The Hitler Home Movies

The film restoration was beautifully completed. The camera work was well done considering it was shot by an amateur. The editing was a little abrupt. I would have liked to actually hear what was being said among the folks in the shots as opposed to relying on the narrator's version of what was transpiring on camera. The segue away from the home movies to the old documentary style footage was disjointed and unnecessary.

Everyone seemed pretty happy in the mountain retreat surrounded by the stunning scenery of the mountains. The skiing with a sport coat was comical. I guess a sign of the times. There was an abundance of information about the relationship between Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. People might rush to judgement and vilify Hitler for being 23 years older than Eva Braun. It was also informative that one of the main goals of the National Socialists was their desire to eradicate Bolshevism.

It was an interesting documentary in a way though problematic in some of its presentation. Here, Eva Braun's home movies are presented in a restaured colored version and for those curious in seeing how the inner circle of Hitler behaved outside of rallies and Leni Riefenstahl movies then you can kill your curiosity. The problem is that for quite some time the makers of this piece keep repeating some images over and over, which means this film could go a little shorter and would benefit a great deal if there was some sort of description about the events we're seeing (but then again, it's nothing so important. It's mostly gatherings, some meals with plenty of people, Eva Braun riding her bike and smiling all the time, or Hitler being a somewhat common man rather than the loudmouth we all know from his speeches).

Sure, knowing a little more about the woman/amateur filmmaker was interesting to see and hear, on how she was a background character of whom the dictator never posed along for the public - they knew each other for a decade but the marriage came when they felt everything was lost and the Russians were coming to get them. This presentation on Braun and their relationship was some of the good bits that made this cool to watch. But when the two historians come to present facts about the war, things get messy and disjointed since things are not presented in a chronological way - they move ahead, talk about the man's death then somehow they return to a fact when he was alive, and for WWII learners, specially the beginners seeking to know and learn with this, they'll be very lost and confused.

I enjoyed what was shown but disagreed with some of the format, the editing and the hosts talking about the war when the real deal was to inform about the home videos of Braun and Hitler. The images are amazingly presented (the Bavarian Alps form an impressive view from that house), it doesn't look as 80-something years old but looking at the ratings here, I guess people had seen those before somewhere else and weren't so impressed in seeing it again in this piece. It's just a curious thing. 8/10.