Rating: 
Summary: A Civic Duty--see the Film
Review: If this film did not show nearby your multiplex, don't be surprised. Maybe it showed for a week at an arthouse cinema near your major university. Or on a campus. Traudl Junge is not a household name in America, where probably 5 of 10 people can't name the Vice President.This film is not politically correct, but any citizen should see this movie. It is in German with subtitles. However, imagine your grandmother explaining how, as a young girl, she ended up being the personal secretary to one of the most notorious criminals (Verbrecher) of all time, who usurped the conscience of a society (i.e., he told them he would take on all responsibility for the actions of his government)...and the rest is black history. Think of it as a film noir. It is not entertaining, it is a tragedy. However, there is nothing different except for a few changes in wording from the 50-years-post reminiscences of just about any young person who takes a job without thinking of the consequences. They come back to haunt you. What kind of company did/do you work for? Or, like so many Americans, do you actually derive your income from the government, even if you aren't in the military. I recommend watching this film with friends, and discussing it over a Beck's beer--which hasn't changed since it was standard cargo on Hitler's U-Boat Flotillas. Or, perhaps, at a dealership of one of the major businesses that benefitted directly from the carnage of the third Reich--still on the Fortune 100. And then ask yourself, who bears the guilt? Very stimulating.
Rating:
Summary: A Civic Duty--see the Film
Review: If this film did not show nearby your multiplex, don't be surprised. Maybe it showed for a week at an arthouse cinema near your major university. Or on a campus. Traudl Junge is not a household name in America, where probably 5 of 10 people can't name the Vice President. This film is not politically correct, but any citizen should see this movie. It is in German with subtitles. However, imagine your grandmother explaining how, as a young girl, she ended up being the personal secretary to one of the most notorious criminals (Verbrecher) of all time, who usurped the conscience of a society (i.e., he told them he would take on all responsibility for the actions of his government)...and the rest is black history. Think of it as a film noir. It is not entertaining, it is a tragedy. However, there is nothing different except for a few changes in wording from the 50-years-post reminiscences of just about any young person who takes a job without thinking of the consequences. They come back to haunt you. What kind of company did/do you work for? Or, like so many Americans, do you actually derive your income from the government, even if you aren't in the military. I recommend watching this film with friends, and discussing it over a Beck's beer--which hasn't changed since it was standard cargo on Hitler's U-Boat Flotillas. Or, perhaps, at a dealership of one of the major businesses that benefitted directly from the carnage of the third Reich--still on the Fortune 100. And then ask yourself, who bears the guilt? Very stimulating.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed production, but a worthwhile effort to get on film
Review: It's amazing to think that Traudl Junge carried a story of this much importance and - more than 50 years and counting later - no one had gotten her recounting on paper, tape or video. So, kudos have to go to directors Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer for their persistence and their apparent ability to win Junge's confidence. That being said, I was a little taken aback by the sub-par production quality of Blind Spot. Obviously, Heller and Schmiderer were working on a shoestrong budget. I respect that. But in this day and age where Mac-based video-editing tools can make a director out of anyone and the full-length documentary has been raised to new heights by masters like Errol Morris, the quality of the product here is a bit disappointing. I feel this is worth noting because it gets in the way of one's watching of the film. The video seems blurry, the sound quality goes from lukewarm to - at points - muddled (in certain scenes, I believe they have misplaced the microphone), and the subtitles at times obscure Junge's mouth. Also, Heller and Schmiderer have been undermined a bit by the film's marketers here: the coverbox features shots of World War II-era events. Some viewers (this one included) expected cutways to newsreel footage tied to specific events that Junge recounts. For example, the story of the assassination attempt on Hitler - and Junge's memory of the injuries he sustained to his arm - would have been strengthened by splicing in the famous footage at the time of Hitler obviously favoring the arm and greeting new (and obviously terrified) Hitler youth conscripts. All that aside, the world owes Heller and Schmiderer a debt of gratitude for getting Junge's story on film. They obviously were playing against the clock here: the brittle Junge was suffering from cancer and (as I recall) lost her battle the day before the movie's premiere in Germany. Junge herself is a cipher. Her view of Hitler is as a paternalistic father figure, seemingly detached from the horrific policies of the Third Reich. Heller and Schmiderer seem convinced that the young, impressionable Junge was in so close to Hitler and his coterie, that "she was in blind spot." Junge herself floats this view and the filmmakers and marketers have run with it. Judging from the opinions on this review page and elsewhere, there is considerable debate over Junge's naivete. It's a debate worth having, and we need to credit Heller and Schmiderer for initiating it.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed production, but a worthwhile effort to get on film
