Eva Braun: Her Life With Adolf Hitler

Rating:
Summary: Someday Maybe a Good One
Review: Another review of this no-longer-available DVD may seen like beating a dead horse. But here goes.

I've had the disc for some time but just got around to watching it. I agree with all the criticisms in the previous reviews, especially those about poor audio mixing. But I'm reminded of the apocryphal story told on the Carson show: One woman to another:"The food there is terrible;" the other: "Yes, and such small portions!" Even if every word of dialog were crystal clear, you wouldn't like it any better. In our world of excellent TV documentaries like PBS's American Experience, A&E's Biography, and stuff on the History Channel, this one is a dud. But, how many stars you give it depends on what you're looking for. I could just as easily given it four stars. As observed in another review, the photographic record is priceless, and those who are locked into WWII (the biggest event of the century and, even though I was just a child, a most prominent influence on my life) will not want to miss it. Someday maybe somebody will take these films and do them justice with time and character identifications and other provenance information -- and a good audio track. While Eva Braun was not herself a player on the world stage, she is the kind of character which authors invent to help tell their versions of real history.

Eva Anna Paula Braun was born 2/6/12, and died by poison 4/30/45, at Hitler's side in his Berlin bunker, where she had gone against his wishes. He met her when she was 16 or 17. He was 23 years older. She became his mistress in 1932 and went to live at the Berghof, where most of these movies were taken. She was attractive in a simple way, somewhat athletic if not graceful, and has been considered shallow and self-centered.

From the brief, anonymous DVD notes, apparently from the Richard Diercks Co.: "Eva Braun was fresh out of a convent school when she met Adolf Hitler. Their attraction was immediate, and, over the objections of her parents, she became his mistress. For the next 16 years, she lived in luxury as millions suffered and died at the hands of her maniacal "Wulf." [Her pet name for Hitler.]

Through the movies she shot with a 16-mm [movie] camera -- her first gift from Hitler -- we see the shallow concerns of an immature woman who didn't care what happened around her as long as she was having fun. [These movies were mostly in color, at a time when home movies were, at least here in the U.S., rare, and usually 8-mm and in black and white.]

Narrated with excerpts from Eva's diary, these intimate films take us deep into Hitler's life the way no movie ever has. And they show us that her evil was equal to his: for example, when told of the cruel atrocities her beloved Hitler was committing, she replied, "It's just a waste of time to look at the negative things.""

I see the immature woman and the childlike devotion, but not the evil this writer specifies. I think he's making a prejudiced leap. My opinion is that she just never "got it." Most of the world didn't know what was going on under the Nazis until very late in the war, and they had better info than she did, since she was completely isolated. (There's no evidence here that she was ever told of the actual "cruel atrocities," but from her diary we know she was aware that Hitler himself was jealous, vengeful, and a dangerous personal foe.) The note writer follows the tradition of referring to Eva as Hitler's "mistress", which she was for those years; but they were both single, and today we would call her a "girlfriend." The day before the end they were married. Usually when people die married, the woman is not subsequently referred to as a "mistress."

Rating:
Summary: Someday Maybe a Good One
Review: Another review of this no-longer-available DVD may seen like beating a dead horse. But here goes.

I've had the disc for some time but just got around to watching it. I agree with all the criticisms in the previous reviews, especially those about poor audio mixing. But I'm reminded of the apocryphal story told on the Carson show: One woman to another:"The food there is terrible;" the other: "Yes, and such small portions!" Even if every word of dialog were crystal clear, you wouldn't like it any better. In our world of excellent TV documentaries like PBS's American Experience, A&E's Biography, and stuff on the History Channel, this one is a dud. But, how many stars you give it depends on what you're looking for. I could just as easily given it four stars. As observed in another review, the photographic record is priceless, and those who are locked into WWII (the biggest event of the century and, even though I was just a child, a most prominent influence on my life) will not want to miss it. Someday maybe somebody will take these films and do them justice with time and character identifications and other provenance information -- and a good audio track. While Eva Braun was not herself a player on the world stage, she is the kind of character which authors invent to help tell their versions of real history.

Eva Anna Paula Braun was born 2/6/12, and died by poison 4/30/45, at Hitler's side in his Berlin bunker, where she had gone against his wishes. He met her when she was 16 or 17. He was 23 years older. She became his mistress in 1932 and went to live at the Berghof, where most of these movies were taken. She was attractive in a simple way, somewhat athletic if not graceful, and has been considered shallow and self-centered.

From the brief, anonymous DVD notes, apparently from the Richard Diercks Co.: "Eva Braun was fresh out of a convent school when she met Adolf Hitler. Their attraction was immediate, and, over the objections of her parents, she became his mistress. For the next 16 years, she lived in luxury as millions suffered and died at the hands of her maniacal "Wulf." [Her pet name for Hitler.]

Through the movies she shot with a 16-mm [movie] camera -- her first gift from Hitler -- we see the shallow concerns of an immature woman who didn't care what happened around her as long as she was having fun. [These movies were mostly in color, at a time when home movies were, at least here in the U.S., rare, and usually 8-mm and in black and white.]

Narrated with excerpts from Eva's diary, these intimate films take us deep into Hitler's life the way no movie ever has. And they show us that her evil was equal to his: for example, when told of the cruel atrocities her beloved Hitler was committing, she replied, "It's just a waste of time to look at the negative things.""

