Article

2004-08-26 Europe

German Film Portrays Hitler's Human Side

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Posted by tipper 2004-08-26 11:25|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "The Hitler with a song in his heart..."

__________THE PRODUCERS circa 1969

Posted by borgboy 2004-08-26 1:05:14 PM|| 2004-08-26 1:05:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 I posted this (excerpts) on LGF about the subject:

I can assure you that this film is an excellent one. The film will only start on Sept. 16th, but I have been able to see it already, along with other victims of the Nazi regime.
Bernd Eichinger (You remember "Das Boot"?) has done some excellent work here. Any "endearing" moments are brutally undercut by showing Hitler's true face, and it sometimes it sends shivers down your spine.
The actor Bruno Ganz is excellent and while some scenes might be debatable (as in every movie) there is nothing to be alarmed about, quite to the contrary.
Nobody will leave the cinema with a "better" view of Hitler, just with a more realistic one.
------------------
Later post:

There is a problem with the "abstractness" of horror. When you read about 6 million Jews who were killed... you can't grab it. It's a number, statistics. You see a pile of hundred dead bodies... this will get your attention. But you probably understand more about the Shoah if you follow the destiny of individuals... with close ups. Well maybe you can't really, but you must try. The fate of Anne Frank has made more people read about the Nazi horrors than all history books offering detailed scientific analysis about the millions who died.
And Hitler? Up to now, the "visual" Hitler has largely been a demon, a grotesque yelling man in front of ekstatic crowds. He doesn't seem "real". We know what he said and did, we may see the absolute evil, but we can't fully "grab" him... he remains elusive, a phantom, a monster.
This film is different. It offers close ups. It shows a "human" Hitler, but "human" isn't meant to be endearing, asking for sympathy. It reduces him, it shows him as the apalling "miserable" being he was: A man who would play with his dog or pat Goebbels little blonde children and then explode into a rage and sign death penalties, spewing hate against Jews and German "traitors", while a few meters above him the world falls into ruins. You feel the claustrophobic atmosphere in the bunker, with all its unglorious misery, far from any pathetic Wagnerian Goetterdaemmerung.
In some sense this movie does what the Americans did to Saddam when they showed his dental exam. A close up with the "real" man. A man who tortured, killed, gassed thousands, sent hundredthousands into war, sucked his country dry, a megalomanic wannabe Saladin... and here he was, a dirty coward dragged from the hole he was hiding in. This is what is meant by showing the "human" face of a demon.
The film could always have done better. But believe me, nobody will leave the theater with the impression: Well Hitler was bad but...
In the end, there is no but... Just wondering what a "human being" can become.

Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-26 4:31:12 PM|| 2004-08-26 4:31:12 PM|| Front Page Top

(from "The Producers" (1988))

One and one is two
Two and two is four
I'm so sad that I'm losin' the war. . .

The "Humane" side of Hitler

Posted by BigEd 2004-08-26 6:44:12 PM|| 2004-08-26 6:44:12 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 "he was a quiet, nice boy. Always playing with a new stray dog...they didn't seem to be around long, tho'"

Posted by Frank G 2004-08-26 6:48:57 PM|| 2004-08-26 6:48:57 PM|| Front Page Top

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