Review: It's amazing to think that Traudl Junge carried a story of this much importance and - more than 50 years and counting later - no one had gotten her recounting on paper, tape or video. So, kudos have to go to directors Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer for their persistence and their apparent ability to win Junge's confidence. That being said, I was a little taken aback by the sub-par production quality of Blind Spot. Obviously, Heller and Schmiderer were working on a shoestrong budget. I respect that. But in this day and age where Mac-based video-editing tools can make a director out of anyone and the full-length documentary has been raised to new heights by masters like Errol Morris, the quality of the product here is a bit disappointing. I feel this is worth noting because it gets in the way of one's watching of the film. The video seems blurry, the sound quality goes from lukewarm to - at points - muddled (in certain scenes, I believe they have misplaced the microphone), and the subtitles at times obscure Junge's mouth. Also, Heller and Schmiderer have been undermined a bit by the film's marketers here: the coverbox features shots of World War II-era events. Some viewers (this one included) expected cutways to newsreel footage tied to specific events that Junge recounts. For example, the story of the assassination attempt on Hitler - and Junge's memory of the injuries he sustained to his arm - would have been strengthened by splicing in the famous footage at the time of Hitler obviously favoring the arm and greeting new (and obviously terrified) Hitler youth conscripts. All that aside, the world owes Heller and Schmiderer a debt of gratitude for getting Junge's story on film. They obviously were playing against the clock here: the brittle Junge was suffering from cancer and (as I recall) lost her battle the day before the movie's premiere in Germany. Junge herself is a cipher. Her view of Hitler is as a paternalistic father figure, seemingly detached from the horrific policies of the Third Reich. Heller and Schmiderer seem convinced that the young, impressionable Junge was in so close to Hitler and his coterie, that "she was in blind spot." Junge herself floats this view and the filmmakers and marketers have run with it. Judging from the opinions on this review page and elsewhere, there is considerable debate over Junge's naivete. It's a debate worth having, and we need to credit Heller and Schmiderer for initiating it.
Rating:
Summary: Low production value, fascinating content
Review: This documentary is nothing fancy-- no music, no old photographs, no fancy camerawork, and no artistic re-enactment footage. It is a straightforward compilation of three interviews with one of Hitler's secretaries, filmed shortly before her death, in German with subtitles. It is fascinating. And you should watch it. History books are just compilations of data stamped with the opinions of everybody who handles it. This is as close as most of us can get to a direct source, free of the obscuring glaze of interpretation and analysis.
Rating: 
Summary: Production made this the worst film I have ever seen
Review: This documentary may be full of history, but I couldn't get past the pathetic production. I enjoy documentaries and have watched dozens, but in my opinion this was the worst made film I have ever seen. I was really looking forward to seeing this film, but couldn't stand watching it. The framing was bad, the sound was bad, the edits were this close to causing a migraine and if that wasn't bad enough then I had the pleasure of seeing multiple shots of Traudl just sitting there watching her poorly done interviews on tv. Don't waste your time on this film. Spend it watching Errol Morris, Nick Broomfield, Ken Burns, and one of the many other documentary makers who know what they are doing.
Rating: 
Summary: Unintentionally evil
Review: Traudi Junge never mentioned to anybody what she did during the Second World War. But the guilt wouldn't go away. That's because, as a 22-year-old woman, she was one of Hitler's personal secretaries, trusted to the point that it was she who typed up his last will and testament in the Berlin bunker. Documentary filmmaker Othmar Schmiderer and conceptual artist Andr Heller convinced Junge to tell her story and their film is as simple as it comes: Junge talking straight to camera, attempting to explain what she did and why. There are also snatches of Junge watching herself on film, commenting further on what she has said. A film that shows it is not just evil itself, but the ignorance of evil that can be equally destructive.
