Duguay, Christian, dir. Hitler: The Rise of Evil

Starring some well-known actors, this mini-series portrays a number of formative events in Hitler’s life from his early youth up to his first days as sole dictator of Germany, with much of the series showing Robert Carlyle as Adolf Hitler speaking passionately in front of ever-increasing audiences, first in beer halls, later at elite dinner parties, blaming the Jews for Germany’s (and his own) disastrous economic situation, and gaining ever more followers. The second part of the series shows Hitler in Landsberg Prison writing Mein Kampf, and the Nazi Party’s rise to power after his release. The series pays special attention to the influence of Ernst Hanfstaengl, one of Hitler’s earliest and most intimate supporters, and his wife Helene on Hitler. The Hanfstaengls helped Hitler polish his image and appeal to higher society, and helped him publish Mein Kampf. Helene even (allegedly) dissuaded Hitler from committing suicide when he was about to be arrested for treason – a scene included in the series. It also follows Fritz Gerlich, a journalist who openly opposed and discredited Hitler and his Nazi Party, and portrays Hitler’s intimate and possessive relationship with his half-sister’s teenage daughter Geli Raubal, who commits suicide later in the series. The series opens and closes with the ominous phrase: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

While critiqued for various historical inaccuracies (including the lack of physical resemblance between some actors and the persons they are supposed to portray), the series received two Emmy Awards (Art Direction and Sound Editing), but it has as of yet received little to no scholarly attention. The series features prominent figures such as Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring in minor roles, while Heinrich Himmler, Albert Speer, Dietrich Eckart, and various other vital contributors to Hitler’s rise to prominence are completely left out, and gives credence to unsubstantiated rumours for the sake of the plot (e.g. Geli’s suicide and Helene Hanfstaengl’s influence on Hitler). The series’ portrayal of Hitler allows the viewer to keep their distance (e.g. by only giving snatches of Hitler’s early youth, and never fully developing his character), and yet Carlyle also manages to give him a human face, although at times it touches on the more monstrous images of perpetrators, for example when he is frustrated or angry and is all but foaming at the mouth. There is no explanation to be found for the choice to give Hanfstaengl such a prominent role at the expense of Goebbels, Göring, Himmler, and the others, but one might suspect it is because Hanfstaengl was removed from Hitler’s staff as early as 1933 and later aided the U.S. war effort, allowing the producers to portray him as a decent, likeable family man surrounded by anti-Semites and Nazis, and thus balance out the character distribution: evil Nazi Hitler, good Nazi Hanfstaengl, and Fritz Gerlich the resistance hero.

The film combines educative, historical elements, for example by showing the place and year of the events depicted before each new scene (although these are also not always accurate – e.g. Geli Raubal died in 1931, but in the series she dies in 1930) and careful attention to costumes and other details with a strong plot, making it suitable classroom material despite its inaccuracies.

Author of this entry: Eline Reinhoud

Duguay, Christian, dir. Hitler: The Rise of Evil. Canada: Alliance Atlantis, 2003.