Conspiracy (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

One of the best WWII movies ever (and there is not a single gunshot!)--9/10

[Sfpsycho415 · 9/10 · 23 February 2005]

Conspiracy debuted on HBO in 2001 and centers on the infamous Wannsee conference, where fifteen high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany government and military devised the final solution of the Jewish problem in Europe. The meeting took place in a beautiful house in rural Germany, where food and wine were served, and ideas were born.

This film is the best World War II era film i have ever seen, and one of the best movies i have seen, period. The cast is mostly unknown, but out-act any all-star cast Hollywood has ever produced. Kenneth Branaugh delivers an excellent performance as Heydrich, the head of the table at the meeting. He threatens people with a smile on his face, and barely bats an eye while speaking of killing thousands of people. Stanley Tucci is also great as the party-planner Eichmann, who set up the entire meeting, from the venue to the food to the topics. The way he counts the number of Jews that can be exterminated in a a given period of time is downright creepy. The cast also includes great turns by Colin Firth, a lawyer and professor who thinks the systematic slaughter of the Jews is bad for Germany's future, and Ian McNiece, who plays a hateful and witty official.

The dialogue is smart, funny, and chilling, and contains some jabs at all sides of the biggest war in Earth's history. This is a great movie to show in a history class, before watching a bunch of war movies, or if you just have an interest in the war. It teaches a lot more about the time than Saving Private Ryan (great movie too, but really one-sided), and features the best acting this side of the Godfather.---9/10

Excellent rendition about Wannsee conference where decided to adopt the Final Solution

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 14 December 2007]

This excellent co-production by HBO and BBC is based on real-life deeds and previously shot in i984 a German film by Heinz Schirk .It concerns about the meeting of high-ranking Nazi SS and civilian leaders at the Wannsee Conference held on January 20,1942, to plan the Final Solution of the Jewish question. This interesting, important movie depicting, in real time, the conference during which 14 members of the Nazi hierarchy decided in eighty five minutes the logistics and means of effecting the Final Solution. The film is magnificently played by complete casting. Special mention to Kenneth Branagh as cold General Reinhard Heydrich, Colin Firth as dubious Dr Stuckard, Ian McNiece as the fat Dr Klopfer, David Threlfall as the regretted Dr Kritzinger and Kevin McNally as undersecretary Martin Luther . The picture is accurately adapted by Loris Mandel based on the Wannsee Protocol. Furthermore evocative cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt. This TV movie is well directed by Frank Pierson, a prestigious screenwriter and director.

Adding more details along with the well developed on the movie, the deeds were happened of the following manner:

The meeting took place in the Berlin suburb of Grossen-Wannsee, where the decision was made to adopt the Final Solution, the contemplated extermination of Jews . On Julio 31, 1941, Herman Goering issued orders to Reinhard Heydrich,chief of the SD, the security service , to submit a comprehensive plan of the Jewish question. The meeting was originally scheduled for December 8,1941, but it was to be postpones until noon on January 20, 1942. It was to be followed by a luncheon. Fifteen Nazi bureaucrats were present. Minutes of meeting taken in Protocol that read in part: ¨As a further possibility of solving the question, the evacuation of the Jews of the east can now be substituted for emigration ,after obtaining permission from the Fuehrer to that effect.However ,these actions are merely to be considered as alternative possibilities, even though they will permit us to make all those practical experiences of great importance for the future final solution of the Jewish question. The Jews should in the course of the Final Solution betaken in a suitable manner to the east for use as labor. In big labor gangs ,separated by sex. The Jews capable of work will be brought these areas for road building, in which task undoubtedly a large number will fall through natural diminution. The remnant that is finally able to survive all this must be treated accordingly, since these people, representing a natural selection, are to be regarded as the germ cell a new Jewish development, in case they should succeed and go free. This remnant survivor is undoubtedly the part with the strongest resistance. And they go free as history has proved. In the course of the execution of the Final solution , Europe will be combed from West to east¨.

