Jew Suss: Rise and Fall 2010

In the closing years of the 1930s, Ferdinand Marian’s film career is on the rise, catching the attention of the Reich’s propaganda apparatus. Joseph Goebbels personally selects him for the title role in the anti-Semitic epic Jud Süß, a choice he initially resists before the lure of fame sways him. Under the direction of Veit Harlan, Marian’s temperament begins to change, straining his relationship with his wife, Anna Marian. The film premieres at the Venice Film Festival in early September 1940 and soon after opens in German cinemas. It quickly reaches millions of viewers, and Marian finds himself publicly identified with the menacing figure of the tax official Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, receiving more acting offers as his fame grows.

As his proximity to the Nazi regime deepens, Marian becomes increasingly aware of the danger posed by the National Socialists, and he watches many colleagues flee into exile. Around this same time, the Jewish actor Wilhelm Adolf Deutscher is hidden in Marian’s garden house and posed as a gardener, only to be betrayed to his friend Lutz by the household servant Britta, a betrayal that stains Marian’s private life. Marian seeks solace in alcohol and begins an affair with the Czech actress Vlasta. When [Goebbels] deports Anna to gain leverage over Marian, the plan backfires, creating personal turmoil that intensifies his moral conflicts.

With the Nazi regime collapsing, Marian finds himself unable to return to the screen because of his involvement in Jud Süß, while many of his colleagues disappear from the public eye. He confronts the harsh reality of war’s end and learns from Wilhelm that Anna has died. The discovery that Vlasta is involved with a U.S. soldier triggers a breaking point in Marian, who ultimately drives his car into a fatal crash, a desperate act that ends a controversial chapter of film history.