Hitler - Eine Karriere

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

Hitler-eine Karriere(Hitler-a career) is a very good and accurate documentary about the Austrian boy, who later became the dictator of Nazi-Germany: Adolf Hitler. There are three episodes, each covering a period of his life. First episode documents his early years until he became prime-minister(1889-1933). The second episode documents how Hitler ruled Germany until the second World War began(1933-1939). The third and final episode documents the war, how Germany lost, and his death(1939-1945). The episodes are accurate, and show us how Hitler became obsessed with killing the Jews and getting the "Lebensraum"(space to live on) for the German people. "Hitler-eine Karriere" is an important production, and I recommend all of you to see it.

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.

If you want an unbiased historical account of Hitler's rise to power, and WWII this documentary isn't for you. What this documentary does have is excellent black and white footage that is rarely seen in modern documentaries. In high quality aswell. All in all this is documentary well worth the watch if you can ignore its biased nature.

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.