The conference was opened by Heydrich, who declared that he was the plenipotentiary for the final of the Jewish question. He then reviewed the emigration problem. Until this time a plan had been held in readiness to deport all Jews to the island of Magadascar, off the coast of Africa, but the Madagascar Plan had fallen through after the invasion of the USSR on June,22,1941. There was no longer any possibility of transporting Jews in this fashion. Instead of emigration the Fueherer had given his sanction for the evacuation of all Jews to the East as a solution possibility. The evacuees would be organized into huge labor columns. Undoubtedly, a majority would fall through natural diminution. The survivors of this natural selection process, actually the hard core of Jewry and the most dangerous because they could rebuild the Jewish life,would be treated accordingly. Although Heydrich did not elaborate the phrase ¨treated accordingly¨the plain meaning was that, in the course of time,with insufficient food and exhausting work, the survivors would be weakened and ready for the specially equipped extermination camps. The conferees then became involved in a lengthy discussion of the problem of the individuals of mixed race, and that of Jews in mixed marriages. About the half the time was taken up with this special discussion, but not drastic reclassification was made. Then the conferees adjourned for lunch. Thirty copies of the record were made and circulated in the ministries and SS offices. News of the Final Solution traveled quickly through the Nazi bureaucracy. Within a few months the first gas chamber camps were set up in Poland. The events are known as Wannsee Protocol by Martin Luther's copy of the Conference minutes was discovered in the files of the German Foreign by American investigators in 1947.It is the only record of the meeting that survives. Destination of the Conference participants is the following : Reinhard Heydrich killed in Praga. Gestapo Chied Heinrich Muller, disappeared after the war. Dr Gerhard Klopfer, arrested 1945 for war crimes, discharged for lack of evidence,died 1987. Dr Krtzinger, arrested 1945,declarated ashamed of Nazi atrocities released 1947. Otto Hoffman arrested 1945,sentenced to 25 years. Dr Alfred Meyer committed suicide in the Spring of 1945.Dr Stuckard sentenced 1949 to time served. Martin Luther sent to concentration camp,died of heart attack 1945. Dr Buhler arrested 1945,executed 1948,Poland. SS colonel Schongarth executed 1946. And Colonel Adolf Eichmann captured in Argentina by Israeli agents 1960,tried, convicted and hanged for crimes against humanity,Jerusalem,May 31,1962

A Chillingly Superb Portrayal Of The Grotesqueness Of Nazi Germany

[sddavis63 · 9/10 · 8 September 2001]

My first thought was one of hesitance: how interesting could a movie that seeks merely to recreate a meeting - even as serious and horrendous a meeting as the Wannsee Conference - be? I've been to a lot of meetings of many kinds over the years, and even the most "important" of them wouldn't make a particularly good movie. And certainly, looked at just in the context of the usual Hollywood blockbusters, "Conspiracy" isn't very exciting. But therein lies the brilliance and power of it. How can a movie about a meeting to plot the extermination of the millions of Europe's Jews possibly be dull? And yet "Conspiracy" manages to portray, in entirely believable fashion, the routineness of the whole thing. And it's the very routineness of the meeting - the simple administrative nature of the whole thing - that makes a person take notice. This was the reality of Nazi Germany - where plotting the mass murder of Jews was just another part of the day's work.

The movie is simply put together. Most of the "action" is restricted to an oval Conference table in a large meeting room. The participants in the meeting indulge in wine and food and cigars - and their little plot. One is drawn into a deeper understanding of the brutal nature of this regime. The disputes around the table have nothing to do with the morality of mass murder. Instead, we have the representative of the Reich Chancellory (Dr. Kritzinger, played by David Threlfall) whining and pouting because he feels this business should be left to the Chancellory and not to SS Chief Heydrich (played by Kenneth Branagh); we have Dr. Stuckart from the Interior Ministry (the author of the Nuremberg anti-Jewish laws, played by Colin Firth) complaining not about the plan to kill the Jews, but merely that they aren't following the letter of the laws he so carefully drafted; then we have the grotesque Dr. Klopfer, representing the Nazi Party, (and played by Ian McNeice) believing that anyone who dared question Heydrich (including Kritzinger and Stuckart) must be a "Jew-lover." Absolutely horrifying, and a terrifying glimpse of what the world might be like if Germany had won World War II.

Special mention must be made of Kenneth Branagh, who was magnificent as Heydrich. Branagh offered a portrayal of Heydrich coolly and calmly presiding over this Conference without moral qualms about the subject matter.

And there was a final lesson to anyone who falls into the trap of hate. (Some might consider this a spoiler, so please beware.)

In the middle of the movie, Kritzinger takes Heydrich aside and tells him a story, but the camera doesn't stay on the two as the story is told. After the Conference is over, Heydrich finally tells Adolf Eichmann, his chief aide (played by Stanley Tucci) what the story was. Let's cut to the chase here. I know a fair bit about German history. Anti-Jewish sentiment was a regular feature of German politics. Candidates for office tried to outdo each other in anti-Semitic slogans. But it was all politics; that was understood. Part of the game, if you want to call it that. But Hitler and the Nazis took it very - and tragically - seriously. And the moral of Kirtzinger's story raised a question: if you put all your energies into hating the Jews, then once you exterminate them, you have no purpose left. Hate serves no purpose. Marvelously illustrated by this movie.

9/10

An intriguing snapshot of history

[Danimal-7 · 18 February 2003]

This movie sets several things straight. The Wannsee conference is not the place and time where Nazi Germany decided to commit the Holocaust. The Holocaust had been going on for quite some time by January 1942, the time of the conference. Dachau had been in business for years. The SS Einsatzkommandos had already marched into Poland and Russia, gunning down Jewish men, women, and children by the hundreds of thousands. Even the extermination camps had already opened for business. Hermann Göring, at Hitler's direction, had already given the order to proceed with the Final Solution of the Jewish Question.

