Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate

In the challenging, free for all day to day reality in 1920s Berlin one place stood out: the Eldorado. Known as the premier nightclub for LGBTQs it symbolized the city's liberal and economically troubled times with its open lifestyle. "Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate" (Eldorado - Alles, was die Nazis hassen) is a well-done docudrama on the establishment's fabled story and the colorful and tragic figures who made it a legend. Featuring reenactments that ressurect the time and place to life and interviews with historians (most who are gay and transgender themselves) with haunting images and footage of the time the film is a window into a little-known and fascinating period in history. Historical figures like Nazi leader Ernst Röhm, Tennis champion and aristocrat Gottfried von Cramm, pioneering sex author Magnus Hirschfeld, artist Toni Ebel and her lover Charlotte Charlaque who are perhaps the first recipients of sex change operations, etc., bring to life an era with their interesting and tragic lives. The interview with composer and centenarian Walter Arlen brings the compelling and sad saga right to the present. While it may go on a bit too long this is one of the best documentaries on the subject. Colorful and moving "Eldorado" is one history and film fans wouldn't want to miss.

Lots of self appointed experts voicing opinions, with a worrying lack of facts. I'm concerned where Netflix documentaries are going, as they appear more and more to be a vehicle for politics and opinion, and allowing very little space for actual historical narrative. While there are some really excellent subject matter experts involved (mainly the German speaking historians), their credibility is undermined by a number of non-academic commentators. It's really disappointing because this is a fascinating subject that needs intelligent and educated analysis and interpretation but; instead, it's reduced to some student debate.

Honestly, I thought that this would be more sensationalistic. But apart from one borderline almost graphic scene, this film focuses on the tragic story of what can happen when people's rights are taken away. We tend to think that human society evolves into a better and better form, but this film tells us the story that, ultimately, society is what we choose to create. And although the filmmakers only vaguely hint that the connection between the events of pre-order and what is going on in the United States now, the viewer ultimately is forced to make the connection. There are many connections between pre-war and the current state of American society. The rise of fascism, and the growing divisions within society. One can only hope that American society does not go down that dark road.

This film has everything that is mostly missing from films in 2023: a great storyline, a great cast of characters, excellent writing, great attention to detail, nerve wracking tension worthy of the best thrillers, powerful editing, great love stories, deep tragedy, and espionage in the top tiers of government. It nods to and deepens such powerful and iconic Oscar winners as Cabaret, Schindler's List, the Third Man, and even the escape scene in the Sound of Music. What's the catch? It's all real! It all happened. The characters and their struggles, as we learn especially from their letters to loved ones, are deeply resonant and poignantly alive. The contrast between the newfound freedom of their lives in the first act, and their utter losses by the climax, is stark like few other narrative films recently, certainly unlike any film on Netflix. Even those who know the story of the Nazi terrors will be effected deeply by this film. And of course it shouts volumes about our current times. With a fast pace, never before scene film shots, historic recreations, and ironic contrasts, this is my favorite film of the past few years - a must-see instant classic.

The new Netflix documentary about sexual liberation and the LGBT clubs in Berline during the Weimar period shows the story in a very glamorous way with all the exxagerations and stereotypes on display. It makes you feel as if the documentary was produced by Bob Fosse and Baz Luhrmann. The fact that you're trans does not make you a historian yet Netflix keeps making the same mistake. While there are indeed characters around which you could built a separate documentary of their own (like Gottfried von Gramm and Manasse Herbst), the rest portrays 1920s Berlin as a giant pot of promiscuity. As a result, homosexuality is turned into a carricature that eventually clashes with the dark reality of Nazi Germany. Production-wise, it's on a sufficiently high level, but it's likely intentionally reduced to an another spotlight for the transgender community while other people, especially LGBT, are just supporting characters. Too bad.