The Gleiwitz Case

Considered one of the most modern and experimental films in DEFA's history, the eccentric THE GLEIWITZ CASE (DER FALL GLEIWITZ) is the blunt, confrontational, minutely detailed fictional recreation of the infamous Gleiwitz event at the beginning of World War II, told in a highly stylized visual manner that recalls Leni Riefenstahl's 'The Triumph of the Will'.
THE GLEIWITZ CASE offers an almost documentary account of the events surrounding the Nazi's staged attack on a radio transmitter near Gleiwitz on the German-Polish border on August 31st, 1939. Under the command of SS officer Helmut Naujocks, six ethnic Germans living in Poland are selected and prepared for the secret operation--to take over the station and create the appearance of an assault, complete with radio message by the alleged Polish insurgents. One dead concentration camp inmate in Polish uniform is left behind as proof of the attack. This little-known "incident" gave the Third Reich a reason for invading Poland and, in so doing, starting World War II.
THE GLEIWITZ CASE accomplishes the reconstruction of an event as well as the deconstruction of fascist film imagery by using a style that recalls the convergence of aesthetics and politics under fascism. The chilling beauty of the images and the compulsively linear narrative offer disturbing insights into the collective mentality of the protagonists. The carefully composed shots of ordinary settings and locations, the hard lighting and low camera angles, and geometrical configurations are deliberate references to the techniques used by Leni Riefenstahl in 'Triumph of the Will'. (official distributor synopsis)