German film shows Hitler's tender side

[Champ]

COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) -- A German movie that depicts Adolf Hitler as a soft-spoken man who charms his secretary and lovingly plays with his pet Alsatian is turning into one of the country's most controversial films.

"The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich," which opens locally Sept. 16, stars Swiss-born actor Bruno Ganz ("Wings of Desire") as the Nazi dictator in his Berlin bunker during the final days of World War II.

In addition to depicting Hitler not just as a screaming demagogue, "Downfall" breaks one of the last taboos of German cinema by portraying Hitler in a central role.

"It is not the first time (we've seen) Adolf Hitler on the screen, but it is certainly the first time they have tried to discover the human touch in the monster," said Rolf Giesen, head of Berlin's Film Museum.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/07/film.hitler.reut/index.html

[freetobegay]

1. What part does Arnold play?

[slor]

2. Maybe people should see the...

duality of man and realize that some people can be monsters.

[unblock]

4. yes! calling him a monster dismisses the possibility of a repeat

you can't compare bush, or anyone else for that matter, to hitler because unless you have a square mustache, stiff arm salute, black armband, goosestep, and rant about murdering millions, no one would recognize the difference.

hitler was a monster, yes, but he didn't seduce a nation by presenting himself as a monster.

we must not be on the lookout for monsters who present themselves as monsters, for they are obvious. we must be on the lookout for monsters who present themselves as moral and compassionate, for therein lies the real danger.

[Unperson 309]

8. Exactly so!

He was a lover of music, a man who enjoyed playing with dogs and posing for photos with children.

Eva Braun, geli Raubel and even Ernst Roehm used the familiar 'Du' (Thou) instead of the more formal 'Sie' (You) when addressing him on person (a mark of familiarity) and Geli called him 'Ade' (pronoumced Ah-deh) by way of a nickname.

People have crafted a cold steel image of Hitler in order to distance themselves from him. He was made to seem more powerful, propped up by the media of his day in much the same way * is (he refused to be filmed riding on horseback or in lederhosen or in any undignified way) and much for the same reasons. He was seldom shown getting into or out of a vehicle unless the foreign press took the film footage. he was never shown with a gun in his hands and he crafted his won image very carefully. In fact, IMHO, Hitler was the first world leader to use PR as a tool of politics and to groom his own image in the media.

He practised his hand gestures, his inflections, stances, head tilts, facial expressions, in front of mirrors and tape recorders in order to weed out any that showed him in an unflattering way. He had himself photographed from all angles and then went over them with his personal photographer to find the most powerful angles from which to be shown. He was the first. Unfortunately, he was not the last.

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[Courtesy Flush]

3. Don't tell me. It's called "Springtime for Hilter", right?

[Endangered Specie]

6. Damnit, you stole my response!

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. Maggie Gyllenhall was excellent in that film.

So was James Spader.

[Endangered Specie]

7. Some Germans just never learn

:eyes: ;)

[jpgray]

9. Better to understand him as a man than a monsterish caricature

Because monsters of his stripe usually appear to be ordinary humans at first.