Film Summary DCXXIV (Die Wannseekonferenz)


I'd love to know the process that went through the mind of the people who decided to turn this into a film.
You have documentation of one of the most famous and bizarre conferences that ever took place within the higher echelons of the Germany. And it involved everybody.
High-ranking SS officers, bureaucrats from the Nazi party itself and a couple of military men complaining about logistics and transportation problems.

Just the idea that somebody thought this would make a good dramatic short film is fascinating to me.
This is a really finally put together film.
It's essentially a dramatic stage-play set within two or three rooms within this one Palace (The villa Am Großen Wannsee).
It's just a conversation between a group of men deciding the fate of arguably anywhere from 10 to 30 million Jewish people along with the entire continent of Europe.
It's also a giant by for power as you realise this one really small group of Germans within the room is about to take control of everything.
They're going to use this massacre as an excuse to stick their hands into every other aspect of the country.
From infrastructure to manufacturing all the way down to troop placements.

Really there's no reason for me to get into the details. It's an a conference, it happened. You can read about it in just about any historical book covering the event or just watch the film yourself. Otherwise I'm just working as a amanuensis.

The acting is top-notch. I could really almost believe that these German actors were betraying their real-world counterparts.
In a slightly dramatic more entertaining manner of course. Most of these guys in reality were incredibly boring creeps.
But you have to add thematic flair to make a film work so it works out best here. Especially Dietrich Mattausch as SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.

And I know that sounds kind of silly, after all the point of an actor is too well; Act.
To get into the mind and body of the person they're trying to portray. But when it comes to high-ranking Nazi officers most people try to play them up with an overly dramatic and exaggerated attitude.
Turning them into the goose stomping high energy assholes that we see portrayed in so many films. When in reality most these guys are just human beings with really bad ideologies and way too much power.

Costume design is pretty darn good too. Although at point I think the film industry regardless of where you are has really nailed down Nazi clothing. Even Star Trek it would use that crap from time to time.
The set designs really solid, I'm not sure if they're actually filming in the building where they held the real conference.
If so then they did a decent job at lighting and got to utilise this spinning camera techniques that would go around the entire conference table a few times.
And if they did make their own set than dang, that's a pretty big achievement. Once again I think they were actually at the building.

If you're a fan of dramatic politics via theatre than I think a film like this would be right up your alley. Though with the caveat that it's covering some really disturbing subject matter. It might turn a lot of people off.
On the other hand it could also be used as a learning experience. If you know nothing about this conference it's not a bad introduction.

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