propaganda cards?

[lithgow]

Did you mention the Robert Carlyle thing to him-he'll probably ditch that one before he tries to sell his 'precious heirlooms' again if you did...

[HPL2008]

Haha I thought as much, but you can never be too sure. I told they guy that they are fakes and he started to have a fit over the phone, saying how they've been in his family for generations.

He must be a member of an unusually short-lived familiy then!

[CARL]

To be honest, i think Carlyle (whom I normally like as an actor) hopelessly overdid his performance in that film.

His raving, drooling, cartoonish Hitler was only slightly less rabid than his "rage-virus"-infected character from 28 Weeks Later.

I agree - not a good portrayal. Bruno Ganz (Downfall) was much better.

[lithgow]

Different stages of Uncle Adolf's career-the early angry driven young Psycho is not quite the same...

[HPL2008]

Different stages of Uncle Adolf's career-the early angry driven young Psycho is not quite the same...

Granted, the defeated, sickly Hitler in his last days certainly behaved differently than the energetic, up-and-coming politician/would-be-revolutinary/future dictator of the period this movie focuses on.

But that is not really the point here.

If Hitler had behaved like his portrayal in this film, nobody would have followed him. The real Hitler instinctively understood how to grip people's "hearts and minds" and how to adapt to different kinds of audiences, and he was perfectly capable of being courteous, polite and even charming if he wanted to. Carlyle, on the other hand, never leaves his full-on Psycho mode.

As a matter of fact, the film goes to incredible lengths to constantly hammer home the fact that this man is EVIL in capital letters.

When dealing with a figure like Hitler, this should take very little effort, but the makers of this film either had so little trust in their script or such a low opinion of their audience's intellectual capabilities that they even went so far as to deliberately twist historical facts or simply invent stuff (such as Hitler as a child setting fire to his father's beehives, Hitler as a soldier abusing his pet dog etc.). As if such vignettes and all the shouty, eye-rolling, spittle-spewing overacting weren't enough, Matthew Modine as Dr. Gerlich even gives his wife (and thus the audience) a little speech about how Hitler looks human, but is actually some kind of demon in human form.

Alright, stop it already, we get it: Hitler was a VERY BAD MAN.

Now don't get me wrong: I am not complaining that this film doesn't paint Hitler in a more positive light. Heaven forbid!

My point is simply that a film chronicling Hitler's rise in the pre-1933 years has to achieve (or at least attempt to achieve) two things: A.) Give a plausible and realistic portrayal of his character, motivations, views and his psychological and psychopathological development and B.) explain the reasons for his success. The film fails miserably in both aspects.

It's no wonder that Sir Ian Kershaw, who had been hired as a historical consultant, withdrew and had his name removed from the project.

In the end, the film is a massive disappointment, not least because it had real potential with its interesting premise and obviously decent budget.

(PS: Carlyle isn't the only capable actor appearing in a totally miscast role here; bizarre casting choices abound. Peter O'Toole in a ridiculously padded jacket as Paul von Hindenburg? Peter Stormare as Ernst Röhm?)

[Bill T]

I agree - not a good portrayal. Bruno Ganz (Downfall) was much better.

I agree, Bruno did give it his all too. There is an interview with him on youtube, where he says that he was pretty angry about all the Spoof videos going around with his portrayal of Hitler (fake dialogue /etc). He says he worked hard to try and make it as accurate as possible and was not happy to see it mocked. But I guess it is to be expected when you play such a person

[Dean]

Agreed Bill, Bruno did a great job. There's another movie i saw called, ' the empty mirror' ..if I am correct, which portrays hitlers decent into madness in the late war times. I remember it to be okay. Anyone heard of the author, Peter Lavenda? He wrote such books as,' unholy alliance', and his new book,' the rat line ', which talks about the escaped nazis. Pretty intriguing .
Dean