Film Review: The Meaning of Hitler
2017 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, VA.The Meaning of Hitler, directedby Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker. Image©Stephanie Keith, Reuters
Written by Belle McIntyre
This urgent and fascinating documentary based on a 1978 book by Sebastien Haffner examines the circumstances and mechanisms which were executed with such effectiveness to elevate such an, arguably, mediocre man to such great heights with seemingly unlimited authority. Empowered by slavish sycophants and true believers who unhesitatingly and enthusiastically embraced his hateful ideology, they allowed themselves to be manipulated to do odious and hateful things in service to the cause. We have always been fascinated by mass movements which seem to acquire a life of their own at some point and turn regular people into monsters.
Given the rise in virulent antisemitism, racism, white supremacy, and xenophobia occurring in many countries around the world, it is well worth a review of the facts and the consequences so that we can recognize the signs and not become victims. We need more whistleblowers and laws to protect them.
Bust of Adolph Hitler.The Meaning of Hitler, directed by Petra Epperlein andMichael Tucker. Image©Reg Speller, Getty Images andUwaga Film.
Rule number one is to have a disgruntled population. That is the easy part. Then comes the theatre. Find out what their biggest fear might be and amplify the fear, sympathize with their resentment, encourage it. In the case of Germany at that time there were large numbers of immigrants coming into the country. They became the target and the focus of their righteous anger. Turn it into hatred. And finally promise to eradicate the source and offer them a new world purged of everything not Aryan,. Loyalty involves, recruitment and getting rid of non-believers by turning them in to the enforcement division, as well as going to war. Hitler understood the importance of propaganda and flooded Germany with it. Where it gets ugly is when people take it all in and begin to turn on each other and vilify those who do not fit into the new world order.
Does any of this sound familiar? Whoever does Donald Trump’s reading for him could have read this and used it as a playbook for his campaigns and leadership style on so many levels. The current atmosphere in our country feels very toxic with peaceful demonstrators being attacked, police getting away with murdering black people, with asylum seekers in incarceration facilities and separated from their children, with people at Trump rallies yelling “Lock her up”, and Trump declaring that some neo-Nazi’s are good people; and not speaking out against gun-toting non-believers in Covid 19 who mobbed the steps of the Michigan Statehouse to protest safety measures; and plotting an assassination against the Governor. He encourages lawless rightwing gangs like the Proud Boys and traffics in bizarre and demented conspiracies conjured by QAnon lunatics. Trump also loves crowds and is a master of hyperbole, and a consummate liar on a grand scale. As of late, he is trying to turn the whole country against Democrats as the evil dark power. These things are disturbing enough in our own context. But when compared to the Hitler method they are actually terrifying. Hitler’s model was ‘controlled chaos’. So is Trump’s.
One of Hitler’s biggest propaganda projects was the film “Triumph of the Will”, written, directed, and filmed by Leni Riefenstahl which showed the astonishing spectacle of the 1934 Nuremberg Rally with 700,000 Nazi goose-stepping soldiers marching in endless phalanxes, carrying flags, banners, guns, right arms raised in the Nazi salute. Hitler believed in strength in numbers. It certainly projects immense and terrifying power. As a film, it was a breakthrough in cinematography, using aerial shots and long lenses, all of which intensify and magnify the images. Included are segments of rousing speeches by members of the Nazi Party, endless marching soldiers and military bands, as well as music by Richard Wagner. In spite of its ghastly purpose, the film has been awarded prizes.
Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker, directors ofThe Meaning of Hitler.Photocredit: Tim Freccia
There are some interesting talking heads including writers Martin Amis, Saul Friedlander and Deborah Lipstadt; a Holocaust denier who gives tours to like-minded groups (hard to believe); Nazi hunters – Beate and Serge Klarsfeld. The backstory of this film is part of the good news. It was produced by Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Eagles, after an inflammatory episode caused by one of his NFL players posted a quote by Adolph Hitler which got way out of hand. Lurie’s response was to start a film company to make documentary films. This is their first and it bodes well for the future. It is in black and white, briskly paced, intelligent and it feels something like a wake-up call if anyone still needs one. Actually, there are plenty who need the wake-up call, but they will probably not see this. The biggest question, which might be unanswerable - what is the source of the evil? What can cause regular people to do horrific deeds? The German political theorist, Hannah Arendt, in her interview with Adolph Eichmann coined the phrase “the banality of evil” and observed that Eichmann felt no guilt and did not believe that he had done anything but his job and followed orders. This was very likely the mindset of most Nazis. It is an abdication of the self and the shutting down of the moral compass in exchange for the mob mentality which feeds on its own frenzied energy. Not a good thing. This is a cautionary tale that cannot be told enough. Lessons need to be learned over and over lest we forget.
Streaming until Nov. 29 on DOCNYC
