Jean-Marie Berthol (1926-2019)
Jean-Marie was born in Metz in 1926. The eldest of four children, his parents ran a stationery shop in the town center. His mother, a former primary school teacher, had insisted that she could take charge of her children’s education on her own. This meant that Jean-Marie had plenty of free time during the annexation, which he spent, amongst other things, going to the cinema.
« I lived through the war here in Metz; I was between 10 and 15 years old during the annexation. So for me, it was mainly through the cinema that I experienced it. It was the only form of entertainment we had. Above all, that era, in my opinion, was the golden age of cinema. Those are my fondest memories. I’m not nostalgic for German cinema – don’t get me wrong… But let’s just say that back then, it was important to me. »
As he kept going there, he developed a taste for German films of that era which would stay with him for the rest of his life:
« So Die Goldene Stadt – that film – was really… a dream come true! [ … ] I mean, the idea I had of it back then was truly a mirage. Just the title alone… Die Goldene Stadt… Die Goldene Stadt, Das Grosse Spiel… For me, they’re cult films!
There were also Quax der Bruchpilot, Die Feuerzangenbowl*, Reitet für Deutschland… They were films… How can I put it?… Variety films! [ … ] I don’t think German cinema was propaganda cinema. There were propaganda films because they were necessary to boost German morale, but I don’t think there was an excess of propaganda. »
As evidence of this fondness, Jean-Marie kept objects related to the screenings of that era throughout his life, notably a rather unique collection of small single-focus viewers that he had won at funfairs. These were accompanied by snippets of 35-millimetre film taken from the Deutsche Wochenschau, which he could slip into the viewers to be viewed through the lens.
The reasons that led Jean-Marie to cultivate this passion for German cinema, even after the annexation, may also lie on a more personal level. In the summer of 1943, the Gestapo turned up at the family home to arrest his parents. They had just been denounced for aiding an escape. His parents’ detention lasted several months, and Jean-Marie and his brothers were taken in by their aunt. Gone were the regular trips to the cinema; in the summer of 1943, Jean-Marie’s life changed. Thus, what bound him to German films may also have been a desire to recapture the carefree spirit of a childhood cut short all too soon by Nazism.
Photo 79 : Coll. part. Anthony Rescigno – Jean-Marie Berthol (on the left) with his brothers.
Photo 80 : Coll. part. William Gillespie – Movie poster of …reitet für Deutschland (1941, Arhtur Rabenalt).
Photo 81 : Archives cinématographiques de l‘est – Still from the film Die goldene Stadt (1942, Veit Harlan).