Max
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Movie Reviews of Max
Movie Review: Speculative history...
Summary: 4 Stars
Speculative historical films and books can sometimes be entertaining, exploring the 'what ifs', the myriad of possibilities of how history 'could have been' if only that certain someone had turned left instead of right, or had not been murdered, or had not married, or had not invaded the USSR, or had not dropped the bomb, or... these kind of musings are only limited by the power of our imaginations - the possibilities are endless.~Max~ is an interesting look into post WW1 Germany, the conditions of that country and a cursory look into a new art movements beginnings in response to the war. Modernism began after the Great War, and one of its important manifestations was German Expressionism. Anyone familiure with German Expressionism would agree that the work can be quite haunting. Anyone familiar with the Nazi/Hitler response to this art movement is aware that some of these artists ended up in concentration camps based solely on their 'modern' views of art. The Nazi campaign against 'decadent' forms of art began with propaganda, moved onto violence and gangster tactics, ending in a total ban on the movement in all its forms. The only form of art allowed in Germany during Hitler's reign was a kind of retro Greek/Roman classicism with a strange Aryan twist. In other words, this was Hitler's view on art and of course nothing else was permitted. This film explores the 'what ifs' of Hitler's attempted entry into the German art world.
Most people are aware that Adolph Hitler was an aspiring artist and ended up being a failed one. This film speculates on Hitler's artistic aspirations and actions straight after the war. In the film, Hitler (Noah Taylor) meets Max, (John Cusack) a Jewish art dealer, and we see him pathetically attempt to become an artist, ironically, however, motivated and financially supported by Max, who sees Hitler as having potential as a Futurist; we also see Hitler's rise in the National Socialist Workers Party. Noah's performance as the ranting Austrian is quite impressive, his acting in this film is nothing less then brilliant. In fact, it is worth seeing the film for this performance alone. Cusack also does a fine job as Max as we come away from the performance with great sympathy for the character.
Overall the film is well made and the subject matter is interesting - well worth having a look at.
Movie Review: "Inaccuracy" is not the issue here
Summary: 4 Stars
What you need to know about 'Max' is that it is an 'alternative history.' Hitler's time as a struggling artist immediately after the 'Great War' is well documented. So is his bitter regard for the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919, in which the Germans took responsbility for that war and signed up to make major financial repatriations to its combatants. 'Max' puts us back into that timeframe and imagines how different the world might have been if Hitler's artistic abilities had been recognized. The movie doubles the dilemma by personifying Hitler's art hopes in Max Rothman (John Cusack), a Jewish art dealer. Meanwhile, various Army superiors take note of Hitler's latent talents as a polemicist, with a devleoping talent for stoking the resentements caused by Versailles ("a stab in the back" sputters - literally - the 30-year-old Hitler). We see the irony of Hitler developing his anti-Semitic bile, all the while being honestly befriended my Rothman.
"Inaccuracy" is not the issue here. This is "Sliding Doors" on a grand scale. In the movie, Hitler is inches from giving up on politics in pursuit of his art. Rothman is ready to commission a show for him. It never comes to be. That moment -the denouement - is classic cinema.
A couple of other points:
I understand realism, keeping with the times, etc...but Cusack smokes 25 - 30 cigarettes during the movie. It's painful to watch.
Noah Taylor is the standout here as Hitler. You may remember him as the young David Helfgott in "Shine" (especially his famous 'sweating scene' at the crucial piano recital). You'd never know Taylor was an Australian.
I'm not sure how they pulled off Cusack's one-armed performance (a little CGI maybe?) but it's very well done.
Other than Taylor, the accents here are all over the map. Cusack plays it straight, thank goodness, but we've got German-inflected English with all sorts of tinges popping out all over. You've got Canadians, South Africans, Brits, Danes, Hungarians, and Scots in the leading roles. At one point or another, you hear each of these homelands.
Movie Review: Another Gem from Cusack
Summary: 4 Stars
(Well, I'm not gonna write a treatise on politics and social philosophy, as some seem to have done. :-/ This is, after all, a film review.)
