Put a dozen or so of the finest actors round a dining table and let them perform the words so beautiful written by Loring Mandel, and you have a brilliant, spectacular film.
Director Frank Pierson -with eye to detail and respect for the script- inspired the cast into an ensemble as that is extra needed to make the limited set a vibrant and believable place.
Kenneth Branagh made his character General Heydrich absolutely charming and believable. Yet Branagh could turn him into a cold, heartless man when opposed to or contradicted. A dangerous man indeed. But charming... Colin Firth is at his best as Dr. Stuckart, who hates Jews SO much -and still wants to have everything laid out in Law. Because when it's in the Law -it's true, we all know that. Stanley Tucci is great as Eichmann -who organizes the whole "work shop". Acting on a square inch (loosly translated from Dutch) and he's very good at it!
What stunned me was the way the characters talked about killing millions of their own country men, in a way they talked about killing flies. The horrible thing is I got used to it in ten minutes or so. I had to bring myself back and think: THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! Men, women, children. As if they were cattle.
Here in Holland we were occupied during WWII by the Nazi's. That war is a big part of our history. Over 101,000 of our Jewish families, friends and neighbours were deported and murdered. And it all started at Wannsee. In one hour or so. Depressing.
The veneer of civilization is very thin indeed. Yet Nazi's loved Schubert & Beethoven. Poor composers, they would have turned in their graves!
And what a brilliant film this is. Bravo.
Pieter
Director Frank Pierson -with eye to detail and respect for the script- inspired the cast into an ensemble as that is extra needed to make the limited set a vibrant and believable place.
Kenneth Branagh made his character General Heydrich absolutely charming and believable. Yet Branagh could turn him into a cold, heartless man when opposed to or contradicted. A dangerous man indeed. But charming... Colin Firth is at his best as Dr. Stuckart, who hates Jews SO much -and still wants to have everything laid out in Law. Because when it's in the Law -it's true, we all know that. Stanley Tucci is great as Eichmann -who organizes the whole "work shop". Acting on a square inch (loosly translated from Dutch) and he's very good at it!
What stunned me was the way the characters talked about killing millions of their own country men, in a way they talked about killing flies. The horrible thing is I got used to it in ten minutes or so. I had to bring myself back and think: THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! Men, women, children. As if they were cattle.
Here in Holland we were occupied during WWII by the Nazi's. That war is a big part of our history. Over 101,000 of our Jewish families, friends and neighbours were deported and murdered. And it all started at Wannsee. In one hour or so. Depressing.
The veneer of civilization is very thin indeed. Yet Nazi's loved Schubert & Beethoven. Poor composers, they would have turned in their graves!
And what a brilliant film this is. Bravo.
Pieter