Different Viewpoints for The Emperor of California

While watching this movie, the Trenker and Western aspects were evident from the beginning. The beautiful, mountainous landscape, the rolling hills, and the ever present cowboy and Indian characters resonated the Western feel. As a Nazi film, it was unclear to me in the beginning as to why the regime would see this as an important piece of their propaganda puzzle, however by understanding the "Trenkerness" of the film I think the answer to the question becomes a bit clearer.

The "Trenker film", which is characterized by the Heimat theme, seemed to be present in the movie at first, however by the end of the movie you realize that there is a twist. Trenker does not return home in the end, and he actually looses members of his family when they migrate to the United States. He also sees the demise of his economic success and I think this was an interesting tactic for Nazi cinema. Whether done with the hopes of supporting the regime or just adding a twist to his normal plots, Trenker demonstrates what would happen to the German man if they do not return to their Heimlat. His family, his success, and everything he had worked for were lost and destroyed as the movie came to an end - you also saw his loss of strength as he arrives at the Capital sets. By not returning to his Heimlat and by settling in America, I think the end of the movie set out to say "if you do not return to your Heimlat, despair will be in your future". Trenker embodied the German ideal in many ways, through his physical strength, good looks, and economic success, however his one failure (not returning to his Heimlat) would be his biggest mistake. By using this movie, the Nazi's found yet another way to demonstrate the important aspects of the regime and illustrated what would happen to those that did not come along the Nazi journey.