Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV)

Note Générale:

7,1/10   

Réalisateur:

Christian Duguay

Scénaristes (WGA):

John Pielmeier (written by) and
G. Ross Parker (written by)

Date de sortie:

18 mai 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Drame | Histoire

Accroche:

"The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Intrigue:

A unique slant, profiling the life of Adolf Hitler as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National German Workers' Party prior to World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Germany | Austria | Reporter | Rise To Power

Récompenses:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 15 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Ensemble

Robert Carlyle	...	Adolf Hitler
Stockard Channing	...	Klara Hitler
Jena Malone	...	Geli Raubal
Julianna Margulies	...	Helene Hanfstaengl
Matthew Modine	...	Fritz Gerlich
Liev Schreiber	...	Ernst Hanfstaengl
Peter Stormare	...	Ernst Röhm
Friedrich von Thun	...	General Erich Ludendorff
Peter O'Toole	...	President Paul von Hindenburg
Zoe Telford	...	Eva Braun
Terence Harvey	...	Gustav von Kahr
Justin Salinger	...	Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Chris Larkin	...	Hermann Göring
James Babson	...	Rudolf Hess
Patricia Netzer	...	Sophie Gerlich

Autre(s) titre(s):

Hitler: La naissance du mal (Canada: French title)

Durée:

Australia:179 min (video version) | France:130 min | USA:240 min (including commercials) | Spain:177 min (DVD edition)

Pays:

Canada | USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Rapport de forme:

1,33 : 1

Son:

Dolby SR

Classification:

Netherlands:12 | Spain:13 | UK:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15

Lieux de tournage:

Prague, Czech Republic

Société:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Anecdotes:

The producers originally wanted Ewan McGregor to play Hitler.

Goofs:

Continuité: During the Beer Hall Putsch, Ernst Hanfstaengl is walking next to Hitler on the way to the War Ministry. In the next shot he is running away from the mob. How did he get to the back of the mob at the pace he was walking?

Guillemet:

Adolf Hitler: The SA are to be bridled, Ernst. They may sing, march, carry flags, but they are to keep calm unless I say otherwise.
Ernst Röhm: We're not a Sunday shooting club, Adolf. We're a militia.
Adolf Hitler: Not anymore. My personal security will now be handled by the SS. Your men give off the wrong impression.
Ernst Röhm: I don't give a damn about impressions, but without the SA, without us, our loyalty...
Adolf Hitler: The wheels of history have turned! The plan has changed.
Ernst Röhm: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
[clicks heels, salutes, turns and leaves without his dismissal]

Connexions:

figure dans "Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou" (2008)

Bande son:

Etude in E, Op.10 No.3

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

"Hitler: The Rise of Evil" was shrouded in controversy before it ever aired, and that controversy may obscure the accomplishment of the film.

Those who criticzed the film, which they hadn't seen, did so with good intentions, based on the misguided thought that it would be overly sympathetic to Hitler. However, they misunderstood the point: to humanize the evil Hitler is not sympathize with him. It is far more disturbing to realize that the unspeakable acts committed by one of history's greatest villains were committed by a human being. A sick, diseased maniac, to be sure, but a human being nonetheless. It is necessary to know the story of how Hitler was able to come to power to prevent it from happening again.

"Rise of Evil" is highlighted by a brilliant, career best performance from Robert Carlyle, who makes Hitler a human being without ever redeeming him in any way. Carlyle flawlessly captures the look and mannerisms of the Nazi leader, while never letting the impersonation become cartoonish or distance us (something Anthony Hopkins was not quite able to accomplish when he portrayed Hitler in "The Bunker", another very good made-for-television film). While were are repulsed by Hitler's depravity and virulent ant-Semitism, Carlyle gives him a certain magnetism and power the real Adolf Hitler must have possesed. After all, while else would a nation have followed him?

Of the various subplots, by far the most compelling features Matthew Modine as reporter Fritz Gehrlich, who makes it his life's work to draw attention to the reality of of Hitler and Nazism. While Modine's performance is a little stilted in part 1, by part 2 he seems to have settled in, the character gives us a real-life hero in a film full of villains. Peter Stormare and Liev Schrieber also give strong support.

Part 1 of this two-part mini series suffered a little bit from being overly choppy, including a look at Hitler's childhood which lasts only the duration of the opening credits. And in part 2, sections detailing Hitler's relationship's with his niece, and his mistress Eva Braun, are less successful than the central plot, but do serve to give us further insight into his mental and emotional state.

Ultimately, no film about Hitler can make us understand him. The average person is, thankfully, incapable of ever understanding a man who would try to exterminate an entire race of people. "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" tries less to make us understand Hitler, and more to make us understand how he came to be power. It is an important story that must be told, and it is impossible to believe anyone who has seen the film would accuse it of having anything but the best of intentions, and the capability of doing anything but good.

9 out of 10. *** 1/2