A question about the reactions to a hitler-centric movie.

C

Cpkeyes

So, a dream project of mine is to make a movie based around the life and actions of Adolf Hitler and his effects on the German people and the world as a whole. I am interested by Hitler, mainly his story and mental history which play a part in his politics and actions.

Through I wonder, how would a movie with Hitler, the name that someone calls his opponent to say they are evil, as the main character (along with small sections focused on soldiers in the war, along with Hitlers youth and Foreign soldiers), be received by people?

One problem would be keeping the movie a good length without seeming to lampshade something, as Hitler did a lot of bad shit besides the holocaust and had a lot of cronies (Himmler, Goering and Goebbels to name a few) that also played a part in his downfall, and finding an actor willing to play him and capture Hitlers charisma and character.

So, what do you think?

Also a note-I'm a Socialist, not a Neo-Nazi.
 
As someone who dislikes most biopics, it's the kind of film I'd be interested in seeing.

The issue is you'll create controversy if you appear to sympathise with Hitler - but you'll also create a much more interesting film if you can stir emotion inside the audience that isn't just hate for Hitler.

Perhaps it's better to explore the life of Hitler from someone who was close to him but less known/with more ability to be sympathetic. Or start researching films that successfully create sympathetic/emotionally complex sociopaths.
 
Personally I would love to see a film based on Hitler told from Hitlers view.

I am not a neo nazi by any stretch but if people can make movies about Napolean, Kubla Khan etc from their perspective then why not Hitler?...was he a tyrant?... absolutely, and will you face some kick back for making that film?...yes you will....but if you tell it honestly and don't sugar coat him, but don't make him more of a monster than he was at the same time, then you have strong potential for a good film.

You can explain in the interviews that follow that you are not a Neo-Nazi...let the film tell the story about Hitler. Tell it honestly from Hitlers perspective. Read his book. Talk to University specialists on Hitler, not ones that put their own spin on things, but ones that can accurately tell you about facts.

Point at the social and economic situation at the time and show how different factors influenced the guy. Show if you can what led him to the decisions he made and the views he had.


One of the best books I ever read was a book called 'The Forgotten Soldier' and it was based around a German soldier in WW2. It told that soldiers story without being either sympathetic or unsympathetic. It was a great book because it forced the reader to realize that the soldier in question was just a human who acted on or within his environment. It humanized him. It made no excuse for his behavior, but it accurately told his story.
 
Cpkeyes said:
Also a note-I'm a Socialist, not a Neo-Nazi.
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Am I the only one who thinks this sentence alone makes the whole concept worse?

You're wanting to make a movie about Hitler. You're located in America and I would assume you'd pitch this to American investors. (As European investors would completely blackball this idea)

In general, Americans aren't pro-socialism. In fact we're pretty anti-anythingthat'snotdemocracy. So you're certainly not helping yourself by claiming to be a socialist in order to dispel any assumption of you being a neo-nazi.

Personally, I'd recommend you didn't mention your political stance at all. Knowing it gives me the illusion that you'll have a biased towards this concept. I would sooner assume you were trying to be experimental before thinking you were a neo-nazi.
 
SkyCopeland said:
In general, Americans aren't pro-socialism. In fact we're pretty anti-anythingthat'snotdemocracy. So you're certainly not helping yourself by claiming to be a socialist in order to dispel any assumption of you being a neo-nazi.
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Interesting that you counterpoint "socialism" with "democracy" (the two are far from antithetical), when really the US comparator for socialism would be "hideously exploitative capitalism" :)

To answer the OP, I would be fascinated to watch a film like this, but it would almost certainly never get made, and even if it did, it would never be distributed.
 
SkyCopeland said:
Am I the only one who thinks this sentence alone makes the whole concept worse?

You're wanting to make a movie about Hitler. You're located in America and I would assume you'd pitch this to American investors. (As European investors would completely blackball this idea)

In general, Americans aren't pro-socialism. In fact we're pretty anti-anythingthat'snotdemocracy. So you're certainly not helping yourself by claiming to be a socialist in order to dispel any assumption of you being a neo-nazi.

Personally, I'd recommend you didn't mention your political stance at all. Knowing it gives me the illusion that you'll have a biased towards this concept. I would sooner assume you were trying to be experimental before thinking you were a neo-nazi.
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My political stance is weird. I just assume I'm socialist due to some people I agree with, I'm Pro-Equality and against business interfering too much (I'm pro-regulation) but I don't really think "everything and everyone belongs to the people" is going to work.