I see the immature woman and the childlike devotion, but not the evil this writer specifies. I think he's making a prejudiced leap. My opinion is that she just never "got it." Most of the world didn't know what was going on under the Nazis until very late in the war, and they had better info than she did, since she was completely isolated. (There's no evidence here that she was ever told of the actual "cruel atrocities," but from her diary we know she was aware that Hitler himself was jealous, vengeful, and a dangerous personal foe.) The note writer follows the tradition of referring to Eva as Hitler's "mistress", which she was for those years; but they were both single, and today we would call her a "girlfriend." The day before the end they were married. Usually when people die married, the woman is not subsequently referred to as a "mistress."

Rating:
Summary: Amazing picture quality, very intimate
Review: I was amazed at the high quality of Eva Brauns (color!) films. Why, it is better than most commercial movies of that time. This is not the usual bad quality you would expect from a WW2 documentary. As for the content, it is frightening that all these Nazi monsters could appear to be like regular people with families, kids and dogs... The downside is the really bad sound of the voiceover (excerpts from Eva's diary), sometimes you can hardly hear a thing because the music's too loud. But this DVD is worth it's money even it were totally mute!

Rating:
Summary: Appalling lack of quality
Review: Problems, problems abound in this shoddy and unprofessional production. First and firemost, the audio is virtually nil. I turned the volume up to its highest notch, a setting which would be ear splitting normally, and I still could scarcely make out what the narrator said. Considering the overall quality of this abysmal production, that might have been a blessing. Occasionally, the audio improved and then the words almost burst open the speakers of the TV. The narration was inconsequential and inaccurate drivel: "Here is Eva in her special tea house dress, frolicking for the Fuehrer in the Berchtesgaden twilight." Ho hum.

The bulk of the movie consists of material culled from the National Archives and these are Eva's home movies, filmed primarily in color between 1936-1943. The quality of the movies are superb in their natural form, they are less stellar in this film. Many are faded and obviously second-rate copies. Nothing of consequence is learned from the inaudible narration and the canned background music sounds like something from a Kindergarten class rehearsing Wagner.

I suppose some people completely new to Hitler or WWII might find the home movies enchanting. Trust me, you can do better than this tenth rate production, it's embarrassingly awful, seemingly produced on a whim in someone's garage.

Rating:
Summary: Am I supposed to read lips or just guess what's going on?
Review: This is a half-assed attempt that could have been done out of someone's garage. A few good tidbits here and there, but nothing 'new' or 'earth shattering'. All the material here is from the national archives. The color portions are home movies made at Der Fuhrer's mountain retreat where Eva spent most of her time before she was exiled with Adolf to the bunker. Only very novice historians will learn anything here.

Rating:
Summary: Excellet pictures; poor sound track.
Review: This rare color footage taken by Eva Braun, his mistress, shows an intimate view of the inner circle of Adolf Hitler. While the pictures are fascinating the sound track is uneven with variable volume and distracting sounds of jack boots and "ghost" trains. END

Rating:
Summary: A very good insight, though could be more objective.
Review: This video is very important historicaly. I was offended by the snide remarks made by the commentator throughout. I was also offended by the soundtrack, the trains, the baying dogs, etc.. This was NOT objective by any manner. We are all adults, present the information straight forward and let the viewer draw their own conclusions. Despite these offensive distractions I still found the films to be informative and enjoyable. I would have like to seen more footage of the Führer and less of Frau Hitlers friends though. Also, it was obvious from the scenes showing the Führer and the children that he really loved the children and had a kind and gentle side to him in contrast to the often mis-portrayed image of a monster. Propaganda is propaganda no matter who puts it out EVEN when it's the US Government!

For those interested in history and seeing a side to Adolf Hitler that few have seen before, watch this video and try to ignore the commentator.

Rating:
Summary: A very good insight, though could be more objective.
Review: This video is very important historicaly. I was offended by the snide remarks made by the commentator throughout. I was also offended by the soundtrack, the trains, the baying dogs, etc.. This was NOT objective by any manner. We are all adults, present the information straight forward and let the viewer draw their own conclusions. Despite these offensive distractions I still found the films to be informative and enjoyable. I would have like to seen more footage of the Führer and less of Frau Hitlers friends though. Also, it was obvious from the scenes showing the Führer and the children that he really loved the children and had a kind and gentle side to him in contrast to the often mis-portrayed image of a monster. Propaganda is propaganda no matter who puts it out EVEN when it's the US Government!

For those interested in history and seeing a side to Adolf Hitler that few have seen before, watch this video and try to ignore the commentator.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth your time and dollar.
Review: Well worth your time and dollar. This movie has striking footage! Sound could be better, but at this price, who can ask for more. Guaranteed to be a step above the rest.

Rating:
Summary: A basic DVD which doesn't go far enough
Review: Yes the DVD is out of print but there seem to be a lot of them out there in auctions etc. Not too hard to track one down without paying the earth.

The other reviewers have summed it up as far as quality is concerned. This is a DVD built around Eva Braun's home movies. It is not put together well, the narration is often inaudible and there are no chapters. The sound is dreadful and the whole thing feels like the producers couldn't put it out as just mute home movie footage although it would probably have come across better if they had.

As for Hitler I noted that no child or animal looks him in the eye and even his pet dog seemed uncomfortable being petted by him. So much for a "gentle side". Sorry I just don't buy that.

The footage itself is of good quality. It is a collector's item I am happy to have but there isn't much else to say in its favour except that it seems to have gathered together most if not all the footage of her that is around (and she's the only thing worth looking at.)