Hitler: The Rise of Evil

9/10
I stand corrected. My previous claim that a truly compelling portrait of Hitler had yet to be created was perhaps too hasty. Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a three-hour mini-series that originally aired on CBS in May 2003, currently available on DVD. It opens with a handful of brief vignettes of Hitler's childhood and quickly moves to his years as a penniless street artist in Vienna, a soldier in the First World War, his rise to power within the National Socialist Party in Munich, and ends with his appointment to chancellor and assumption of the presidency upon Hindenburg's death.

I popped in the DVD with low expectations, but was struck immediately by the high production values and quality acting talent on display. Robert Carlyle is frighteningly good in the title role, demonstrating both the overwhelming confidence and madness that Hitler must have possessed. Carlyle's eyes are particularly haunting, appearing at times to be impossibly black and demonic, while at other times blue and cherubic.

Some have complained of blatant historical inaccuracies in the film. For instance, an early scene shows Hitler beating a dog for not obeying his commands, but the consensus among historians appears to be that Hitler was a dog-lover and that no account exists of him ever harming a (non-human) animal. However, taken at face value as a dramatized account of Hitler's rise to power, this one sets the bar high. I hope someone rises to the challenge with a sequel following Hitler through the War and his final days in the bunker.