Conspiração

This excellent co-production by HBO and BBC is based on real-life deeds and previously shot in i984 a German film by Heinz Schirk .It concerns about the meeting of high-ranking Nazi SS and civilian leaders at the Wannsee Conference held on January 20,1942, to plan the Final Solution of the Jewish question. This interesting, important movie depicting, in real time, the conference during which 14 members of the Nazi hierarchy decided in eighty five minutes the logistics and means of effecting the Final Solution. The film is magnificently played by complete casting. Special mention to Kenneth Branagh as cold General Reinhard Heydrich, Colin Firth as dubious Dr Stuckard, Ian McNiece as the fat Dr Klopfer, David Threlfall as the regretted Dr Kritzinger and Kevin McNally as undersecretary Martin Luther . The picture is accurately adapted by Loris Mandel based on the Wannsee Protocol. Furthermore evocative cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt. This TV movie is well directed by Frank Pierson, a prestigious screenwriter and director.

Adding more details along with the well developed on the movie, the deeds were happened of the following manner:

The meeting took place in the Berlin suburb of Grossen-Wannsee, where the decision was made to adopt the Final Solution, the contemplated extermination of Jews . On Julio 31, 1941, Herman Goering issued orders to Reinhard Heydrich,chief of the SD, the security service , to submit a comprehensive plan of the Jewish question. The meeting was originally scheduled for December 8,1941, but it was to be postpones until noon on January 20, 1942. It was to be followed by a luncheon. Fifteen Nazi bureaucrats were present. Minutes of meeting taken in Protocol that read in part: ¨As a further possibility of solving the question, the evacuation of the Jews of the east can now be substituted for emigration ,after obtaining permission from the Fuehrer to that effect.However ,these actions are merely to be considered as alternative possibilities, even though they will permit us to make all those practical experiences of great importance for the future final solution of the Jewish question. The Jews should in the course of the Final Solution betaken in a suitable manner to the east for use as labor. In big labor gangs ,separated by sex. The Jews capable of work will be brought these areas for road building, in which task undoubtedly a large number will fall through natural diminution. The remnant that is finally able to survive all this must be treated accordingly, since these people, representing a natural selection, are to be regarded as the germ cell a new Jewish development, in case they should succeed and go free. This remnant survivor is undoubtedly the part with the strongest resistance. And they go free as history has proved. In the course of the execution of the Final solution , Europe will be combed from West to east¨.

The conference was opened by Heydrich, who declared that he was the plenipotentiary for the final of the Jewish question. He then reviewed the emigration problem. Until this time a plan had been held in readiness to deport all Jews to the island of Magadascar, off the coast of Africa, but the Madagascar Plan had fallen through after the invasion of the USSR on June,22,1941. There was no longer any possibility of transporting Jews in this fashion. Instead of emigration the Fueherer had given his sanction for the evacuation of all Jews to the East as a solution possibility. The evacuees would be organized into huge labor columns. Undoubtedly, a majority would fall through natural diminution. The survivors of this natural selection process, actually the hard core of Jewry and the most dangerous because they could rebuild the Jewish life,would be treated accordingly. Although Heydrich did not elaborate the phrase ¨treated accordingly¨the plain meaning was that, in the course of time,with insufficient food and exhausting work, the survivors would be weakened and ready for the specially equipped extermination camps. The conferees then became involved in a lengthy discussion of the problem of the individuals of mixed race, and that of Jews in mixed marriages. About the half the time was taken up with this special discussion, but not drastic reclassification was made. Then the conferees adjourned for lunch. Thirty copies of the record were made and circulated in the ministries and SS offices. News of the Final Solution traveled quickly through the Nazi bureaucracy. Within a few months the first gas chamber camps were set up in Poland. The events are known as Wannsee Protocol by Martin Luther's copy of the Conference minutes was discovered in the files of the German Foreign by American investigators in 1947.It is the only record of the meeting that survives. Destination of the Conference participants is the following : Reinhard Heydrich killed in Praga. Gestapo Chied Heinrich Muller, disappeared after the war. Dr Gerhard Klopfer, arrested 1945 for war crimes, discharged for lack of evidence,died 1987. Dr Krtzinger, arrested 1945,declarated ashamed of Nazi atrocities released 1947. Otto Hoffman arrested 1945,sentenced to 25 years. Dr Alfred Meyer committed suicide in the Spring of 1945.Dr Stuckard sentenced 1949 to time served. Martin Luther sent to concentration camp,died of heart attack 1945. Dr Buhler arrested 1945,executed 1948,Poland. SS colonel Schongarth executed 1946. And Colonel Adolf Eichmann captured in Argentina by Israeli agents 1960,tried, convicted and hanged for crimes against humanity,Jerusalem,May 31,1962

It was just as Hitler tasted defeat at the Russian front, that a little known meeting was arranged to mark one of the worst events in humankind. That meeting, known as the Wannsee Conference, was to put into motion the evacuation of the Jews from Germany, then the rest of their controlled territories.

