Hitler, une carrière

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.

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.

In short: A two-and-a-half-hour extensive look at the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler. Many aspects of his political career are explored and dissected in awesomely impressive detail.

Divided into three-acts, we first explore Hitler's early life and then his ambitious, angry rise to power beginning as a soldier with the German Army in WWI. The second act features his time in office after his release from prison in 1924; his incendiary speeches and broken treaties; and the rebuilding of the decimated German military while crushing anyone who stands in his way. The act ends with a close-up examination of his strategies and atrocities just before and during WWII. The third act centers on Hitler's life during the last years of the war; the collapse of the Third Reich, his suicide and the Allies' liberation of Germany; and a brief glance at Hitler's scale-model plan of what Berlin would have looked like had he and the Nazi's been successful.

Two things you'll LIKE about this documentary: 1) It's well curated and well edited with tons of footage (mostly black and white); 2) It doesn't glorify Hitler or the Nazi party.

Two things you'll DISLIKE: 1) Although it's broken into parts (or acts), it plays as one long, epic show totaling two hours and thirty minutes (information overload - I watched it over two nights); 2) As the title suggests, it's about Hitler's career, so there is very little information about his life growing up in Austria.

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.

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.