Product Review

Forces Occultes (Hidden Forces, 1943) is one of the most extreme examples of Franco-German ideological collaboration to emerge from the Second World War. Echoing racist stereotypes dating back to the nineteenth century, contemporary propaganda, and a wide range of repressive measures instituted by both the Nazis and the Vichy government, the film revives the paranoid conspiracy theory that a secret, international network of Freemasons and Jews controls world politics and economics. A docu-drama that cloaks fiction in the narrative conventions of true documentary, and ideologically motivated persecution in the guise of scholarly objectivity, Forces Occultes places spectators in the role of a naïve initiate the young legislator Pierre Avenel who at first believes in parliamentary democracy and the Masons, but gradually discovers the truth and is brutally attacked when he threatens to expose it. Following the pattern of two classic Nazi docu-dramas from 1933, Hitlerjunge Quex and Hans Westmar, Avenel is transformed from a crusader for justice into a martyr meant to inspire moral outrage and support for fascism. One of the most extreme anti-semitic, anti-masonic propaganda films ever made. Directed by Jean Mamy, Screenplay by Jean Marquès-Rivière.
France, 1943, B&W, 51 minutes, French Dialogue with optional English Subtitles. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES:

• 2 Interactive Historical Slideshows on Franco- Nazi Propaganda in Forces Occultes :
• Historical Context & Production Information
• Content Analysis, Distribution Reception by Brett Bowles, History Professor, State University of New York at Albany