I'm more interested in Hitlers mental history and past. This movie will most likely mostly focus on his family, his time in Vienna, Eva (his girlfriend and wife for 40 hours who I think he was very protective of. I would say they actually loved each other), his military service (not the fabrications through), a scene of Henry Trendy (Supposedly meant Hitler in WW1 and let him live, apparently Hitler liked him and asked Chamberlain to call him, he also keep a news paper clipping supposedly), maybe some side characters that are soldiers (and/or Hitler Youth), why he hated Jews and other 'undesirables' so much (I would be dead if he won).

Most of the politics will focus around the infighting in the government of Nazi Germany between the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and Wehrmacht and the fact that Hitler liked to interfere in the production and planning of military equipment (e.g The Maus and Ratte).

I'll probably also have it be more up to the viewer on some stuff (the holocaust, hell no) but like the Wehrmacht, how the Allies handled his rise to power (e.g the Phony War).

Oh and symbolism, I love me some symbolism and artistry.
 
I'm going to assume that this is a serious question.

If this is a dream project of your you should write it. Don't think
of what the reactions might be to the finished movie. Write your
script.
Cpkeyes said:
One problem would be keeping the movie a good length without seeming to lampshade something, as Hitler did a lot of bad shit besides the holocaust and had a lot of cronies (Himmler, Goering and Goebbels to name a few) that also played a part in his downfall, and finding an actor willing to play him and capture Hitlers charisma and character.
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There are many “problems” with any movie about a real person. You
touched on a few of them. Keeping the movie a good length is one;
and not just for Hitler. For any bio-pic.

Cpkeyes said:
So, what do you think?
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I think if this is something you want to do then you need to ask
yourself, are you up to the challenge? Are you?
Cpkeyes said:
Also a note-I'm a Socialist, not a Neo-Nazi.
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What does your politics or your personal values have to do with
anything? Unless you're making a political statement or writing
propaganda. A biographical movie about a real person should
strive to be neutral. Why mention your personal politics at all?
 
You may want to do a review of the Hitler movies out there. There's a good one with Sir Alec Guinness, and a recent one, "Downfall", which has become the basis for many viral videos.
 
Cpkeyes said:
......... but I don't really think "everything and everyone belongs to the people" is going to work.

.................
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(That is communism.
Socialism means that taxes are used make incomes more level (not equal: if you make more money, you will still have more money) and have public healthcare, education, transport and a minimum income (so nobody has to live on the streets) for everyone.
Most western-european nation are social democracies: a democracy with kapitalism plus a social system to create equal opportunities by giving everyone access to education, healthcare, and so on. (Although a few decennia of budgetcuts have made it less accessible in a lot of countries.)

Communism is a dictatorship system where nobody is allowed to have more than someone else. Everything belongs to the people. And the goverment controls production and distribution of food, goods and education. Making profit is a crime and no matter your contribution to the system: you get the same amount of food, the same color shoes and the sameclothes as everyone. (And that's why it doesn't work...)

This is in short how I understand it...)

Enough about politics:

yes, you can make it. And you are free to do so.
It has been done before, with Der Undergang (Downfall) as a recent example. When announced a lot of Germans didn't like the idea. The main actor was predicted he would kill his career. But it was a great success in and outside of Germany. It's great drama showing how the madness of Hitler and his system painted him in a corner where it slowly become evident he won't get out alive unless he gives up.

I've also seen a series about the rise of Hitler: how his coup d'etat failed and how he used his time in prison to write Mein Kampf. I think that was a dramatized series on Discovery.

I think there is a great dramatic story in both the rise and fall of Hitler. The historical context that allowed him to rise to power is like a classic underdog story of a nation being broken by other nations with the Versailles Treaty. The United States wanted to be independant because they were taxed by a king far away. Weimar Germany's economy collapsed due to the repair payments they had to pay for losing The Great War. They were not allowed to have an army. Inflation was crazy. Eventually they had 1000000 D-Mark bills to do groceries, unemployment that was going through the roof...
In such a context it is easy to fall for a man who creates jobs and boosts the feeling of dignity. Like a trojan horse he was let in to the center of power...

