for him with the values ​​of the Nazi party.

In early 1933, Ritter received from Joseph Goebbels  an invitation to a three-year employment contract with UFA. Under the contract he received his own production group, with which he worked during the dozen years of the Third Reich. He enjoyed a tidy production studio and budgets that otherwise would not have fallen on his part. Between the years 1936-1945 he played a major role in the creation of about twenty films. About a third of them were significant aviation films.

He clearly described his goal as a cinematic filmmaker in ideological terms: "The path of German films will uncompromisingly lead to the conclusion that every film must remain in the service of our community, of the nation and of our Fuhrer." Although he declared himself a propagandist, and worked in the studio method, he can be defined as an author. This is due to the unique background he brought to the film industry and his adherence to a typical style.

At the beginning of the Nazi regime, under the influence of the film "Potyomkin", the propaganda film "Hitler's youth Quack" (1935) was created, had a huge success and influence, and Carl Ritter was its producer. Ritter's first propaganda-plot-aviation film as a director was "Traitor" (1936), a contemporary spy thriller set in an aircraft factory. During 1937, he created a trilogy of war-propaganda films set in World War I, which was watched by some 6 million viewers. The aviation narrative in these films exists, but is still marginal.

In Nazi Germany, the shortage of original feature films stood out before the war, ones that would present the life of the German laborer as dynamic and satisfying. Carl Ritter was the first to fill in the gaps, in a style he called "Zeitsfilm". It was in fact Lenny Riefenstahl's 'Heroic Reportage' style, adopted for widespread use thanks to its modernity, surprising ability, and visual totality.

Carl Ritter films were formalists, with a high degree of redesign of reality. The clear symbol of mythical totalitarian modernism in Germany and Italy was the airplane. The Nazis formulated a neo-classical style with modern lines. The plane, with its flowing lines, had great aesthetic significance, in addition to being of technological, practical and ideological significance. The plane has been a mythical icon in cinema since its inception, and has become the central semiotic and photogenic symbol in Carl Ritter's films, using various aircraft models that star in his films, combined with their air crews. In the second circle, his films show the ground crews at the airfield. In the third circle is the civilian front, where the loved ones of the air crews live, and the plane allows for quick physical contact with them. Ritter found, in this way, a perfect format for describing the new German society.

Nazism was run as a corporation selling a brand, which is a myth cultivated for mass consumption purposes. Criticism of myth theory claims that they are intended to strengthen the political system. The world becomes through them a hollow harmonious picture. Man is inhibited by the myths, and sent by them to be a prototype that they define. Because the myths express central cultural values, they appear in mass media channels, and in particular in cinema which is a multi-participant industry. Karl Ritter, thanks to his in-depth acquaintance with the top echelons of the Nazi regime, the heads of aviation, and the artistic and ideological elite, best suited the task of shaping the Hitler Youth.

In 1938, Carl Ritter created his most important film, ''Pour Le Merite'', which was a founding cultural event, in which, semi-officially, all German history was rewritten from the end of World War I until after Hitler came to power, in a manner consistent with both the Nazi version and the development of aviation in Germany. The film deals with a group of former fighter pilots, who according to prominent biographical characteristics are from the "The Flying Circus", headed by the last commander Herman Goering. He leads his men after the war to revolt against the occupation and the new democracy in Germany.

Ritter has created, as a screenwriter, producer and / or director, several other propaganda-plot films in the style of "Zeitsfilm". Most of them are aviation films, including: "The Condor Legion" (1939), "Shtuckas" (1940), "Above All in the World" (1941), "Red Terror" (1942), "The Dora Team" (1943).

He developed, in stages, the myth of the plane and the pilot in his aviation films: the plane as a photogenic object is shown in the films "Traitor" and "The Condor Legion". The process of forging the character of the lone pilot as a national superhero is shown in the film "Pour Le Merite". The archetypal "duo" motif is central to the film "Shtuckas". The duo matures into an organized group in the romantic aviation drama "The Dora Team".

The development of aviation in Germany largely explains the phenomenon of the Nazi regime. This is not to say that other factors such as racism, anti-Semitism, anti-communism and anti-democracy did not work in it. But they were relatively negligible compared to the need to present a positive ideological discourse, in the spirit of mythical modernity, in a way that would allow them to ignore others. Ritter did not focus on the vague figure of the supernatural. His starting point was the popular forged soldier-civilian, who exist as a potential in every person.

Carl Ritter became a senior executive at UFA, earning a prestigious professorship of culture. However, his ideological zeal, connections and success, and at the same time the cumulative Luftwaffe failures from the 1940s onwards, were not liked by Joseph Goebbels, who was in charge of him, and he gradually distanced him from filmmaking.

It is wrong to see in Carl Ritter's films a reconciliation with a humane worldview. He stood out as a propaganda filmmaker and as one of the leading cultural figures in Nazi Germany. He created a popular cinema, guided by an ideological worldview, which served well the flourishing marketing machine that operated at the base of this regime.