Thus, the purpose of the conference is not to decide on whether to murder the Jews of Europe. That decision already having been made, the conference is called so Reinhard Heydrich, as chief of the SD and second-in-command to Himmler in the SS, can ram the decision down the throat of the rest of the German government. The interesting thing is the other German leaders' reaction. Many applaud, some object to the wastage of Jews whom they consider more valuable as slaves than as corpses, some favor sterilization instead of murder, and some get physically sick. But, enthusiastically or grudgingly, they all accept.

The well-deserved demonization of Adolf Hitler has the regrettable side effect of obscuring the evil of his cronies and subordinates from anyone but historians, like a baleful sun whose light obscures the stars. Below the level of Hitler, the public's view of the German government dissolves into an amorphous mass called `Nazis,' the interchangeable automatons of the Führer. If the movie achieves nothing else, it will put Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann on the map as villains in their own right, not mere extensions of Hitler. Kenneth Branagh's performance as Heydrich, the `Blond Beast,' is unnerving; he is the personification of that ruthless will, impervious to either reason or human feeling, which Hitler admired. This performance would be a star-making turn for a young actor; for Branagh, it is routine, maybe even a bit below average for this amazing performer.

CONSPIRACY individualizes the Nazis at the conference, and shows the different facets of evil. Tellingly, Colin Firth's Wilhelm Stuckart is one of the least repulsive characters present, even though he is the architect of the barbaric Nuremberg Laws which forced Jews out of the professions and decreed death for any Jew who should marry an Aryan. He, at least, is one of the few who has the courage to stand up to Heydrich, if only for a little while, and resist the SS thugs' insistence on mass murder. His insistence that Jews must be oppressed only according to the strict letter of the law is insane, absurd, but it is a principle, which is more than most of these people have. Klopfer, Martin Bormann's lackey, is the most disgusting man present, even if he can't match Heydrich for pure evil; not even the veneer of civilization is left on him, and he shows sadistic pleasure at the thought of murdering the Jews. Other reactions range from zealously uncritical compliance with orders, to cheerful indifference, to a sort of put-upon resentment that the work of extermination is falling on them.

But the most disturbing character is Kritzinger, secretary of the Reich chancellery, the only person present who wants not to be a murderer. He is not, as some think, the only one present who realizes that what they're doing is wrong; even Heydrich knows that, as can be seen by his careful precautions to keep the crime secret. But while the others all want to get away with what they know is wrong, Kritzinger doesn't want to do it at all. Still, after being privately browbeaten and threatened by Heydrich, he states his support for the murders. Of all those present, Kritzinger is spiritually the closest to the audience, and naturally invites the question of what we would do in his place. Could you, unarmed and alone, look right into the eyes of the Blond Beast, a man whose hands are dripping with the blood of thousands of dissenters from the Reich, and tell him, `No, I defy you,' knowing that while you are risking your own torture and death, you will probably not even save a single Jew? I wish I could just write that I don't know, but the honest thing to write is that I doubt I could do that.

Kritzinger's case is a brutal warning of the malevolent power of groupthink. Even as the killers sit at the table and exchange smiles, one senses a spiteful, hungry vigilance for the first sign of sympathy for the people they are planning to slaughter, waiting to pounce on the dissenter and rip him apart with scorn and threats.

When it comes to flaw-picking time, I can only say that the ending should have shown some of the consequences of the meeting. There should have been at least some reference to the millions of people who were killed by these men. Instead, we are treated only to the fate of the men themselves, although that is disturbing in itself when we see how many of them escaped justice at Nuremberg.

People look at the pictures from Dachau and Buchenwald, the piles of starved corpses and the lamps made of human skin, and they say, `How could they?' Watch the movie. This is how they did it: over drinks around a table.

Rating: ***½ out of ****.

Recommendation: Everyone mature enough to understand should see this movie.

An astonishing record of a pivotal, but little known moment in human history

[gus120970 · 10/10 · 25 January 2002]

Our perception of the Holocaust is shaped by the harrowing images of the gas chambers and crematoria of Auswitz; watch Conspiracy and be jarred out of the complacency that comes from familiarity and be a fly-on-the-wall at the genesis of genocide.

The film documents a meeting held during WW2, when SS second-in-command, Reinhard Heydrich, assembles a group of Nazi bureaucrats and functionaries to 'discuss the final solution of the Jewish question'. In the sublime surroundings of a German country house, the assembled mingle for drinks, enjoy a first class buffet lunch and debate whether execution or sterilisation is the most efficient option of eliminating an entire race of people.

Subject matter aside, Conspiracy is all the more devastating, and precious, from its excellent script and incredible ensemble performances. There is no attempt or need to manipulate the viewer - the enormity of the truth is compelling, and appalling enough. The are no cartoon Nazis here, the depiction of Heydrich is fascinating and complex: the man is urbane, witty, impeccably mannered and utterly devoid of morality.

