The Empty Mirror

>> If we understand Hitler, and how he was able to mesmerize 70 million otherwise highly intelligent people, then history will be far less likely to repeat itself. <<

Perhaps what needs to be understood is that they weren't any more intelligent than he was. This explains why they could be 'mesmerized' by him.

The fact is that Hitler WAS exactly the same as all the people around him. He represented the realization of their deepest desires, promised to deliver, was applauded for the early result then, as an escape from their own culpability, blamed for the entire 12 year debacle. Every murder, every despicable act by every person who either directly or tacitly supported him, was laid off on a single momentarily charismatic human being.

They weren't in any way unlike him, they were just like him; and he; just like them.

The real question that remains is — are we?

The Empty Mirror is like a stage production, almost entirely a monologue. It is Adolph Hitler's fictitious self-examination (interrupted by a detached Sigmund Freud to give his objective analysis). I really enjoyed the writing and performances. The production is a bit cheap, but for what it is, it still works. My main complaint is the casting of Norman Rodway as Adolph Hitler. He portrays the insanity of Hitler with painfully acute skill. But, his long face and British accent breaks the illusion, taking the audience out of the story, and I feel he was just a poor choice for the part of such a well-known historical figure. The Roles of Goering, Goebbels, and Freud on the other hand were cast very well, with excellent performances.

The story illuminates the power of illusions and how someone could delude themselves into believing almost anything. It humanizes Hitler a bit, examining how he destroyed himself in his lust for power, and how the same thing could happen again.

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While I doubt this movie appeals to the majority of people, it is never-the-less accurate both historically and psychologically. Many of the ideas expressed (by the character Hitler and his cohorts), facts referenced, and behavior exhibited are realistic. I have studied Hitler to a some extent, particularly his psychology and neuroses (read Robert G .L. Waite), and I feel that this movie shows the man as he was, a facade of power covering thinly doubt and pain. Hitler is not, after all, simply the worst monster in history, he had reasons and beliefs that motivated his actions. While the depiction of him may seem to inappropriate to some, it shows Hitler as a vulnerable, conflicted person who uses power and cruelty to attempt to hide his own debilitating lack of self confidence. Hitler needed to be accepted, loved, and to belong. He tried to use power and fear as a surrogate for all these things that make a healthy happy person, but it gave him no rest. He did indeed stare into an empty mirror. Hitler was a victim of his own twisted mind and lonely, hollow existence.

Hitler deserves not to be forgiven, but understood. The empty mirror shows Hitler as human, and a weak one. This is not a tribute: Hitler wanted to be remembered as a great destructive prophet, to see him as the vulnerable victim of himself (while not pardoning what he did) is not what Hitler wanted. Watch, and understand Hitler the victim.

There are many ways to portray Hitler. One is to trivialize him by making him funny ("The Producers," "The Great Dictator"). Another is simply to pronounce him "evil, and that's all you need to know about him." Those who do the latter are doing a great disservice to themselves, because in order to prevent another Hitler, another Third Reich, we must allow ourselves to get inside the head of this megalomaniac who, along with killing 6 million Jews (well, 5.7 million according to the movie Hitler) and 5.5 million "people of Christian origin," turned the most civilized country in Europe into a nation of barbarism, then into a ruin.

"The Empty Mirror" parallels the Third Reich in that it shows Hitler, dictating his memoirs in Hell, gradually disintegrating both emotionally and physically as he confronts the enormity of his horrific actions.

Yes, this movie would be considered politically incorrect by some for not portraying Hitler as a two-dimensional monster, all fire and brimstone, but showing that he had actual human emotions, had fallen in love with a facade of his own (and Dr. Goebbels) creation, and learning that once the facade was demolished, what lived behind it was a puny, cowardly man.

Acting was terrific on all counts. Rodway, although physically far more imposing than the Fuhrer, did an excellent job as his character alternated between lucidity and madness. Joel Grey was a splendid Dr. Josef Goebbels, a sarcastic smart-ass who was perhaps the world's first spin doctor. The Eva Braun character was both sweet and pathetic as Hitler's airheaded mistress, then wife, who wanted nothing more than attention from him. But most frightening were the little blond Deutsche Kinder who were mesmerized by Onkel Adolf, in the same way that 70 million Germans were during the 12 years of the Thousand Year Reich.

In one of the more revealing moments of the film, Hitler belittles Stalin, saying the latter will be simply a blip on the radar screen of life (I'm paraphrasing). He, of course, was right. Stalin may have killed more, and the KGB certainly matched the Gestapo in cruelty, but Russia was and is a nation where human life is cheap. Germany was not and is not, except for those 12 years.

While this isn't easy viewing, and requires some knowledge of history, it should be required viewing in high school Modern European History courses, along with "Schindler's List" and "Judgment at Nuremberg." If we understand Hitler, and how he was able to mesmerize 70 million otherwise highly intelligent people, then history will be far less likely to repeat itself.

I strongly disagree with the comments made about this movie. It's not obscene. It's an honest attempt to get at the heart of one of the most fascinating and significant people in history. Sure, it takes some chances but all great works of art do. Is there any guarantee that Hitler actually had the thoughts that the writers of this movie think he had? No. But that's the case with most biographical movies. All in all, I found the movie disturbing, enlightening, and very much worth seeing.