I'm sorry but I can't accept that this is one of the best documentaries about the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Grant you, its focus on rare footage and home videos made by Germans during the era is a large plus.
Unfortunately, the first part of the story leaves so many points out that it is insulting to the Germans. I have no sympathy towards the Nazis, in fact I lost my grandfather during the occupation of Greece but the documentary is missing many points. For example there is no mention whatsoever about the fall of unemployment after Hitler took power. No mention of the support he got from the industrialists. About the massive state investments in infrastructure. About the rebuilding of the economy. It is as if the majority of Germans, at least those not persecuted, were suddenly enchanted by parades and flag waving and became supporters of the regime. There is no mention of the remilitarisation of the Rhineland one of Hitler's first diplomatic victories. There's only as brief mention of how the Annexation of Austria came to be, again as if Germans woke up one morning to find Vienna listed as a German city.
The second part(The Fall) is much more balanced and I have no serious complaints about it.
I would also prefer if the documentary was more balanced towards the victims of the Second World War. True, the Holocaust is the Nazis' largest crime against humanity. But it is extensively covered throughout the documentary while other crimes such as the brutal murdering of civilians in the USSR, in Poland and in most occupied countries or the slave labourers are mentioned for brief seconds or not at all.
Lastly, I too found the start/end fake frames of the footage overused and that some of the videos were uninteresting (toddlers walking/falling/playing). All in all not bad, but not one of the classics.
Unfortunately, the first part of the story leaves so many points out that it is insulting to the Germans. I have no sympathy towards the Nazis, in fact I lost my grandfather during the occupation of Greece but the documentary is missing many points. For example there is no mention whatsoever about the fall of unemployment after Hitler took power. No mention of the support he got from the industrialists. About the massive state investments in infrastructure. About the rebuilding of the economy. It is as if the majority of Germans, at least those not persecuted, were suddenly enchanted by parades and flag waving and became supporters of the regime. There is no mention of the remilitarisation of the Rhineland one of Hitler's first diplomatic victories. There's only as brief mention of how the Annexation of Austria came to be, again as if Germans woke up one morning to find Vienna listed as a German city.
The second part(The Fall) is much more balanced and I have no serious complaints about it.
I would also prefer if the documentary was more balanced towards the victims of the Second World War. True, the Holocaust is the Nazis' largest crime against humanity. But it is extensively covered throughout the documentary while other crimes such as the brutal murdering of civilians in the USSR, in Poland and in most occupied countries or the slave labourers are mentioned for brief seconds or not at all.
Lastly, I too found the start/end fake frames of the footage overused and that some of the videos were uninteresting (toddlers walking/falling/playing). All in all not bad, but not one of the classics.