Credit must be given to Kenneth Branagh who propels the entire piece with one of the best portrayals on screen in memory. He is utterly convincing in the role of a man who epitomises the classic definition of evil: not just the doing of wrong, but the perversion of the human spirit so that it no longer has any perception of the good.

Where Heydrich is conviction, as the narrative develops, almost exclusively as table-talk, others are less sure. The range of attendees symbolises the various strains of Nazi culture, which developed over the course of the third reich. For the idealistic of these - the philosopher/technocrat Kritzinger; the legalistic Wilhelm Stuckart and the young soldier Major Lange, there is the dawning realisation of the human catastrophe in which they are complicit.

Technical objections are raised - Stuckhart expounds a ludicrous web of of objections on how the plan breaks the vile race laws he himself architected, and will be an 'administrative nightmare', but they soon realise this is a done deal - most of the mechanisms are already in place. The politically sharp Heydrich only needs to extract expressions of support in order to bind all the orders of Nazi society into equal guilt. During breaks in the proceedings he discreetly buttonholes the wobblers and silences their doubts: by naked threats, or in the case of Lange by invoking the fantasy that what they do is all part of a plan for a better tomorrow. Succumbing to Heydrich's magnetism and realising the dream is pretty much all that is left, Lange allows himself to be persuaded.

The eloquent script captures the delusional, the grotesque and the desparate qualities of the German position at that moment in the war: the calculation that defeat is inevitable, but unthinkable - despite the repeated whimsy of Heydrich that he will return here for a quiet country life once the war is over. He knows that he, and all others present, is headed only into the dark. And it's a one-way journey.

Brilliant - what television should be like

[shezan · 10/10 · 24 September 2001]

This is exactly what television should be like: intelligent, thought-provoking, brilliantly written and acted. The Wannsee Conference, held on January, 20, 1942, was convened by Reinhard Heydrich (played by Kenneth Branagh), Himmler's second in command of the SS, near Berlin: it gathered 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe. Heydrich and his deputy Eichmann (Stanley Tucci) kept minutes, so that this teleplay is based largely on historical fact. The genius of the actors, the director and writer Loring Mandel is to make us understand how ordinary top bureaucrats could be pushed into accepting the ultimate horror - and to make this into an entertaining, and sometimes even very funny movie. The writing is so crisp you want to remember every line - can't *wait* for the DVD.

Amazing and horrible events, told in dry but expert dramatization

[secondtake · 7/10 · 13 February 2016]

Conspiracy (2001)

No question here—finely made, piercing and disturbing movie made with high realism about a famous Nazi meeting where it become official policy to exterminate the Jews of Europe.

That's enough to make watching it necessary—at least the first half hour, where the cold-blooded tone and the top-down enforcement of brutality (over the wimpy objects of a few at the meeting) are made clear and chilling.

Kenneth Brannagh is almost too brilliant at his role, playing the smart, unyielding, pushy yet conniving officer at the head of his meeting. He's so natural and so not overacting it's terrific. Equally strong in his lesser role as the notorious Eichmann is Stanley Tucci (whose atrocities would only grow as the war wore on—the officer in charge of the meeting was soon assassinated by a pair of British experts).

You'll note Colin Firth in a slightly more sympathetic role as Dr. Stuckart— Stuckart hates the Jews but only enough to want to sterilize all 11 million of the, not kill them. And the actor Brendan Coyle known as Mr. Bates in "Downton Abbey" makes a supporting appearance here, a decade earlier.

Tightly filmed, scripted according to one surviving set of notes from the proceedings, and played with efficiency, this is a great fast entry into the minds of the Third Reich. Thoroughly impressive.

That doesn't mean it's a totally "great" film in part because if its intentions. It recreates the meeting but the meeting, as drama, is more historically interesting than actual theater—or Hollywood. It has a lot of convincing talk, and a lot of the same evil themes and attitudes throughout. After awhile it isn't so much about dramatic development but about seeing how the history might have actually looked.

Possibly the best film ever made for television.

[tipplerunkus · 10/10 · 18 March 2003]

"Conspiracy" is, from beginning to end, a superb, flawless work or artistic and historical brilliance. Had it been made for theatrical release, it would have been a legitimate contender as best film of 2001.

Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth all give what could well be career best performances (especially impressive from Branagh, who has given us some of the cinema's all time greatest interpretations of Shakespeare to make up for drek like "Wild Wild West"), as does the rest of the cast.

"Conspiracy" is a must see for anyone who cares about World War II, the holocaust, or great acting. It deserves to be in the IMDB's top 250.