As usual, Cusack is excellent. His smooth yet flawed, good-natured but jaded, crippled upper-class war veteran is a perfect metaphor for all of the non-Nazis who lived in Germany between the wars... as well as a larger reference to the "good Germans" in any society who reject, yet dangerously ignore, the tide of racial and social hatred.
I suppose it's a matter of taste, but I can't see why some people rag on Taylor for his portrayal of the young Hitler. I mean, c'mon-- how would YOU play a somewhat talented, myopic and twisted loser who ultimately became one of the worst monsters of all time? Over-acted?? Hey, what IS a political demagogue, if not the perfect example of "over-acting gone wild"? Only those who were actually there will ever know what Hitler was really like... and they're pretty much all dead. I think Taylor's interpretation is quite good-- appropriately pathetic, driven, confused, seethingly bitter, and at the complete mercy of happenstance.
Anyway, the point of the film (hence, it's title) is the art dealer, Max, and his quandary of how to encourage the talent of a twisted youth-- in whom he sees some real possibility, and for whom he shares a war veteran's common sympathy-- without unduly disturbing his own adventurous and bourgeois lifestyle, or possibly risking wasted time & effort on yet another artistic wannabe. It's as much a film about the art marketing world-- with all it's pretense, glamour, and quirks-- as it is about politics.
It's a testament to the skill of the filmmakers that you'll find yourself hoping, wishing, longing for Max to succeed in his attempts to turn Hitler's seething energy toward a successful approach to painting... even though you know that he never will.
Movie Review: Slow build ends with a bang
Summary: 4 Stars
"Max" is, no doubt, an important film. The exploration of monstrosity through humanity, and how self-expression can be a gift and a blessing or a tool used to attain power is potent throughout the film. Though it does tend to drag a little and the script is, at times, terribly unnatural, the acting and ending make up for most of these flaws.Cusack is very good as Max Rothman, Jewish art dealer with an arm destroyed in his service during World War One. As has been said, Taylor is excellent -- haunting and oddly sad, portraying a tortured young Hitler before he truly and completely believed his own drivel. Though both actors come off as false or awkward during rare moments, this is hardly a fault of their own -- this is the fault of false or awkward screenwriting.
The other main fault, along with the screenwriting, has to do with a dragging mid-section, where everything seems very drawn out. However, keep your interest focused here and you will be repaid with a stunning ending.
That is, in my opinion, the best part of the movie -- heavy on symbolism and real-life foreshadowing of the horror we all know is now bound to follow... Despite the fact that I knew throughout the film that Hitler was doomed to become an evil man and a source of unspeakable terror, It felt like I was holding out for another outcome. This film tangles possibility in one's face, and then switches it with the cold reality that we've all learned in history books, and this switch makes for a sobering and emotional finale.
Anyway. If you're open to a fresh (if fictionalized) look on this era of history and if you're willing to stand some bad dialogue and slow pacing to get to some great acting and an intesne ending, then this movie should not disappoint you.
Movie Review: Interesting concept. Great performance by Noah Taylor
Summary: 4 Stars
Playing the role of Adolph Hitler probably guarantees that you'll never work again in Hollywood. I think that's why the relatively unknown Australian character actor, Noah Taylor was chosen. He is the best thing about this film. Noah brings to life a young Adolph, full of disappointment at coming home from the Great War, only to face unemployment and rejection. Noah's portrayal of Adolph's gradual confidence, in his belief that politics the new artform is chilling.John Cusack's acting, on the other hand is so unbelievably wooden, that he doesn't even manage to give a realistic performance of a person experiencing pain, in a scene when he is being kicked to death by Nazi's. Someone with real talent, such as Kenneth Branagh, would, I think have been better cast in the role of the art dealer, Max Rothman. The script is stilted and the two token women in this film are not given any real chance to reveal their characters.
So, if you are curious about the concept of Adolph Hitler as a failed artist and want to see a good actor make a bad script shine, I suggest you buy this film.
After you see it, I think that you will agree with me that Noah Taylor has done a brilliantly realistic job of portraying the of the most hated man of the 20th Century.