Conspiracy
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Movie Reviews of Conspiracy
Movie Review: A brilliant glimpse into the "banality of evil"
Summary: 5 Stars
Kenneth Branagh's masterpiece takes imaginative liberties with an actual event, the infamous "Wannsee Conference" of January 1942 where some administrative details of the evolving "Final Solution" were discussed. The only surviving copy of the minutes leaves abmiguity about just how far this discussion went, but Branagh unerringly captures the essence of Naziism -- an unstable mix of psychopathic anti-semitism, ruthless bureaucratic politics, self-delusion, and orderly, businesslike German behavior. Branagh himself turns in a star performance as the courtly yet implacable Reinhard Heydrich, one of history's most fascinating monsters. Within the ensemble cast of brilliant actors Stanley Tucci absolutely nails the obsequeous Adolph Eichmann, and Barnaby Kay is compelling in the role of Rudolph Lange, a hardened SS veteran of the Eastern Front who exhibits no conscience but some curiousity over the business in which he finds himself engaged. Colin Firth is utterly brilliant as Wilhelm Stuckart, author of the infamous Nuremburg Laws and a man who tempers his pathological hatred of Jews with an equally obsessive need to see the elimination of the Jews done in a legal fashion. Ian McNeice steals scene after scene as the oafish yet jolly Nazi party hack Gerhard Klopfer. The remaining cast members deliver convincing performances in a beautifully recreated setting. This film comes closer than any I have seen in terms of explaining how evil really works, and why the Nazis continue to fascinate us.Movie Review: A HORROR MOVIE WITHOUT THE VIOLENCE!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ninety minutes. To many, this amount of time may seem insignificant. Ninety minutes can go by without any thought that something significant. But on a cold day in January of 1942, ninety minutes was all it took to perpetrate one of the greatest crimes against humanity at the Wannsee Conference. Here, a handful of men from the different military and political factions in Nazi Germany made the final plans for the "final solution to the Jewish question."
"Conspiracy" is a dramatic reenactment of the Wannsee Conference, based on the only surviving copy of the minutes taken at that fateful meeting. The cast and crew do an excellent job of recreating the conference. While there is no blood or violence, this is indeed a horror film, because all of the men talk about the extermination of the Jews with glee in their eyes, and smiles on their faces, as if it is no big deal.
Ken Branagh is sinister as Reinhard Heydrich, a member of the SS and head of the conference. What makes him truly evil is how he smiles as they discuss how to handle the "storage problem" in Europe. Equally as good is Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann, the mastermind behind the final solution. The rest of the cast does a great job as well.
"Conspiracy" is a powerful film about how a handful of men planned the Holocaust in less than two hours. This is a film that every man and woman should see, so that they could see how evil men nearly wiped out the entire Jewish population in Europe.
Movie/DVD Grade: A+
Movie Review: Superb
Summary: 5 Stars
Just in case the preceeding reviews don't settle the question, I'll add my unqualified rave to the list.
The subject matter of this film is important for many reasons and is equally full of dramatic potential - this movie makes the most of both. The screenplay is constructed like a Beethoven symphony - logical, constantly moving forward, boiling with energy. The script, presumably, is based on the original transcript of the conference. The acting - well - how can one praise it enough? The human drama - the constant interplay of personal politics, intellectual fencing, bestial attitudes and genuine emotional reactions to the subject matter being discussed - it's captivating from first to last. And the last scenes are superbly poignant - the final intimate focus on both Heydrich and Eichmann as shallow men and profound monsters, the use of Schubert (as both reference and musical score) to underline the moral desolation and irony at hand, the final roll call to enumerate the sober injustice of the participants' ultimate fate.
This is yet another HBO movie which raises the bar for American cinema, proving that one can still make a great statment on film without either large budgets or avant garde methods. I can watch this over and over and always get something new out of the experience - which, of course, is the very best recommendation for actually purchasing a movie on DVD. Buy it and watch it often.
Movie Review: The heart is deceitful above all things...
Summary: 5 Stars
"Conspiracy" is the most brilliant portrayal of the following biblical principle I've ever seen in a movie:Jeremiah 17:9-10
"9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
(KJV)
It is an unpleasant truth that one of the human psyche's most highly developed capacities is the ability to lie, but not just to others, to ourselves in particular. "Conspiracy" demonstrates this terrible capacity with extraordinary effectiveness.
A couple dozen men, all with different personalities, education, responsibilities, and experiences were assembled together to accomplish a goal of indescribable evil in cool and efficient fashion without anyone actually recognizing or opposing the moral insanity being unleash. The collective denial of moral depravity and the finesse with which the truth was keep out of clear view is a dark spectacle to behold.
Such is the first verse of scripture quoted above portrayed. The second verse is nicely demonstrated at the end of "Conspiracy" when we learn the ultimate fate of these men. In fact, that reminds me of another principle this movie demonstrates VERY well:
Prov 14:12
"12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
KJV
Rock onward HBO!!!
Movie Review: EVIL-PURE AND SIMPLE
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is another relatively unknown HBO made for TV gem. It is based on the minutes of an actual meeting in 1942 of Nazi Department Heads. All the notes were to have been destroyed but one copy survived. This was a meeting convened by Adolf Eichmann in a suburban mansion outside Berlin. The agenda: what to do about the Jewish storage problem. With the Nazi war machine devouring the German treasury, they had to make a decision about all the Jews in work camps that were becoming very expensive to maintain. Until this point, there had been no overall German plan for dealing with the 'Jewish problem'. This meeting determined the fate of millions of Jewish citizens. The film does not try to sensationalize or over dramatize this event. In many ways, it comes across as a corporate board of directors meeting or cabinet level meeting for government. Evil can be so cold and calculating and seemingly rational. This is a reminder that evil does not always or often come in frenzied, worked up packages but often through the distorted worldview of 'normal' people like all of us. A well done, tightly scripted movie with excellent performances by the cast that will give you chills when you consider the ramifications of one hour of time with these 15 men. The setting (basically one room) and intensity remind me of 12 ANGRY MEN. Watch a piece of history that changed our world forever.