The Crown of Iron was screened at the Venice Biennale before an audience that included Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels. Goebbels was, not surprisingly, keenly interested in film because of its propaganda value, and its ability to shape the national Weltanschaung. He was utterly appalled by the film, and relieved to note that nothing like it would ever be made in Germany. The film itself was, he wrote, 'not even worth commenting on'. Afterwards there was a reception, which glittered with fascist dignitaries, but this did nothing to appease Herr Goebbels. 'It's movies that matter,' he wrote. The disgust of Dr Goebbels was reason enough for me to see this movie. I learned about this from the excellent documentary 'The Goebbels Experiment'.