Hitler - Eine Karriere

This is known for a long time as a hidden gem in the film buff world so I was surprised to find it available on Netflix. Most people will probably see the release date and skip it as 'old'; but it's their loss.

It's probably still the most abundant treasure chest of film and image about the dictator available. We have no talking experts and none of the glossy, samey feel of Netflix documentaries. It's German made and narrated by a Brit - so Hitler is, of course, savaged, often with sardonic wit. The tone is hypnotic.

The biggest sense it covneys is of Hitler as both director of theater and actor on a stage he prepares. In a few marvelous, and previously unseen by me footage, we see not just the vitriolic exposition up on stage - but also the nervous preparation, the uncertainty of the early days. And when deprived of the spotlight, having to sit with others as a more ordinary mortal (such as at Berghof), morose, taciturn, uninteresting.

FDR was a huge contrast. Similarly magnetic when he wanted to, inspiring on a stage, but happier outside of it, gregarious with company and loved a good gossip. He did entertain his own coterie like Hitler, but his home was vivacious, open-hearted.

It paints a good picture of early Hitler in Vienna growing quietly resentful at being ordinary. In a Travis Bickle or Lee Oswald kind of way.

The need was always for a grandiose stage and adulation from a crowd. In later days, confused by unexpected successes (invading through the Ardennes), he thought he was also a strategic genius, to disastrous results for everyone.

His bitterest legacy, the Holocaust, is included near the end, with harrowing footage. WWII footage will be more familiar from other places, by comparison to the early days. And how fitting that post Stalingrad at the latest, there are no more foootage of speeches and crowds and only the well known Hitler who looks shaken and glum.

There are so many riches here; we don't just see Hitler driving triumphant into Vienna for the Anschluss, we also see the speech before an endless crowd welcoming his home country Austria into the empire. Footage from the Blitz we have seen countless times; but I've never before seen footage of German parades in the closing stages of the war, trying to recapture the fervor of early Nazi days but looking ramshackle and foolish amid ruins of a half-destroyed city.

So this is essential viewing to this day, more so for the prewar coverage. WWII changed everything in ways we still do not fully grasp - our world was sped up by maybe 100 years I think. We are picking its lessons apart at our peril. One of the best I've seen.

If this film was made today half of it would be some harvard elites sitting in chairs and blabbing about what it all means. More PC propaganda to make sure the peasants don't have improper thoughts.

But this was made in 1977 and it's 150 minutes of archival footage about hitler and his germany. No talking heads though there is of course a narrator to describe what we are looking at. Many many scenes of Hitler giving actual speeches. He speaks in german but there are subtitles. It's really cool to watch and hear this outrageous figure from the past.

The passing years do nothing but enhance the reputation of this outstanding film. The editing is mesmerizing and the narration hypnotic. The script is faultlessly literary, and the history, scrupulously accurate. In short, this is the British at their very best - objective and calm yet passionately determined to get to the truth. This is nothing less than an attempt to answer the questions "why" as well as "how". In my opinion it succeeds. If I had to pick one film for a young person to see to get an idea of who this person was, this is it.

Using archival footage and still photos this documentary takes us along the path taken by what must be one of the most unlikely individuals to ever assume such worldly power. It isn't quite comparable to a Ken Burns production as it's dryer, and less imbued with relevant side stories, however, it still held me rapt with interest...Or more to the point, morbid horror.

My father was in WWII and because he was almost 46 when I was born I never really became mature enough to talk to him about the whole thing as an adult. Now I wish I could, but of course it's too late. So I read and watch what I can to learn of this unthinkable period in which evil came close to being dominant in our world. If a person unfit to have a real job or raise a family could fool a great country into leading it off a cliff how can the power of evil be underestimated? I've read that over 50 million deaths were directly related to Hitler's actions and subsequent World War. If we are not to repeat the mistakes of the past we must learn from it. I find this a good learning tool. A glimpse into one of the most evil men who ever ruled a people. I'm sorry to say "one of the most" as we still have evil rising to great heights today. We must not forget as civilized God fearing people we still have a mandate to fight that evil.

We watched this in History class, to follow up on having read about both World Wars. This deals with Hitler and his rise to power, WWII and a lot of the situations surrounding them. It's got a lot of detail, and an utterly immense amount of footage from back then, almost exclusively in black and white. There may have been some stills, but I don't believe there are any talking heads, interviews, in this. The material and narration are all. The editing is magnificent, and the quality of picture and sound are impressive(keeping in mind that what we see is decades old, and that this was put together long before the digital age, computers and smooth PC- or Mac-based systems for post-production that anyone with the capital required can acquire, that we take for granted today). This is a well-produced documentary that doesn't attempt to judge or pass blame, it presents and analyzes, goes into the facts with a certain depth, yet it doesn't point fingers. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in knowing more info regarding the subject. 8/10