Eye Candy #341 - "The Secret Glory"

The Secret Glory:  An extremely esoteric documentary by director Richard Stanley (who gave us 1990’s sci-fi film “Hardware”) about Otto Rahn, a Nazi SS officer obsessed with Catharism and locating the Holy Grail in southwestern France.  He was also, for a brief period of time, in Himmler’s inner circle as well as a functionary at Buchenwald concentration camp.  It is speculated that Rahn was prototypical for various Nazis searching for religious treasures as portrayed in pop culture, such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.  And while this film may be of interest for those who care more than the average about Grail lore and the various parties involved in its search in recent history, the appeal of this documentary is limited in appeal to the general public.  I have an interest in this subject and it took me over 2 weeks to watch it (not a good sign).  Rahn himself is not terribly compelling, and the film spends more time on him as a person (he was relatively weak-willed, and eventually committed suicide after being outed as a homosexual half-Jew by other members of the SS; you would think having been involved with the SS for some 4 years prior, he would have picked up on their various sentiments earlier on) than his accomplishments.  It isn’t explored what he found in France, just that he was searching (on the payroll of the SS) or the goals of the SS in having such treasures at their disposal.  Also, if you don’t speak French and German, you’re going to have to read the subtitles all the time.  Woodchuck sez, “Misses its target.”