Conspiracy

Rating:
Summary: Monsters Who Look Just Like Us
Review: When people ask why did so many millions of Jews die in the Holocaust, the next question is how. A question of this sort lends the questioner and his audience a sense of the quantitative. Numbers, statistics, and data become matters of import. CONSPIRACY attempts to illustrate the mechanism by which six million human beings were killed.
By the end of 1941, the war was starting to go bad for Germany. Hitler's invasion of Russia had bogged down and for the first time since 1939, there were doubters in his High Command that his thousand year Reich would last the decade. Much of the problem of transport priority overlapped the concommitant problem of what to do with the Jews. Reinhard Heydrich, second in command of the SS after Reichsfuhrer Himmler, called the Wannsee conference on January 20, 1942 to finalize the elimination of Europe's Jews. One of the members of this conference, Martin Luther, kept a transcipt that survived the war (Ironically Luther himself was tossed into one of these camps where he died in 1944) and it is this transcript that provided the dialogue for this movie. What is astonishing is the tone taken by all fifteen attendees. In their sense of blase, this meeting could have been held to increase market penetration of their company product. Heydrich made it clear that their product was an ideology that the Fuhrer Adolph Hitler had commanded to be transformed into reality. All fifteen were in agreement that there was a Jewish 'problem,' but they disagreed as to what should be done to solve it. Heydrich insisted that euphemisms like 'evacuation' should be used instead of 'killing.' At the beginning of the conference, the Nazi party's legal advisor, Dr. Stukart, insisted that whatever the solution might be, its implementation had to conform to pre-existing German law. Others were concerned with the day to day operational details of classifying half-Jews and quarter-Jews. Still others really thought Heydrich meant 'evacuation' in its literal sense, moving Jews from one ghetto to another. By the meeting's end, Heydrich clarified his point by detailing the proposed construction of huge gas chambers and crematoria that could evacuate 60,000 Jews every day. This impossibly big number got both the attention and approval of the others, and as the meeting broke up, each returned to his power base to implement and oversee the coming genocide.
Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich is the chilling image of a man who uses humor, intelligence, and intimidation to get his way. Stanley Tucci as Eichmann is the very personification of the corporate flunky whose true evil nature comes out not so much in the conference where he plans death wholesale by the millions but in his personal malice toward a waiter who drops a tray and a driver who has unauthorized fun throwing snowballs. Colin Firth as Dr. Stukart is seen as a man who opposes the slaughter not because of his love of Jews but because such killing breaks his laws that he himself helped to draft. What emerges from CONSPIRACY is a portrait of very ordinary men in extraordinarilly evil times conducting a business that we now call genocide. The 'how' then of the killing can now be seen as the flip side of the 'why.'

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest horror films of all time
Review: A many-layered masterpiece superbly done in every way. The consummate horror film because it is true.

A picture of what hate looks like and what people can become who allow it to rule their lives.

The performances were breathtaking, especially Colin Firth who depicted an extrordinarily intelligent and articulate, yet depraved, person. Branagh and Tucci were icily superb and deserve plaudits they have received. The screenplay was riveting, both in presenting actual verbatim from the Whansee meeting and in delineating the characters outside the meeting.

Rating:
Summary: The heart is deceitful above all things...
Review: "Conspiracy" is the most brilliant portrayal of the following biblical principle I've ever seen in a movie:

Jeremiah 17:9-10
"9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
(KJV)

It is an unpleasant truth that one of the human psyche's most highly developed capacities is the ability to lie, but not just to others, to ourselves in particular. "Conspiracy" demonstrates this terrible capacity with extraordinary effectiveness.

A couple dozen men, all with different personalities, education, responsibilities, and experiences were assembled together to accomplish a goal of indescribable evil in cool and efficient fashion without anyone actually recognizing or opposing the moral insanity being unleash. The collective denial of moral depravity and the finesse with which the truth was keep out of clear view is a dark spectacle to behold.

Such is the first verse of scripture quoted above portrayed. The second verse is nicely demonstrated at the end of "Conspiracy" when we learn the ultimate fate of these men. In fact, that reminds me of another principle this movie demonstrates VERY well:

Prov 14:12
"12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
KJV

Rock onward HBO!!!

