Tuesday | March 14, 2000 9:00 pm

The Broken Jug
(Der zerbrochene Krug)

Directed by Gustav Ucicky and Emil Jannings.
With Emil Jannings, Friedrich Kayssler, Lina Carstens.
Germany, 1937, 35mm, black & white, 85 min.
German with English subtitles.

Reputed to be Hitler’s favorite film, The Broken Jug revolves around a judge’s attempts to conceal his drunken midnight ramblings. Try as he might, however, his bruises, blunders, and malapropisms betray him. The Nazi adaptation of Kleist’s classical play focuses its attentions on how justice and civil society have been undermined by a servant of the state who has allowed his private pursuits to interfere with his public duties.