# A Question for Hitler scholars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027 "2006-02-17T23:57:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/1 "2006-02-17T23:57:43Z")
I saw the movie ‘Max’ I thought it was great! I really felt as though I met Adolph, the man. Is the portrayal of Hitler accurate? Note: i am not a sympathiser or anything; I hate Nazis like all reasonable people do, but I still enjoyed this movie. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/2 "2006-02-18T01:01:57Z")
Though I love **Max** (for obvious reasons – check my web page), it isn’t to be taken as historical fact. Hitler did try his hand at art after WWI, but I doubt his work interested anyone. The portrayal of Hitler is primarily in service of the story, and any accuracy (other than the broad strokes) is purely coincidental – and irrelevant to the story or the movie’s point. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/3 "2006-02-18T03:44:29Z")
I’m quite sure I won’t see the movie. I also am not a phsychologist or a specialist on behavior. However if the movie protrays Hitler as other than monomaniacal and disorganized it probably isn’t accurate. I’ve read as much of _Mein Kampf_ as I can take, although I struggle through another few pages every now and then, and that is how he comes across in the book. I do understand, though, that he was good to dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/4 "2006-02-18T05:16:00Z")
\ Kicking to _Cafe Society_ using my moderator jackboots, size 17. \ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/5 "2006-02-18T05:31:33Z")
If you really want to see a scarily realistic portrayal of Hitler you should check out a German movie called _Downfall_ (_Der Untergang_). Bruno Ganz makes you feel like you truly get who Hitler was. He humanizes him in a way I haven’t seen before. When I say “humanizes,” though, I don’t mean that the depicton is in anyway sympathetic, just that he seems realistically deluded and crazy rather than supernaturally evil. He actually comes off as more pathetic than anything else. The movie is about Hitler’s last few days in the bunker and it plays almost like a documentary. The fact that it’s in German really lends to that verisimilitude. A lot of the dramatic tension in the film comes from the slow realizations on the part of Hitler’s minions that their great hero is not only not going to be able to save them but is as crazy as a shithouse rat. ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/6 "2006-02-18T07:40:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Hitler did try his hand at art after WWI, but I doubt his work interested anyone. My understanding of this, actually, is that he was quite solidly competent; he just happened to fixate on attending the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, one of the most prestigious academies in the world at the time. He was almost admitted on his second attempt (but rejected on grounds that they thought he would make a better architect). You can see some examples [courtesy of the Hitler Museum](http://www.hitler.org/art/). I’ve been told that it was a little like giving up as an engineer after being rejected from MIT. I don’t think he caught much critical attention, but he was good enough to scrape up a living by selling them for postcards and such, despite his insistence on using expensive materials and such. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/7 "2006-02-18T09:29:55Z")
_The Empty Mirror_ comes to mind when I think about Hitler movies. Not even in the same galaxy as a documentary but it’s interesting to look at some of the comments posed. Hitler claiming to be a prisoner to the camera and his rationalization of everything, including how everyone was responsible for Germany’s defeat except him. The take of it being Hitler in Hell lends an interesting twist to the film if one views it that way. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/8 "2006-02-18T16:04:37Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > \ > > Kicking to _Cafe Society_ using my moderator jackboots, size 17. > > \ Wasn’t the OP asking for factual information about the historical Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/9 "2006-02-18T16:45:49Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Wasn’t the OP asking for factual information about the historical Hitler? Yes the OP was, which is why I put it in GQ instead. Not that I’m not interested in discussing the movie, but I was hoping to get some people who had read up on the subject to tell me how much of the portrayal of Hitler was fictionalized. I realize that the movie is fiction and that the main character, Max, was not a real person, but it is set up as a ‘could have happened’ kind of story, and I was curious about how much was based on fact. For instance, I know next to nothing about Hitler’s getting involved in politics, beyond the most general facts. And I’ve also seen The Empty Mirror, and it is a fabulous movie. I’ll keep an eye out for ‘Downfall’ too. It sounds interesting. Thanks for the info so far! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/10 "2006-02-18T17:28:21Z")
There’s always the [del]Hitler[/del] History Channel. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/11 "2006-02-18T23:50:15Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I’m quite sure I won’t see the movie. I also am not a phsychologist or a specialist on behavior. However if the movie protrays Hitler as other than monomaniacal and disorganized it probably isn’t accurate. I’ve read as much of _Mein Kampf_ as I can take, although I struggle through another few pages every now and then, and that is how he comes across in the book. You really should see it. It’s not accurate, but it says more about Hitler than any accurate film can. By making it fiction, it can look at the bigger picture and puts forth a very interesting notion about what he was doing – one which may still be being used today. It is a shining recent example about why “accuracy” is not important in creating art. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/12 "2006-02-19T02:51:34Z")
Downfall (Der Untergang), Currently not available on Amazon. Buy used at $90. What the heck? It is a fairly recent movie. Is it out of print? ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/13 "2006-02-19T03:42:29Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Downfall (Der Untergang), Currently not available on Amazon. Buy used at $90. > > What the heck? It is a fairly recent movie. Is it out of print? B.S. Ebay. Fifteen bucks. Must be some collector’s edition or something. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-hitler-scholars/345027/14 "2006-02-19T03:43:15Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Downfall (Der Untergang), Currently not available on Amazon. Buy used at $90. > > What the heck? It is a fairly recent movie. Is it out of print? Strange, [this link](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009RCPUC/ref=ase_imdb-adbox/102-8804960-9657718?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130&tagActionCode=imdb-adbox) indicates that it’s in stock. If anybody’s interested in Nazi art, architecture and philosophy, check out [The Architecture of Doom](http://imdb.com/title/tt0098559/). I found it utterly engrossing. The examples of Hitler’s paintings and architectural drawings show him to be a competent draftsman but not an exceptional talent. I can see why he wasn’t admitted. Incidentally, Bruno Ganz (star of the above-mentioned Downfall) was also a narrator for this documentary.