The Decent One

classified 15 S
Film

Please note: This was screened in April 2015

Director
Vanessa Lapa
Cast
Tobias Moretti, Sophie Rois, Antonia Moretti
Details
96 mins, Subtitled, 2014, Austria/Isreal

This engrossing documentary uses hundreds of private letters, documents, diaries and photographs discovered during the immediate aftermath of WWII to provide a first hand account of the life, ideals, secrets and monstrously deluded mind of Heinrich Himmler, one of the Nazi regime’s unapologetic architects. It traces his life from nationalistic outsider to loyal Hitler supporter to the man responsible for master minding, developing and executing the strategies that led to the murder of millions of Jews, homosexuals, Communists and Romany people.

The film’s title (which seems to require a question mark) comes from one of his letters, in which he writes “in life one must always be decent, courageous and kind-hearted”. How can a man be a hero in his own eyes and a mass murderer in the eyes of the world? Where did his ideology originate? Rest assured that bearing witness to the occasionally more tender side of Himmler does nothing to humanise him – if anything, it makes his actions that much more frightening. A commanding film that will provoke a lot of discussion.

Part of Conversations About Cinema: Impact of Conflict.

  • Tom Beaumont, Teaching Fellow in Modern European History at the University of Bristol, who is researching the political and social history of twentieth century France and teaches on subjects including the Holocaust, Nazism, war and genocide, will introduce the 15:00 screening on Sat 18 April and host an informal discussion on the film in the Café/Bar from 17:10 onwards. Tickets for this screening will give you 10% off drinks and items from our shared menu. Please note that the introduction in the cinema will be recorded.

In partnership with Bristol Festival of Ideas and Bristol Holocaust Memorial Day we will also be screening Andre Singer's Night Will Fall on Sun 19 April 15:00.


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