Agree or not...this is what will be done.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 7 May 2006]

Hitler's dream of Aryan supremacy becomes a living nightmare. This thought provoking HBO Original recreates the January 20, 1942 conference at Wannsee. Fifteen high-ranking leaders in the Nazi machine gather to discuss what is called the Final Solution. Over six million lives hang in the balance as Hitler's minions need to decide what to do with their storage problem...storage of Jews. Heading this conference is Chief of Security Reinhard Heydrich(Kenneth Branagh)and SS Major Adolf Eichmann(Stanley Tucci). A solution must be met on how and by what method to reshape the world by eliminating Jews, homosexuals, intellectuals and political opposers. This movie is based on the actual only surviving record of that meeting.

Kudos to director Frank Pierson. A very 'wordy' movie that manages to hold your attention for about 96 minutes and gives you something to think about for a very long time after. Branagh and Tucci are excellent. Others of note in the cast: Colin Firth, Peter Sullivan, Ewan Stewart, Jonathan Coy, Barnaby Kay and Ben Daniels.

Brilliant acting in brilliant play.

[Pieter050 · 10/10 · 11 November 2006]

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

The evil that men do

[grantss · 7/10 · 28 March 2021]

In January 1942 a conference was held in Wannsee, a suburb of Berlin. The conference was called by SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich and in attendance were senior SS officers, senior German government officials and Heydrich's right-hand man, Lt. Colonel Adolf Eichmann. The purpose of the conference: setting forth the principles and processes that would ultimately result in the Holocaust.

A powerful dramatization of a two-hour event that would ultimately result in one of the darkest chapters in human history. What makes this so powerful is that writer Loring Mandel and director Frank Pierson present this as it probably did occur: as another meeting between Nazi top brass.

It would have been easy have them meet in a dark room and present all present as cartoonish villains, making for a very manipulative but unoriginal and unrealistic setting. No, it's presented more as a business meeting with the attendees just seeming like people attending a conference. Some of the discussion, political machinations and manipulation is what you'd expect in such a meeting.

Add in some great performances, especially Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich (ably supported by Stanley Tucci as Eichmann and Colin Firth as Dr. Stuckart), and you have a solid, edifying, highly convincing historic drama.

All this lulls you into a feeling of engagement with the attendees. It's absurd to think one could actually support the plans they have but the writing and direction are so effective and the performances so convincing that you can easily get lulled into engaging with the main protagonists.

That, I guess, is the main theme of the film: evil has a face and acts of unspeakable brutality are created in unassuming, business-like conferences. Even without that theme the historic content alone is worth watching this for.

A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Conspiracy (2001)

[DICK STEEL · 8/10 · 22 January 2006]

It was just as Hitler tasted defeat at the Russian front, that a little known meeting was arranged to mark one of the worst events in humankind. That meeting, known as the Wannsee Conference, was to put into motion the evacuation of the Jews from Germany, then the rest of their controlled territories.

15 officials from various departments were in attendance, chaired by SS Chief of Security Reinhard Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh) and SS Major Adolf Eichmann (Stanley Tucci), and has in its members several lawmakers and doctors. They sit and debate (well, not much of a debate actually) the notion of evacuating (read: Eliminate) the Jews, and you'll probably witness how casual it all sounded to some of the members.

It was interesting to see how Heydrich cajoled everyone into agreeing to his plans, by hook or by crook. And it's very chilling to see how semantics were danced about, and how methods were discussed as if it was a process so trivial - the building of concentration camps, the techniques of gassing and how to perform it, the statistics of the kill that would have them reach their target numbers intended.

Based on a surviving record of that meeting, despite the fact that the minutes are to be read, memorized and destroyed, this HBOfilm is a good watch to peek into the decision making process, into that stain in human history, and the unthinkable evil that humans are capable of.

If you're a fan of Downfall, then perhaps this depiction of history will interest you.

Brilliant and comedic

[leeholland · 7/10 · 12 November 2015]

The film documents a meeting held during WW2, when SS second-in-command, Reinhard Heydrich, assembles a group of Nazis to discuss the final solution of the Jewish question. The Wannsee conference is held in a German country house in snowy Berlin, the Nazis sit around a table for most of the film, occasionally getting for drinks, while enjoying buffet lunch. The debate is whether to execute the Jews or sterilise the Jews, discussing what method is the most efficient/effective option of eliminating the entire Jewish race.

There were mant attendees including : Reinhard Heydrich, Otto Hofmann, Heinrich Müller, Karl Eberhard Schöngarth, Gerhard Klopfer, Adolf Eichmann, Dr. Rudolf Lange, Dr. Georg Leibbrandt, Dr. Alfred Meyer, Dr. Josef Bühler, Dr. Roland Freisler, Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, Erich Neumann, Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger and Martin Luther. The range of attendees symbolises the various natures of the Nazi culture.

During in the deep discussions that are going on round the table, Heydrich proposes methods of how to exterminate the whole race, he proposes sterilisation or execution. Heyrdrich reveals that some of the execution methods are already in place; like the gas vans, this surprises some of the attendees that are round theb table who start to doubt the regime, however the people who are not totally sure on what should happen to the Jews are threatened lightly by Heydrich to make up their minds. Some parts of the film are very comical using language to provoke certain feeling and to interact with the reader.

