Right to Die Film Series: I Accuse (Ich Klage An)
Where does compassion end and murder begin? On the surface, this is a filmed reference work on assisted suicide, an inspirational melodrama about a successful doctor put on trial for the mercy killing of a young wife ravaged by multiple sclerosis. In fact, this historical anomaly and curiosity of cinema is your basic do-it-yourself, pro-eugenics primer, commissioned by Hitler to spare Nazis the time and trouble of having to exterminate the incurably disabled. (Researching Hitler’s Aktion T4 program before the show will help to heighten one’s awareness of the manifestly inherent propaganda.) Director Wolfgang Liebeneiner had no reason to apologize for a film he later called, “a document of humanity in inhumane times.” What better setting to exhibit a seldom-screened picture that argues the ethics of mercy killing than the Hemlock Society of San Diego’s continuing Right to Die film series? Presentation is free. — Scott Marks