"The German invasion of Britain took place in July 1940, after the British retreat from Dunkirk". We see, documentary-style, members of the Wehrmacht trooping past Big Ben and St Paul's Cathedral, lounging in the parks, having their jackboots shined by old cockneys, and appreciatively visiting the shrine of that good German, Prince Albert, in Kensington Gardens. Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's film "It Happened Here", with its cast of hundreds (.pdf), imagines what a Nazi occupation might have been like — complete with underground resistance, civilian massacres, civil strife, torch-lit rallies, Jewish ghettos, and organized euthanasia. Shot on weekends, eight years in production, made for about $20,000 with nonactors and borrowed equipment and Stanley Kubrick's help, "It Happened Here" was originally envisioned by Brownlow as a sort of Hammer horror flick about a Nazi Britain. Thanks in part to Mollo's fanatical concern with historical accuracy, however, it became something else. The most remarkable thing about this account of everyday fascism is that it has no period footage. Brownlow's 1968 book about the film's production, "How It Happened Here", has recently been republished. More inside.
posted by matteo on Feb 12, 2006 - 16 comments

"Hitler must have committed suicide after he found a skinny Jewish kid from Brooklyn stomped on his top hat." The story of a Jewish G.I. that stole a tophat from Hitler's Munich apartment is the latest documentary vehicle by noted independent filmmaker, Jeff Krulik. Famous for "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", Krulik will be viewing "Hitler's Hat" at the MOMA in December. You can read current interviews with the artist here and here, or view his movies in quicktime and realplayer format here. Unfamiliar with his work? Start with these two shorts.
posted by machaus on Oct 29, 2002 - 5 comments

The Fuhrer stays in the picture. Max, a movie about Hitler's early years and his rise to power, premieres Monday at the Toronto Film Festival. The controversial project depicts the future dictator as an "emotionally poisoned man, but nonetheless human" rather than a simple caricature of evil, and owes its existence to the determination of star John Cusak (Noah Taylor of Shine plays Hitler) as well as its writer/director and producer. Many have already condemned the film, including Maureen Dowd (NYT link) and the Jewish Defense League. (Spielberg liked the script but bowed out early.) Is it possible, much less necessary, to portray the legendarily wicked as human beings without excusing their crimes?
posted by gottabefunky on Sep 9, 2002 - 70 comments

RoboHitler? Paul Verhoeven has hinted that he may go ahead an make a film about Adolf H. ""The idea would be to show that charisma is not identical with good. So basically you would see how a charismatic person would be able to seduce 50 or 60 million Germans"...he's not, however, certain that it will ever make it to the cinema...
posted by hmgovt on Apr 26, 2001 - 24 comments