However there is very limited evidence to support what happened at the Wannsee conference therefore some of this information in the film could be unreliable, but it does create a very good sense of personalities and views towards the Jews at the time conveying that it was a one way journey for the Jewish race and that only one thing was going to happen to them.

Overall this film, conspiracy, in my opinion is very good in portraying people's views in the Nazi party and that there were a diversity of opinions towards what was going to happen. However it is quite a short film therefore it will not give the viewer a full sense of what the conference was like.

Bad Nazis, bad!

[bobrandt · 3/10 · 5 June 2003]

This is yet another pseudo-intellectual "let's make the Nazis look real bad" movie. The Nazis were pretty bad, no doubt - most of already know that. However, that does not necessarily make every movie on the theme good. A Discovery Channel presentation of "The Wannsee Conference" would have been much more interesting.

"Conspiracy" falls on its ass between two categories: documentary and drama. It doesn't cut it as a documentary, the movie is too "staged" and the presentation too "common". It doesn't cut it as a drama, the characters are too shallow and conflicts too easily "solved".

Another thing is the tagline: "One Of The Greatest Crimes Against Humanity Was Perpetrated In Just Over An Hour." As the movie shows the Wannsee Conference the meeting had nothing to do with reaching a consensus on the final solution. The decision on the solution had already been taken by the SS. The sole purpose of the meeting was to make all significant stakeholders commit themselves to an already established plan. There were no decisions or plans made at the Wannsee Conference. There was only threats and coercion (some needed less than others).

Finally: One thing the movie does show (although in no exceptional manner) is, man has a tendency to turn to culture and aesthetics in an attempt to hide for himself the fact that he is committing appalling atrocities. This is seen in most powermongering "leaders" and politicians.

Coldly brilliant

[kriton-2 · 28 July 2004]

The other reviewer her could not be more wrong, and shows a lack of historical knowledge. Heydrich WAS rushing to get through the meeting -- that was why it only lasted 90 minutes! The meeting was not held to plot the Holocost, but rather was a staged production organized by the SS (who already had started planning the final solution and embarked on mass murder at smaller scales 7 months earlier)to obtain administrative and cooperative buy-in from the other facets of the German government, and their recognition of the SS's total authority over carrying it out. And Heydrich was alternatively charming and then abrupt and short: he was head of the Gestapo, after all. Although Branagh is much smaller and better looking than Heydrich was, he does what an actor does -- capture the essence of a presence, the gist of the personality. Likewise, Tucci embodies the "banality of evil" -- a schedule obsessed numbers & detail man, an accountant concerned only with pleasing his superiors and making mass murder efficient, while dissociating himself from the meaning and consequences of his actions.

Although not as well-acted, the German language Wansee Conference is actually a bit better in imparting the agenda-driven business meeting quality of the event. Anyone who has ever been to a business planning meeting (in any business, but especially in government or regulated utility during budget planning time) cannot help but feel sick at the ordinary familiarity of it all. Replace killing people with making and marketing widgets, and you got it.

Painful to Watch

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 17 September 2010]

No one should think that this meeting was the beginning of the Holocaust. This was a meeting to draw everyone into agreement, so they could feel that destroying six million people was an honorable thing to do. Obviously, many had already been shot and asphyxiated and they just needed to do it in a cleaner, more efficient way. If the discovered transcript is indeed accurate, can one imagine being there and going along to the maniacal general's wishes. Branagh is as cold and calculating as anyone I've seen. At times he comes off as a "nice" guy. Stanley Tucci's Eichman, is the host and is even more frightening. Of course, he was hanged after being tried for war crimes, a major news story of that year. The excellent thing about this film is that like "Twelve Angry Men," we get to know the personalities of each of the participants and we get to know their motivations. Some are utterly disgusting, others cowardly. Their talk about what the Jews "are" is so sad, and knowing much of it was carried out is equally disturbing. That whole thing with the color of the bodies is so sick. If ants could talk and communicate, I would never willingly step on another one. How these horrible people dehumanized an entire culture, one that had given so much to the world, and, yes, to Germany, is beyond my comprehension. This is a really powerful film. See it.

Powerful, Absorbing & Horrifying

[ladewi · 10/10 · 6 October 2007]

This movie is somewhat of a crapshoot.It's hard to say you like a film like this.But I will say it.I liked this film.It achieves what it set out to do.It on the surface appears to be a basic and boring run of the mill conference.And the camera work makes the viewer feel like a participant.The tone in the room is sedate and clinical.But when you actually listen and hear the men discuss the makings of what will become the "Final Solution",you will start to feel uncomfortable, disturbed and down right repugnant .The complete business like manner that these men portray in deciding the lives of millions of people is disturbing and horrifying. You see one person who is actually disturbed by what is being proposed,and you want him to stand up and scream , yet you feel his hesitation and fear of those he is amongst.You see another obviously having a crisis of his own conscious ..yet he goes along to appease his superiors and his peers.The movie is the EXACT length of the actual Wannsee Conference,and from what I have read, the only surviving transcript is what was used of the conference, which adds to the authenticity of the storytelling. I watched this entire film, completely astounded with my jaw on the floor.

