Hitler: The Rise of Evil

Hitler: The Rise of Evil (DVD) (*)

$20.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Emmy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
180 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2003 and produced in:
Canada ( USA, Canada )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Christian Duguay

Written By:
John Pielmeier
G. Ross Parker

Actors:
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

Synopsis:

Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a Canadian TV miniseries in two parts, directed by Christian Duguay and produced by Alliance Atlantis. It explores Adolf Hitler's rise and his early consolidation of power during the years after World War I and focuses on how the embittered, politically fragmented and economically buffeted state of German society following the war made that ascent possible. The film also focuses on Ernst Hanfstaengl's influence on Hitler's rise to power. The film's subplot follows the struggles of Fritz Gerlich, a German journalist who opposes the rising National Socialist German Workers Party. He is portrayed as to fulfill the essence of the quotation disputably attributed to Edmund Burke, which is displayed at the beginning and at the end of the film: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.'

British actor Robert Carlyle stars as the 20th century's most infamous dictator in this two-part TV biopic. The film covers the life of Adolf Hitler from his childhood to his emergence as absolute ruler of Germany in 1934. Most of the ground covered should be familiar to history buffs: Hitler's failed efforts to become a great artist, his frustration at watching his adopted country fall apart at the seams during World War I, his resolve to put Germany back on its feet by exploiting the nation's horrendous postwar economic woes and its ingrained anti-Semitism, his 1923 arrest, the publication of Hitler's virulent screed Mein Kampf, the growing popularity of National Socialism, and the fatal error made by senile German chancellor Von Hindbenburg (Peter O'Toole) to 'neutralize' Hitler by giving him a relatively unimportant political post in 1933. Also covered is Hitler's abortive romance with his half-niece Geli Raubal (Jena Malone) and his longer relationship with the estimable Eva Braun (Zoe Telford). Given the difficulties faced by actor Carlyle and the screenwriters to successfully convey pure, unadulterated evil, much of what we learn about Hitler is conveyed by the observations and reactions of other characters, notably crusading but ineffectual anti-Nazi journalist Fritz Gerlich (Matthew Modine), and especially German publisher Ernst Hanfstangl (Liev Schreiber) and his wife, Helene (Julianna Margulies). Originally a staunch supporter of Hitler, Hanfstangl eventually comes to realize the danger the man poses to the world ('He's not human. He simply studies others to become human.'); in contrast, Helene, who at the outset is vaguely opposed to National Socialism, is ultimately seduced and swept up by the movement. Not surprisingly, this film stirred up a great deal of controversy even before it aired; some Jewish leaders and prominent Holocaust survivors worried that Hitler might come off as being sympathetic (a concern that may have dictated altering the film's title, which was to have been Hitler: The Early Years).

Motivated by anger and misdirected by ego, Hitler struggles in a world he believes owes him something, enticing Germany in a macabre dance of surrender and control. Emerging from WWI after a stint in the German Army, he accepts their offer to infiltrate and spy on the German Workers' Party. Their nationalism and anti-Semitism match Hitler's virulent personal politics so he strikes while the iron is hot, and by draping his agenda in mythical legends of Aryan superiority, he makes the iron even hotter by repeatedly striking it....

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 10 December, 2013.