The movie “Hitler: The Rise of Evil” clearly depicts the personality Adolf Hitler possessed. The miseries suffered throughout his childhood; the hard relationships with his father and following deaths of both parents have given birth to cognitive dissonance that accompanied him throughout his life. He was more than aware of the lives of Germans in Austria and Germany as he had seen personally the social stratum of both nations. As was noted in the movie, he acted on the pure basis of understanding of the behavior of human-beings. He was a psychologist; the experience of influence of his speeches made him a brilliant public speaker, who knew exactly what to say and how to affect the audience. He was heard because he raised the issues that were common and sensible to everyone. His speeches attracted people for the emotions and feelings they contained, even the most indifferent person in the world would not have stayed behind his loyal commitment to the future and fate of German nation.
At the beginning of the movie, Hitler is displayed as a person who does not possess the ability of personal critical thinking. Completely by chance he heard the claim from a bystander that Jews are guilty for Germans’ poverty. Later this idea is put into action by creating an external enemy for all German misfortune and hardship. His gestures, sign lecture, speech was filled with aggression, and eyes were sparkling from terrifying insanity as he faced opposition given his strong anti-Semitist views. He was blindly devoted to his ideas. He pursued nationalistic goals, and the belief in prosperous German nation prevailed in his views. He could better than others understand the importance of bottom-up social policies instead of top-town policies, which were implemented by German Reich at that time. “What we say will be forgotten, but what we do will live 1000 years”: with these words only he gave people hope and asserted himself as a revolutionary.
The portrayal of insane and illusory preoccupation with the beliefs of national purity and superiority of Germany as a nation-state continued in the movie Downfall pictured in 2004. The movie shows the last years of Hitler’s life, how his personality has evolved over the years and the way he had fully deepened his nationalistic beliefs. His aggressiveness has turned into irritable behavior. The failure to follow his aims resulted in motiveless angriness on every single issue brought on the table. The inevitability of losing the war did not change his goals as he was ensured that commitment is for the weak people and the Germans are strong.
In movies about Hitler, it is possible to note the symptoms of psychological disorder of Hitler. One of them was the gesture made by his left hand, which automatically moved when he started his speeches. The left hand was raised sharply and stopped abruptly during his agitation, and it can be noticed that his behavior was accepted to be very strange to the surrounding people, even by the most loyal supporters. He never laughed and only a few times he was shown smiling. However, that smile was not a happy smile, but rather a grin or an ironical smile. The disciplined and strict lifestyle that Hitler conducted was mixed with anhedonic and withdrawn personality and suicidal behavior when he was exposed to failure. His aggressiveness and angriness were groundless, but his strong leadership and power of his authority made people follow him till the end.
Annotated Bibliography
Downfall. Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel. Perf. Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Corinna Harfouch, Thomas Kretschmann. Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, 2004. Film.
The movie shows the last years of Adolf Hitler from 1942 till 1945. Historians contributed a lot to the plot and script, so that the movie cannot be criticized upon containing any of the historical inaccuracies. The aggressiveness of Hitler is exaggerated and cannot be considered as his true natural behavior. The movie can be used in order to get close to understanding the psychological temperament of Hitler, but it is important to bear in mind that is not a documentary, but the motion picture.
Hitler, a film from Germany. Dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Perf. Heinz Schubert. Connoisseur/Academy Video, 1977. Film.
A long movie consisting of 4 parts shows the cult of Hitler of the Nazi era. It focuses on the Nazi propaganda and explains the ideology and failure of Nazism. The only movie that could connect both personality of Hitler and real autobiographies of his supporters, which help to understand better what man was Adolf Hitler.
Hitler, the rise of evil. Dir. Christian Duguay. Perf. Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, Peter O'Toole, Peter Stormare, Thomas Sangster, Liev Schreiber. Alliance Atlantis, 2003. Film.
The movie explains the historical aspect of life of Hitler from his childhood till coming to power, the period of 1899 till 1934. From a historical perspective movie contains a lot of inaccuracies, however, that does not prevent from understanding the character and personality of Hitler. The movie portrays Hitler as a strong leader loyal and devoted to his ideas, which may be used as propaganda to provoke positive attitude to Hitler. The movie can be used to explain the reasons and underlying causes of Hitler’s coming to power, as well as to portray the psychological and mood disorder of the Adolf Hitler.
Works Cited
Downfall. Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel. Perf. Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Corinna Harfouch, Thomas Kretschmann. Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, 2004. Film.
Hitler, a film from Germany. Dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg. Perf. Heinz Schubert. Connoisseur/Academy Video, 1977. Film.
Hitler, the rise of evil. Dir. Christian Duguay. Perf. Robert Carlyle, Stockard Channing, Peter O'Toole, Peter Stormare, Thomas Sangster, Liev Schreiber. Alliance Atlantis, 2003. Film.