Rating: 
Summary: Not sensationalistic, but somber
Review: Traudl Junge became Hitler's secretary in late 1942 and thus never knew Hitler at his charismatic peak. He was already drug-addicted, prematurely old and much diminished by the time Junge became his employee. Still she was mesmerized by his strange and potent ability to control and charm all in his inner circle. Hitler treated her always in a fatherly, kind manner and she responded to his friendly overtures and was in his sway in the two and half years she worked under him. The film is shot in intense close-up, with only Junge visible. She speaks candidly about her years with Hitler and much time is spent on the last days in the Bunker. Junge was urged by Hitler to escape Berlin and go to the Obersalzberg (and the American zone of occupation), but she, along with the other secretaries and Eva Braun, stubbornly remained to the very last. Unfortunately, Junge was raped in Berlin by Russian soldiers shortly after Hitler's death. There are no sensational revelations here, Junge was always rather contained and guarded in her remarks about Hitler, but she opens up more than ever before. This was filmed shortly before her death and in interviews, she admitted that she felt guilty for supporting and admiring a man who was a mass murderer. She tries in this film to explain his fascination, but she comes up a little short. This film is more enjoyable if you understand German, otherwise the subtitles are a little annoying. Still, a recommended buy.
Rating:
Summary: Plausible deniability
Review: Traudl Junge was Hitler's personal secretary from December 1942 to the latter's suicide in his Berlin bunker in April 1945. Traudl shorthand recorded and typed Hitler's last testament, such as it was. BLIND SPOT is an unembellished interview with Junge prior to her death of cancer in 2002. As might be expected, Junge denies having had any knowledge of the horrors of the Holocaust during the war years. You know what? I believe her. She comes across as having been but an impressionable and intellectually unremarkable young woman who was thrilled at being at the Reich's power center. Yet, she was too minor a functionary to be relevant in the Nazi hierarchy's decision-making process. This fact, and the shell of isolation and plausible deniability in which the Fuehrer and his sycophants cocooned themselves, makes her professed ignorance credible. And, if she lied, it doesn't really matter. Her filmed testimony here is the most minor of historical footnotes. The fact that she was dismissed as unimportant by both the Soviets and the Americans immediately after the war only buttresses that view. During most of the film's 87-minute run time, we watch the interview, which apparently lasted several days. Occasionally, we see Junge review the tape of her own words, to which she adds further comment. It's as if she wanted to get her story right for posterity. Who did she think cares? Except for the fact that Hitler didn't like wearing shorts because of his white knees, I learned little about the man, his near assassination in July 1944, his conduct of the war, or his last days in the bunker that I hadn't already read in more authoritative sources. Her most poignant memories are of the fate of Hitler's dog, Blondie, and the last days of the Goebbels children, who were poisoned by their mother because they "wouldn't know how to survive" after the fall of National Socialism. BLIND SPOT records a non-event. I would perhaps have given it another star had Junge's words been accompanied by archival footage and photographs of that long ago time. But, there was nothing to make it more visually interesting, not even a photo of the young secretary at work or play to provide a bridge in time. In a way, I feel sorry for Traudl, like an inoffensive moth left in darkness after the terrible flame around which it flutters has been thankfully extinguished.
Rating:
Summary: a documentary perhaps...a great film-no
Review: we rented this video just recently,as i have taken a sudden interest in the unbelievable slice of history we call the third reich.the box of the cd boasted all the awards it's won,so we were dissapointed to find the whole thing done in videotape,which led me to think right away i wasnt going to see much of a movie,but perhaps a great documentary.but we sat and kept waiting for the real 'dirt"......some type of further insight into how a whole nation could be blinded and manipulated so well by a mere mortal man(perhaps subhuman being a better word)....one thing i learned......this is apparently,an intelligent woman,capable of landing an important government position,and what we get from her is a series of trivial remarks with a few little tidbits indicating perhaps she knows much more than she's willimg to discuss,so i learned what people will do for power,money and security.it's frightening to say the least,and as americans,we must realize we are not immune to having the wool pulled over our eyes for the lure of world power,plenty of oil,and a starbucks franchise in iraq.
as a documenatary....also not very good.poor editing and almost zero camera work.i am reminded of geraldo's thwarted attempt at making a tv show out of capone's vault.3 stars for getting this woman on tape,but it was a bore.
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