There's no action, there's no guns, or explosions, no chase scenes. Just people with an "idea" and a discussion.The cold detachment of the players is absolutely disturbing.This film is a high achievement in giving you a simpleness to the beginning of something so astoundingly horrible.

Very chilling, well-acted, a lot of talking

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 31 January 2005]

'Conspiracy' shows one of the most horrific meetings in human history, the Wannsee Conference. It shows us how the Nazis came to the decision to wipe out all Jews with gas as their instrument. Before watching this film I knew the outcome but everything that leads to that is so chilling and creepy it stays a fact almost impossible to believe. 'Conspiracy' is an impressive film but in my opinion it has the same kind of problems as 2004's 'Der Untergang'. It seems very accurate in what it shows and is very well acted, but it is mostly talking about things we do already know, whether it is chilling and creepy or not. Another problem, one that also counts for 'Schindler's List' but not for 'Der Untergang', is that all characters speak English. For some reason the language seems important for films like this, probably because most people do know what language the Nazis spoke. A funny thing, although I find it hard to use this word talking about a film like this, is that the word "heil" is always said in German. We never hear "hail", probably since the combination with "Hitler" is too well-known.

So there is a lot of English dialog in 'Conspiracy'. The subject makes sure you will not lose attention; Kenneth Branagh and especially Stanley Tucci who play Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann take the film to a higher level. The subject, like I said before, is chilling and creepy, these two characters, so well-acted, fit the subject perfectly. Colin Firth as Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart who seems to have some doubts about the decisions that are made does the best he can but for me his face is to friendly. I guess 'Bridget Jones's Diary' is more his cup of tea. Although I have pointed out some problems I still recommend 'Conspiracy'. It shows a side of the Holocaust I had not seen before and it does this pretty effective.

"Conspiracy" as a "done deal"

[monvalleygeorge · 10/10 · 16 August 2006]

I think Branagh captured Heydrich. Heydrich was charming as well as ruthless. The "Final Solution" had been decided upon before the conference. The purpose of the conference was to "entangle" high ranking officials of all the departments involved, get their statement of co-operation, and get their advice as to means of effecting. It was the same as the "conference in the Imperial Presence" at which the attack on Pearl Harbor was "decided"...it had already been decided. Note that none of the participants was of the highest rank in his department; he was always a subordinate, eg, Stuckart instead of Frick, the Interior Minister. Deniers of the "catastrophe"-for that is what "Shoah" means, not "holocaust"-say there is no paper trail. Of course there isn't! It was like the Mafia! Always buffers.Tucci looked nothing like Eichman but, I think, captured the essence of "the banality of evil". I respectfully disagree with the comment that Tucci's Eichman dominates the action. From before his entrance Heydrich is present. Branagh's performance reminds me of Robert Shaw's Henry VIII in "A Man for all Seasons"-the full spectrum.

A Chilling Look at the Banality of Evil

[jacksflicks · 6/10 · 8 June 2001]

In a previous review, I based my opinions on two faulty premises: that (1) this was a Branagh vehicle and that (2) this was some kind of "Hollywoodization" of a property which should have been produced more along the lines of cinema verité à la "Wannseekonferenz" (1987). I have been straightened out on both these points, to wit: (1) Branagh's connection to the production is no more than as a member of the cast and (2) "Conspiracy" is just as authentic in it's reconstruction of the Wannsee Conference as was "Wannseekonferenz".

Thankfully, my previous review has been buried under favorable reviews and by all rights will be disregarded.

Chilling, absorbing, magnificent.

[tohu · 10/10 · 26 September 2006]

I don't give 10s lightly! But having just watched this through twice, I don't feel I have any option. It is a chilling, absorbing, magnificent film.

Writing, acting and direction are all superb here, beautifully complementing each other to produce a small masterpiece that holds your attention not just through the film itself, but also well after the credits have rolled.

Conspiracy brings to mind another of my favourite films: Sidney Lumet's Twelve Angry Men. Here too we have a collection of protagonists brought together in one room, each with his own very distinct motivations, fears, hopes and ambitions, and we are allowed to watch their personalities play out against each other as a conclusion is reached. At the beginning you think you can't possibly gain an insight into each one of these 15 individual characters round the table. But by the end, you have done. And that's amazing film-making.

