Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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148 of 154 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insight Into Hitler's Character & Last Days of Nazi Power, November 5, 2003
"Blind Spot" is an interview with Traudl Junge who, as a young woman, worked as one of Adolph Hitler's secretaries, living alongside Hitler and other prominent members of the 3rd Reich between 1942 and 1945. Before Frau Junge died, at the age of 81, she gave this interview to filmmakers André Heller and Othmar Schmiderer in which she recounts her experiences with and her impressions of Adolph Hitler and the last days of the Reich. Frau Junge (née Humps) was entirely unsophisticated in political matters and an aspiring dancer when she took a job as a secretary in the Chancellery in Berlin. At her well-connected brother-in-law's urging, and in spite of her initial disinterest, she applied for and got a better position taking dictation for the Führer himself. Hitler was kindly and protective toward her, and she liked him. Her close proximity to him gave her firsthand knowledge of Hitler's health, his ideals, his private manners and personal habits, his paranoia, and the attempts on his life, which she describes as best she can in "Blind Spot". Perhaps understandably, Frau Junge had considered her position close to the Führer and his generals as an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the War and of Nazi policies, as she would be so near their source. Not until later did she realize that, being privy to Hitler's inner circle, she was actually in a "blind spot", sheltered more than anyone from what was going on in Germany. Frau Junge's description of the activity within the Chancellory in Berlin during the last few weeks of the War constitutes at least half of the film. Her account of the bizarre events of April 1945 is truly gripping. The audience can sense the panic and hopelessness that permeated the Chancellory as the Nazi empire came crumbling down. Frau Junge's description of the harrowing political and emotional roller-coaster that impending defeat set in motion is striking.Blind Spot" is not a good film cinematographically. It consists only of interview footage, apparently taken in a living room or den, with an occasional glimpse of Frau Junge watching her own interview, which is awkward. But the film's content is revealing and provocative, a must-see for any student of World War II or for anyone curious to understand the character of Adolph Hitler. Traudl Junge's attitude toward her own role in the Nazi regime raises an interesting question. Frau Junge was not a member of the Nazi party, nor did she do anything to harm anyone. She took dictation. After the war, she felt no guilt about working for Adolph Hitler, and no one seemed to hold it against her. It wasn't until much later, when she realized that other young Germans had not all been so ignorant of Nazi policies and that many had died trying to fight them, that Frau Junge began to feel guilty for what she had not known and eventually fell into a serious depression. At the age of 81, she still seems preoccupied by feelings of guilt for having liked a man who caused so much suffering. This begs the question: To what degree are individuals responsible for the consequences of their ignorance and/or stupidity? In this Information Age, are we all obligated to understand the things we do and say, particularly if those things affect others? Are we to be condemned for the consequences of our ignorance if they are bad? If the answer is "yes", I fear that all of humanity would be damned. Perhaps the answer is, "It depends." Traudl Junge is no longer as naive as she was as Hitler's secretary. In "Blind Spot" she articulates real understanding that she has gained of how and why Adolph Hitler "manipulated the conscience" of an entire nation. Her insights are important and interesting. But I found the questions of guilt and ignorance that her experience raises to be the most relevant and provocative aspect of her story. In German with a choice of English, French, or Spanish subtitles. There are no bonus features on the DVD.
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63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important film, December 27, 2003
I would have given this film four stars (the quality suffers, not the content), but I feel Norm's review diminishes the importance of the film. If you are at once creative and analytical, you'll find a rich depth. In the film, Frau Junge doesn't excuse herself; in fact, I think she is too hard on herself. And though she doesn't put on a Hollywood penance performance, she does maintain her dignity, having been troubled for the better part of a life. Her brutal honesty can be seen in a poignant moment when she makes a comparison between herself and Sophie Scholl, who was the same age as Junge.Although the film appears to have been shot and edited by first year film students, the film is important in that it portrays a slice of history firsthand. Frau Junge is clearly intelligent and remarkably clear about her experience. It is simply amazing how much detail she remembers, and after so much time! It's also obvious that this experience colored and directed the remainder of her life. I wish the film was longer. I'm no history buff, but the Junge's recollections kept me glued to the set, pausing on the subtitles. The tragedy of Junge's life is that she separated herself from her feelings and repressed her experience, when she could have found some therapy by writing a detailed first-hand historical account. I think it would have come natural, her mind being wonderfully linear and her articulation of events easy to follow. It will bother some people that Frau Junge's personal portrayal of Hitler, while unsympathetic, often countermands the megalomaniacal historical portrayal. But the reality of this film is that it is not about Hitler--it's an intimate portrait about a woman named Traudl Junge who was fated to a time and to a place.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For One....Closure., November 5, 2003
I was initially briefly disappointed with this video. Expecting it to be a documantary, I was surprised to see, about twenty minutes into the film, that it was and would remain a simply filmed interview. There would be no artsy cut-aways to old newsreels, no family photos, indeed, not even a vintage, time relevant photograph of the films subject, Traudi Junge. Though I was intrigued with hearing the story of Hitlers personal secretary, I had expected something more dramatic. I soon realized that there could be nothing more dramatic than being privy to the recollections of Frau Junges short but life altering time with Hitler. Though I speak no German, and I don't doubt the word of those who have commented that one would get more out of the film should they speak German, I had no problem with the normally dreaded subtitles. Traudi Junge's expressions and inflections transcended any language barrier. When I first learned that these were memories she has never publicly, and rarely even privately, spoken of, I was doubtful. However, after watching and listening to her, and sensing the huge release from her that divulging the memories of that time gave her, and her spontaneity in recounting those memories, I was no longer doubtful. Her bottled up emotion is palpable. I must admit that I, like many, also have my doubts about all those who claimed to know next to nothing of the carnage that Hitler and his social order were inflicting. But Frau Junge so convincingly and eloquently reflects on that time when she was but a twenty two year old, naieve young girl, that you can almost see that young girl before you, though you are looking at a woman in her early eighties. She admits to guilt at her early admiration for Hitler, and also guilt and shock at her later findings of what had been going on in the world, outside of the insular and sheltered space of Hitler's bunker. There is much sadness in her recounting of the wars final days, when Hitler admitted to defeat, and surrender was imminent. She talks thoughtfully and hauntingly of the planned suicides of not only herself, but Hitler, Eva Braun, Goebbles and his family, which included his six children. Though she admits to a "black hole" in her memories of certain events, she somehow escaped after Hitler's suicide. She was held captive at various locations after the war, then released. Her story had been buried in guilt, and the desire to forget a shameful time, best not talked about. She finally agreed to be interviewed sixty years after those events. This is a fascinating and different look at that time, and at the man who is considered a monster, the personification of evil. She now estimates him as such also, though seems as perplexed as anyone would be in describing this same man who, in private, resembled more a kindly old gentleman. Frau Junge was a thoughtful, intelligent, lovely lady, who was haunted for years by her unwanted but undeniable association with him. This is an oddly touching film about a horrific subject. That she died the day after this film premiered in 2002 is also very touching. As told by another, some of her last words were "at last, I can begin to forgive myself..."
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