Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Directors:

André Heller
Othmar Schmiderer

Writers:

André Heller (writer)
Othmar Schmiderer (writer)

Release Date:

22 March 2002 (Austria)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Documentary featuring interview footage with Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries during WWII.

Plot Keywords:

Hitler | Secretary | Employer Employee Relationship | Job Interview | Anti Semitism

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Traudl Junge

...

Herself

Also Known As:

Blind Spot. Hitler's Secretary (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material.

Runtime:

90 min | Canada:95 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Austria

Language:

German

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | Norway:A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:14

Company:

Dor Film Produktionsgesellschaft

Quotes:

Traudl Junge: And I think it's also the case that if you value and respect someone you don't really want to destroy the image of that person... you don't want to know, in fact if disaster lies beyond the facade.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Der Untergang (2004)

Reality Cinema

Documentary consisting of interviews with an 80 year-old woman, Traudl Junge, nee Hump, who in her early twenties served as Hitler's personal secretary in his Berlin bunker, ~1942-44. Oral history, up-close and personal, from the casual perspective of an ordinary person, ordinary life--the "banality of evil." First, she deals with personal specifics: who she was, why and how she took the job, and, above all, personal guilt. The lack of the latter explains the film's title, "blind spot." Second, she deals with day-to-day life with The Terrible One, crafting a personal portrait of the man, of his detachment and asexuality, his lack of emotion and concern for others, his relation with women in general, Eva Braun in particular. The failed assissination attempt on Hitler's life and its profound effect on him is described. Third, the last quarter to third of the film focuses on the last 10-14 days of the Third Reich, an eerie, surreal time when Hitler married Braun and cyanide pills were passed out. In order to make sure that he hadn't been betrayed and the pills were genuine, Hitler tested one on the dog, Blondie, he had doted on. The narrator recalls the pungent odor of bitter almonds in the room with the dead animal. Fascinating, chilling, ultimately heart-breaking. Ps. The woman in question never revealed her story until this film; she lived anonymously all her life. She died of cancer the day it premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002.