Sphere's of influence

So, we dont really know to much about trenker's motivations in making the films he made during this period, or at least we don't know the "true" motivations. Did nazi propagandists take advantage of his subject matter and exploit the films, or was trenker including themes for the nazi's so that he could continue to thrive under the new regime. Comparing "Emperor of California" to the clips of "The Prodigal Son" that we saw in class tuesday its safe to say that one theme is clearly present in both films. They both decry capitalism and tear down the image of the american dream. Both films portray the capitalistic american man as more or less a savage being motivated solely by self enhancement and in so doing exhibit america's darkest and most base elements. Simultaneously, trenker portrays the European's in the film as visionary and idyllic examples of man's potential. In this way trenker's films display a Nazi influence, the image of superiority of europeans (specifically germans in the case of the Nazi's) over the rest of the world and their political orientation is strongly present in both films, as is the fact that they are taken advantage of by the capitalistic system. Although the film does not overtly portray a "Nazi" form of government as the ideal, it certainly speaks out against capitalism and could very well have been used to fuel german nationalism/superiority over the rest of the world, as well as superiority of the Nazi Party over its capitalist counterparts.