As long as you don't make it propaganda that glorifies him, you'll be fine, although there will always be people against it. It is a sensitive subject: a lot of people have lost family and loved ones because of him. (And that group is larger than Jews only. My grandparents lost brothers who were arrested and deported to do forced labor. And of course many many of soldiers gave their lives to end the madness of Nazi Germany. Something we, the Dutch, will honour tonight.)

Actually, if you make it glorifying propaganda there is a market for it as well: rumour has it that the largest group of neo-nazis can be found in the USA.
But most people (me included) would think that is immoral and impossible without forging a part of history and lacking a moral compass. In a lot of countries there is a change people would at least start a case against the release of the movie.
 
When I read your note that you're not a Neo-Nazi but a socialist, I just took it to mean that you didn't want readers to think that you support or accuse you of supporting Nazism or what Hitler did. An understandable precaution. Pleasantly, it looks like that wasn't necessary with this crowd.

Like mlesemann said, you might want to check out Max for inspiration. And Downfall, like AM suggested. Another one that comes to mind is Swing Kids, though it's been very long since I saw it. Or possibly The Reader.

I don't know why not. Maybe no major studio would make such a thing into a major motion picture. But does it need to be?

I like what rik said about just going ahead and writing it without worrying for now about how it will be received.
 
Cpkeyes said:
I am interested by Hitler, mainly his story and mental history which play a part in his politics and actions.
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Hmmm, a very tricky subject to deal with, on a number of levels. As you say, Hitler's mental history and personal story only play a part in his policies and actions. It's relatively easy, particularly with today's morals and ethics, to simply conclude that Hitler was insane. Even if we take probably the most monstrous policy/act in the history of mankind, the holocaust, it wasn't an entirely "out of the blue" policy conceived solely from an insane mind. In many ways it was more like a "next step" policy. If you haven't already, look up Eugenics and the fairly widely held international beliefs of the time regarding racial integrity, which incidentally were pioneered by the British and Americans well before the Nazis even existed. For example, the forced sterilization of the "unfit" or "defectives" in the US, to avoid infecting the gene pool and the now shocking statement of a state hospital director in 1938 "Germany in six years has sterilized about 80,000 of her unfit while the United States — with approximately twice the population — has only sterilized about 27,869 in the past 20 years. ... The fact that there are 12,000,000 defectives in the U.S. should arouse our best endeavors to push this procedure to the maximum... The Germans are beating us at our own game.". Taken in this context, the holocaust was nothing more than a logical step forward in efficiency based on pre-existing, widely held beliefs and prejudices. That the holocaust happened is of course horrific, that it was caused by common human traits like the desire for power, ego and prejudice and based on an internal logic rather than just being the product a "one off" charismatic but insane mind is what makes the holocaust so frightening and so important for us and future generations to learn from.

There are a few questions and difficulties from a filmmaker's perspective: Do you portray Hitler as just purely charismatic but insane, in which case how are the audience going to relate to your character and how fictional/factual are you being about a real historical figure? Or, are you going to contextualise Hitler's story, mental history and subsequent actions and create a relatable character? In which case, you're probably going to need a fairly substantial budget which could be nigh on impossible to fund as making Hitler relatable would be difficult without also appearing sympathetic. This raises a whole bunch of related issues, for example someone mentioned being "neutral" but what is "neutral", especially when applied to such a widely reviled figure?

I'm with directorik though, if it's a dream of yours, you should write your script. I for one would be interested in the story and think your idea has potential, albeit an extremely difficult potential to realise.

SkyCopeland said:
You're located in America and I would assume you'd pitch this to American investors. (As European investors would completely blackball this idea)
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You're applying generalisations of American film investors to Europeans. As a generalisation, Europeans are much more open to self critical content than Americans. Funding this film would certainly be difficult but if anything it could be marginally easier in Europe than the US.

G
 
Going to just gloss over the political (and definitely ignoring the gross generalizations being made) part of this thread, and follow in Rik's lead:

If this is something you (CPkeyes) are genuinely passionate about doing, then just do it. Do your research, craft your story, find your perspective, find a way to make it unique, write it, and go from there. Don't let assumptions about the perceptions of your (as of yet non-existent) audience stop you from getting started. If all you get out of it is a finished script that you decide never to make (for whatever reason) then it was still a valuable exercise in writing and crafting a story.

Having said that, there are tons of a approaches to something like this. Who says it has to be a biopic? For example:

http://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/human_remains.php

That is, to this day, one of the most fascinating films I have seen on any topic - much less on some of the most evil people in human history.
 
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