The Good Ole' Days

The film's framing purposely redirects the audience to remember better times and escape from the present. Baron von Munchausen (sp?) lives an extravagant and fun life before the present and this makes up the most entertaining portion of the film. Likewise, Nazi Germany before the way seemed to be on the road to economic recovery and social stability with a new people's car, highway system, increased infrastructure, employment, etc. However, once the war begins, many of these positive aspects of life fade and eventually they are lost. The German people have to face the fact that the Nazis are going to lose the war and the end is near. Likewise, the free living Baron von Munchausen realizes that he too has found the best in life (his wife) and is ready to age and eventually die. Again, we see cinema discretely mirroring Nazi ideology in the reverence for death the was propagated by the regime. Von Munchausen's death is portrayed as an eventuality that is natural and the German audience can take solace in the fact that their own demise is part of the natural course of a nation's life. The framing of Munchausen to look to the happiness of the past and be prepared for death resonates with Nazi Party ideology.