Watch Hitler: A Career

Hitler: A Career is a 1977 German documentary film that provides an in-depth exploration of Adolf Hitler's rise to power through the use of archival footage and interviews with those who knew him. The film is directed by Joachim Fest and Christian Herrendoerfer, and narrated by Gert Westphal. The documentary opens up with a brief introduction on the background of Adolf Hitler and charts his early life from his birth to his frustrated dream of becoming a successful artist in Vienna. From there, the film examines his early political career, mainly his involvement in the German Workers' Party, which later transformed into the Nazi Party. The documentarians give the viewers an in-depth analysis of the Nazi ideology and propaganda that gripped the German people's imagination and made them supporters of Hitler.

The film extensively explores Hitler's speeches, interviews, and propaganda materials to show how he used fear, intimidation, and outright lies to manipulate people into seeing him as a savior. The documentary exposes how Hitler used grandiose phrases such as "master race" and "Final Solution" to prey on the fears and prejudices of the Germans. It also contains interviews with some of the people that aided Hitler's rise to power, including Artur Axmann, a senior member of the Hitler Youth.

One of the crucial elements in the documentary is the use of original footage, which provides the audience with a first-hand view of what it was like to live in Germany at the time. The archive clips give the viewers insight into the propaganda techniques used by Nazi Germany, including their iconic marches and rallies with thousands of people upholding Nazi salutes while chanting 'Heil Hitler!'. In addition to the footage, the film also relies on interviews with individuals who were involved in Hitler's rise to power, offering an essential perspective on the man's personality and modus operandi.

The approach taken by the filmmakers to present Hitler does not put him in a favorable light, contrasting heavily with the twisted propaganda that often portrays him as almost saintly. The movie delves deeply into the atrocities committed during the Holocaust, and it does not shy away from showing the horrors of concentration camps and killed Jews, homosexuals, communists, and others targeted by the Nazi regime, although with a discreet style.

The film makes it clear that Hitler was not just some madman with an inexplicable will to power, but a highly competent politician that exploited a range of circumstances to further his ambitions. Therefore the documentary analyzes the point where Hitler's control over Germany shifted from his National Socialist Party to his authoritarian regime, building on various propaganda pieces and speeches.

Hitler's personal life is also explored in the documentary, providing insights into his psychological makeup and the way he worked. The documentary explicitly shows how Hitler used to sit for hours and read Mein Kampf, his own book, which laid out his twisted worldview.

All in all, Hitler: A Career is an engaging and thought-provoking documentary that does a splendid job of exposing the tactics used by Hitler to achieve power and mastermind the Holocaust. It does an excellent job of presenting a thorough and factual account of Hitler’s life, featuring newscasts and archive footage to give a more authentic feel to the events. The film is also very informative, shedding light on the intellectual movement behind Nazism, the tactics of the Nazi regime, and the mechanics of Hitler's personality cult.

In conclusion, Hitler: A Career is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive and well-made documentaries on Adolf Hitler's life and legacy to date. Regardless of your views on the subject matter, the documentary may offer crucial insights into how authoritarian figures can rise to power and what it takes to prevent it from happening. If you are interested in history, politics, or human nature as a whole, then this documentary is definitely worth watching.

Hitler: A Career is a 1977 documentary with a runtime of 2 hours and 30 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.5.