It has taken me a long time to discover Stanley Tucci. But what a fine actor he is. I can only hope he gets the part one day soon that will allow him to shine in a lead role - but until then his sidekick performances are sublime. And his playing of Eichmann here is certainly no exception. I have never really liked Kenneth Branagh. Always thought he was over-rated. But here, I finally see what the fuss is about. His Heydrich is a devastating performance, and I take it all back! And the rest of them - Ian McNeice, David Threlfall, Colin Firth and Kevin McNally in particular - also seem to capture their roles perfectly. I think it was just that kind of set where everyone was just right on top of their game, so when the cameras rolled they all fed off each other's talent to create something truly special.

The events portrayed in the film of course actually happened, and that lends the whole thing a devastating context. But it is treated so sensitively, you never once feel that the subject is inappropriate for cinema. This indeed is a film that people should see, as it is as vivid and terrifying a way as any to teach new generations what humanity is capable of.

The tautness of the script and the tension of the directing keep you mesmerised. When I reached the end of it, I immediately reached for the remote to watch it again - and I never do that, no matter how good a film is. To be honest I would probably have watched it a third time if I could have done. It had that much effect on me. In itself, at 96 minutes, it is nowhere near long enough! As a drama, Conspiracy is top notch. As a showcase of performance acting and direction it won't be easily matched. As a cinematic experience to make you think long and hard about the world we live in, you won't find many better. On all of these levels, I can't recommend it too highly. See it. The one piece of music chosen to augment the movie, perfectly selected and placed at the end of the film, will haunt you.

How did the actors feel?

[shu-fen · 7/10 · 15 November 2003]

Finally get myself a copy of the VCD of this HBO production. Simple setting, just a big house, simple costume, no change at all for every one. What I enjoy the most are the script and the acting.

KB has done a good job but he hasn't got a severe or ferocious face, unlike the real person. Tucci is pretty okay. I guess Colin Firth, as a supporting here, has not performed to his fullest.

The script struck me the most. I just wonder if any of the actors has thrown up during filming. When KB banned every single proposal of slim humane approach, how did the other felt? I vomited myself when they are discuss the nuances amongst the words like clean, exterminate, cleanse, which way to sterilize, to separate, to kill, to gas.... How could they hold such a casual attitude?

All the actors are English, how did they feel? Or no feeling like those conference attendees in the real event 60 years ago, indifference and no feeling. After all, it's just a film. I just wish that had never happened before.

1/4 box of Kleenex were used to clean my lips after vomiting. I'm just thinking if the Japanese had similar meetings before they invaded China at that same time. No matter yes or no, I don't want to know, I just don't want to vomit again.

A remarkable and fascinating film with excellent performances from a largely unknown cast

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 13 June 2001]

This is a very well-done and memorable film that chills you to the bone as you listen a group of men sometimes happily discuss genocide! There are excellent performances from a cast with few well-known, familiar names, but Stanley Tucci as Eichmann and Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich particularly shine. Given the history of the two men they portray (neither one terribly pleasant but, fittingly, neither were their ends), the performances are all the more disturbing by their understated nature. An excellent film. Most highly recommended.

A Most Vile Meeting

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 5 February 2022]

"Conspiracy" is an hour-and-a-half movie of Nazi Germans meeting to determine who hated Jews more. They were ready to come to blows to show how much they hated Jews more than the next man. This was the underlying sentiment of the movie, but ostensibly this meeting of theirs was under the pretext of how to properly "evacuate" (dispose of) Jews. They smugly, and with every air of sophistication, argued over killing, enslaving, and sterilizing as though they were about to embark upon performing the most uplifting and righteous act in human history. Suffice it to say that there was probably not a more hate-filled contemptible meeting on the planet at that time.

amazing film

[aubreyholmes · 1/10 · 17 November 2015]

In January 1942, General Heydrich chaired a meeting of Hitler's top men from various Nazi bodies including the Party, the SS etc. The reason was to discuss the inevitably of the Jews and try to bring them to a practical solution that can easily be dealt with. The 'inevitable' being a problem that has come out of control regarding the Jews. They all met on the 20th Janurary 1942 for the Wanasee Conference where the top 15 ranking Nazi's across all departments would discuss the fate of the Jews. All the different attendees all had different ways which they wanted the Jews to be dealt with. The main argument was how the Jews would be treated via ghettos and being transported. This is a chilling dramatisation of the meeting that sealed the fate of millions of Jews. It is merely a board meeting with the focus being on the characters of those involved. The film plays as a normal board meeting although in fact Heydrich is almost comic. One of the most shocking concepts is that no-one in the room believes that the Jews are normal people, although some of them are shocked when Heydrich plans to put them on production lines to kill them. However all of their alternatives ways of getting rid of the Jews are not humane. Tucci and Branagh are both excellent and Colin Firth is the best as Dr Stuckart from the Interior Ministry. All the actors play the characters extremely well. All these Nazi's were normal people and it is clear that not one of them has experienced any form of pain. The facts are allowed to speak for themselves and it's all the more chilling for it. Overall this is an excellent film that benefits from great acting, a great script and great direction. Overall I think that Conspiracy is not entirely historically accurate but mostly is and it is very informative and a good watch.