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Friday, August 6, 2004 - 5:37amSanction this postReply
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Although I only caught the last half of this film on cable television while on vacation, I can vouch for this film's disturbing nature and its value to the viewer.  Anyone who claims that "ideas do not matter" needs to watch this film.

Closing credits in the film claim that the creators based the movie on abandoned transcripts found in the back of an old filing cabinet belonging to one of the participants.  In the film, the participants had been instructed to destroy their copies of the transcripts, but evidently not all of them did.  I wonder if this is really true or just a bit of artistic license on the part of the writers.

Glenn, thanks for posting this.  Next time you come to Miami, look me up.  I run SOLO Florida and my contact information is there.


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Friday, August 6, 2004 - 9:26amSanction this postReply
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I liked this essay, Glenn.  I saw the movie awhile back and it really chilled me, too.

I really loved this statement you made, because most people need to realize it:

politeness is not necessarily indicative of virtue. 
Also, on the SOLO book list, I have posted a book by Roy Baumeister, Ph.D... He's a social psychologist at Florida State University; his book is called Evil:  Inside Human Violence and Cruelty.  I think that -- considering your interest in a movie like this -- you would find his book to be a crucial revelation.


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Friday, August 6, 2004 - 12:43amSanction this postReply
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A cold, unlikely subject for a movie -- but a terrific film nonetheless. Very plausible and interesting. It's intellectually thrilling and even has two heroes/good guys to root for. Worth seeing twice.

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Post 3

Friday, August 6, 2004 - 7:20amSanction this postReply
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Mr. Setzer (and fellow Floridian),

The film is based on a translated transcript found in one of the offices of the SD. The transcript itself was the minutes of the meeting written down by Heydrich's associate Adolf Eichmann. Heydrich himself revised the minutes. These minutes were used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials of 1946, and later during Eichmanns trial in Israel. History does not record that the transcript was 'stuffed' behind a filing cabinet. The participants were never instructed to 'destroy' their copies of the transcript, no such record of an instruction of this type exist.

The minutes themselves are very short, and would take about a page and a half of actual comments. For the most part they are a statistical breakdown of the number of Jews remaining in the occupied territories, along with a commentary on the difficulties in handling this population group. The transcript includes a rough draft of the agreed definitions of what constitutes a Jew, and what does not. The minutes include some of the recommendations made to handle the Jewish problem and conclude with a direct reference for the need to carry out a 'final solution'.

Very few comments are made that actually quote or summarize the input of those participating. At no time do these minutes indicate any sort of 'word for word' discussion or arguments between participants. Very short one-paragraph summaries of the other participants are within the transcripts. They range from complaints about the strain the Jews are putting upon their resources in the occupied territories, to a few comments on what should properly constitute a Jew from a legal viewpoint. The motion picture is a highly melodramatic interpretation of what history records was an 85-minute meeting. In all probability the reality of that meeting was no more than Heydrichs attempt to coordinate the various branches of the Reich government in order to implement a solution that both he and Himmler had already decided upon.

The reality of the Wansee conference would probably not make a good motion picture (or even a good 30 minute documentary). The reality of the Wansee Conference was far more banal than the one depicted in the movie. There is no indication of any heated arguments or disagreements at the meeting. The truth is that the scenes within the movie that depict participants arguing with Heydrich, against the final solution (hesitating to agree would be a better term than, arguing) in favor of mass resettlement, are a dramatic tool. A reading of the minutes will leave you with no emotional impact whatsoever - the truth is that the final solution was arrived at in a very 'matter of factly' manner. They say that truth can be stranger than fiction; in this case the reality is far more 'cold' and dispassionate.

Mr. George W. Cordero



(Edited by Jeff Landauer on 8/06, 10:25am)

(Edited by Ision on 8/06, 11:04am)

(Edited by Ision on 8/06, 11:08am)


Post 4

Friday, August 6, 2004 - 10:40amSanction this postReply
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This is a magnificent movie. I had never realized that the the subtitle was "The Banality of Evil", but it is perfect. The scene that brought me off my seat was when Branaugh talks of how Schubert's music "breaks his heart,' after having just set up the extermination of millions of people without even losing his sense of humor. This film makes you very angry and talks eloquently about how evil wins gradually as good retreats.
Speaking of Kenneth Branaugh and evil, be sure to watch his performance of Iago vs. Laurence Fishburne's Othello. If you are looking for Snydely Whiplash as Iago, twirling his moustache and cackling, you have the wrong movie. Branaugh plays Iago as Bill Clinton, conniving, loved by most, and always manipulating for power.

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Post 5

Friday, August 6, 2004 - 6:30pmSanction this postReply
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I'm sure I saw this several years ago as a play, which worked superbly as I recall.

It really was a wonderfully drawn portrait of what Hanna Arendt famously described as "The Banality of Evil." In many ways the lesson of evil's banality is the lesson of the twentieth-century.

'Ision' suggested, no doubt correctly, that "[t]he reality of the Wansee conference would probably not make a good motion picture..."which is probably true of many 'true-to-life' dramas. The truth is however that as long as we realise that we are watching drama rather than documentary, we can in fact see the reality more clearly by the way the dramatist has chosen to stylise the bare facts.

Cheers.


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