15 officials from various departments were in attendance, chaired by SS Chief of Security Reinhard Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh) and SS Major Adolf Eichmann (Stanley Tucci), and has in its members several lawmakers and doctors. They sit and debate (well, not much of a debate actually) the notion of evacuating (read: Eliminate) the Jews, and you'll probably witness how casual it all sounded to some of the members.

It was interesting to see how Heydrich cajoled everyone into agreeing to his plans, by hook or by crook. And it's very chilling to see how semantics were danced about, and how methods were discussed as if it was a process so trivial - the building of concentration camps, the techniques of gassing and how to perform it, the statistics of the kill that would have them reach their target numbers intended.

Based on a surviving record of that meeting, despite the fact that the minutes are to be read, memorized and destroyed, this HBOfilm is a good watch to peek into the decision making process, into that stain in human history, and the unthinkable evil that humans are capable of.

If you're a fan of Downfall, then perhaps this depiction of history will interest you.

This movie could have been entitled, "how to chair a board meeting" or "how not to chair a board meeting" - given that the outcome of the meeting was the "final solution".

Gen. Heidrich with consumate skill and care manipulated the gathered Nazi hierarchy to the pre-arranged and pre-destined solution to the Jewish question.

There are a number of moments of exceptional power in the movie - one is where Kritzinger realises the truth, another is where Heidrich makes it clear to Shtukhard that he will be victimised if he does not cooperate. But the best moment must be when even those in favour realise that they are not there to decide the matter but to be to lend their complicity to the pre-made decision.

The psychology of the writing is insprired. I have never been so totally captivated by the mix of acting, subject matter and drama. This is a must see.

As a 4th generation American of German heritage, I have a deep interest in attempting to understand how a presumably cultured, educated, Christian society could become the Nazi nightmare of WWII.

This film, as so eloquently stated by previous posters, is quite simply a cautionary tale for all of humanity. I have seen the film several times on HBO, and whenever it comes on, I feel compelled to drop what I'm doing and watch, again transfixed -- at the ability of our human brains to rationalize and deny even in the face of undebatable truths.

Any honest person watching the film must ask himself -- How would I respond if I were at that table? How would I respond if I were a German citizen in the Third Reich? Americans, I believe, right now in 2005 -- should look at this film as a warning. No -- we are not fascist Nazis -- not yet. But the groundwork is there. The propaganda, the denial of the facts and the demonization of our enemies. The blind nationalism. We are at a turning point in our country -- and we would be wise to look to history as a reminder of what can happen when we as human beings let fear, ego, and the lust for power dominate over all else.

I will buy this DVD and share it with my family and friends.

As long as people believe in absurdities then they will continue to commit atrocities.

-- Bertrand Russell

Conspiracy debuted on HBO in 2001 and centers on the infamous Wannsee conference, where fifteen high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany government and military devised the final solution of the Jewish problem in Europe. The meeting took place in a beautiful house in rural Germany, where food and wine were served, and ideas were born.

This film is the best World War II era film i have ever seen, and one of the best movies i have seen, period. The cast is mostly unknown, but out-act any all-star cast Hollywood has ever produced. Kenneth Branaugh delivers an excellent performance as Heydrich, the head of the table at the meeting. He threatens people with a smile on his face, and barely bats an eye while speaking of killing thousands of people. Stanley Tucci is also great as the party-planner Eichmann, who set up the entire meeting, from the venue to the food to the topics. The way he counts the number of Jews that can be exterminated in a a given period of time is downright creepy. The cast also includes great turns by Colin Firth, a lawyer and professor who thinks the systematic slaughter of the Jews is bad for Germany's future, and Ian McNiece, who plays a hateful and witty official.

The dialogue is smart, funny, and chilling, and contains some jabs at all sides of the biggest war in Earth's history. This is a great movie to show in a history class, before watching a bunch of war movies, or if you just have an interest in the war. It teaches a lot more about the time than Saving Private Ryan (great movie too, but really one-sided), and features the best acting this side of the Godfather.---9/10