Interesting Perspective

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2011)

While this movie wasn't exceptionally flashy or stylistic, its pretty unique in the cannon of "Nazi films". As an under-informed American, these facts and this perspective were new to me, even as some one that has studied WWII and the Nazi state extensively, in university and independently. I feel that, unfortunately, there will be detractors about any movie about this or any other emotionally charged and polarizing subject matter. There are no universal aesthetics the filmmakers could use that would please everyone; the caricature of the Nazis as monsters and the German civilians as blind followers has preformed the rest of the world's opinions as to what is the most "accurate" portrayal of this subject. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to forget the caricatures and Riefenstahl's immortal presentation of these historical figures, and see them as flawed, deluded and twisted human beings. Because these WERE humans, and I find that to be the most important thing to remember when learning about Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, The Great Leap Forward, the hard-line Islamic take-over of Iran, the removal and extermination campaigns waged against indigenous people in the New World...name your tragedy, and there is a logical "noble" philosophy behind it, being adhered to with blinded fervor. It was carried out by human beings, not monsters, not madmen. People following a deadly and cold line of logic to a bitter and bloody end. That was what this movie made all the more clear to me.