Max

Released 2002
Stars John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Leelee Sobieski, Molly Parker, Ulrich Thomsen
Directed by Menno Mayjes

The central mystery of Hitler, William Boyd writes in a recent Times Literary Supplement, is: "How on earth could a dysfunctional, deranged, down-and-out homeless person in pre-First World War Vienna become, 20 years later, Chancellor of Germany?" A peculiar and intriguing film named "Max" argues that he succeeded because he had such a burning need to be recognized--and also, of course, because of luck, good for him, bad for us. If Hitler had won fame as an artist, the century's history might have been different. Pity about his art.

"Max" imagines a fictional scenario in which the young Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor) is befriended by a one-armed Jewish art dealer named Max Rothman (John Cusack) in Munich in the years following World War I. Both served in the German army and fought in the same battle, where Rothman lost his arm. The dealer opens an avant-garde art gallery in a vast abandoned factory, showcasing artists such as George Grosz and attracting important collectors--and Hitler, clutching his portfolio of kitsch. Rothman takes pity on this man and is friendly to him, moved by the pathos beneath his bluster.

Summary written by Roger Ebert

This movie is controversial because of its portrayal of Hitler before he rose to power, but I'm not sure why there was so much controversy, since it shows him as a vile, despicable, humorless racist man who's desperate for attention or success of some kind. The key to the portrayal is it shows him as pathetic, but it doesn't pity him. The movie begins slowly as it concentrates on Max' family, but its second half quickly picks up steam as we watch Hitler being used by a small group of his army "buddies" to reach the disenfranchised German populace. It's a strange feeling to watch mankind's most evil man wind his way  through many different decisions and turning points toward his destiny that we all know so well, because it shows how variable one's path through life can be. The story's fictional but based on several facts, and I found it bold and engrossing. --Bill Alward, June 8, 2003