Der Untertan
The Kaiser's Lackey (; also known in English as Man of Straw and The Loyal Subject) is a 1951 East German film directed by Wolfgang Staudte, based on Heinrich Mann's 1918 satirical novel by the same name.
Plot
Diederich Heßling is a typical Prussian subject of pre-World War I Germany: he is blindly loyal to Kaiser Wilhelm II and deeply admires him, supports extreme nationalist policies and his country's militaristic tradition and claims to be an honorable, just person. In spite of this, he evades military service and uses his connections with government officials to destroy his business rivals. Diederich's life, from his childhood, is characterized by being slavishly subservient to his superiors while tyrannizing those below him.
More details
| author | Wolfgang Staudte |
|---|---|
| director | Wolfgang Staudte |
| editor | Johanna Rosinski |
| genre | historical |
| keywords | bomb bombing of germany bombings of world war ii die deutsche wochenschau government official kaiser wilhelm i kaiser wilhelm ii les préludes listz's préludes military service open world war i world war ii |
| musicBy | Horst Hanns Sieber |
| producer | Willi Teichmann |
| productionCompany | DEFA |
| publisher | Progress Film |
| theme | prussian |