Opfergang (1944), directed by Veit Harlan. Kino Blu-ray on Thursday, February 8.

This is a Nazi-era production, commissioned by the high command, loathed by Goebbels who wouldn’t release it except in a few theaters so it would fail. It had some success in a defeated Germany a few years later. It is bonkers–the story of a man who marries a staid woman and then goes nuts for another woman, a force of nature, who is dying of some unknown heart ailment. The colors are lush, and there’s a ton of cross-dressing and very thinly veiled references to homosexuality. It’s good but also disturbing, considering it was being made in Germany during World War II, and we know what that means. The very bizarre Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek placed it in his top ten in a Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films of all-time. I will say it’s lush and fascinating, even as it creeps me out.