Rating:
Summary: Should be mandatory
Review: I can only say that anyone who sees this and is not affected by it is not human-- it is a terrifying masterpeice. This is the most horrific and nightmarish programme i think i have ever watched-- and should be mandatory viewing for everyone. You will be glued to the screen, not because of the special effects (none --excluding the fake snow and suspect mud sprays on the cars -- mud in winter? hmmm) but watch the scene where the waiter breaks a plate and tell me your did not tighten every muscle in total fear...If you want to see a film of perhaps the most catastrophic 90 minute meeting in history -- HERE IT IS.
Watch the manipulation and discussion on the 'legality' of murder, the business discussion and statistics where they 'prove' how many they can kill per hour....awful, so terribly awful.

I have since watched this film several times and it never ceases to make me feel uneasy and remind me that the world is full on monsters and we need to be watchful, that everything is not guaranteed -- and we OWE a debt to people who fought for us.

I can honestly say i think if i met Keneth Branagh -- i would now be afraid of him!! Incidently -- the interview with him about the character was almost as disturbing -- you can see that Branagh finds this character a disgusting vile man with absolutely no morals at all..

THe final sequence where we find out what happened the people at the conference was equally nightmarish-- but perhaps on a brighter note, that is why we are different...

my recommendation -- get this

Rating:
Summary: Fiction But Fun
Review: HBO has been putting out some very good movies over the past few years. Conspiracy is a brilliant film with some great performances. This is a good rental. If you are really into fictional films with a little fact then this movie is for you. If you really want to know what happened at Wansee then buy a book. Only a few books have been written on this subject, but they are much better at conveying the truth. However, this is still a good movie. The special features on the DVD are not very special (only a couple short featurettes). The whole movie is shot in one room so if you plan to purchase this one and want to save a few bucks get the VHS version.

Rating:
Summary: Behind-the-scenes Nazi Germany.
Review: Not much to add to the other comments except to say that Kenneth Branagh turns in a masterful performance as Nazi head honcho Heydrich.
The film also avoids the usual pitfalls, i.e. stereotyping all the Germans as bloodthirsty monsters (see Saving Private Ryan). A film, in other words, that doesn't treat the audience like total idiots.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: This is exactly what television should be like: intelligent, thought-provoking, brilliantly written and acted. The Wannsee Conference, held on January, 20, 1942, was convened by Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS (Kenneth Branagh), chillingly assisted by his deputy Eichmann (Stanley Tucci), near Berlin: it gathered 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe. The attendants kept minutes, so that this teleplay is based largely on historical fact. The genius of the actors, director Frank Pierson and writer Loring Mandel is to make us understand how ordinary top bureaucrats could be pushed into accepting the ultimate horror - and to make this into an entertaining, and sometimes even very funny movie. The writing is so crisp you want to remember every line.

Rating:
Summary: Faces of terror
Review: The linens are neatly pressed, the silver is spotless, the chefs have created a luxurious feast and the house is inviting and warm. Yes, this is as extravagant a lunch meeting that one could attend. And today's topic: what are we going to do with the Jews.

CONSPIRACY is a truly frightening recreation of a secret German meeting that resulted in the mass use of the gas chambers during World War 2. The entire film is the lunch meeting book ended by the servants' preparations and clean up. But, the discussions are sickening. Each player in the game is responsible for immense evil, but they are not presented as pure evil. The banter resembles are corporate battle over which software vendor the company should use, but the product in discussion is human lives. That approach to terror is what makes this film at once stunning and unlikable. No matter, this film will haunt you for a while.

Kenneth Branagh (DEAD AGAIN) leads the cast as the head of the Secret Service who is hard in his resolve, but quick to offer a smile in support of the destructive plans. Stanley Tucci (THE BIG NIGHT) and Colin Firth (BRIDGET JONE'S DIARY) offer more support under simple, effective direction by Frank Pierson (HBO's TRUMAN).

This is pretty aggressive filmmaking, the type that Hollywood would never touch. HBOFilms created this and they deserve a lot of credit for continuing their risky filmmaking choices.

The DVD offers the film in a nice widescreen transfer and a great audio transfer to support the stage-like dialogue. This film is not for the weak-hearted and is especially relevant again as we've again seeing terrorists having an enjoyable meal while discussing the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

Rating:
Summary: The evil that men do...
Review: An utterly horrific and captivating character study of the mid-level bureaucratic personalities that put the "Final Solution" into motion. The politicking, hidden agendas, carrot'n'stick manipulations in this portrayal** of the Wannsee Conference are frighteningly reminiscent of boardroom meetings and other corporate management functions. Well produced and superbly acted, this film is a chilling case study into the "banality of evil". Highly recommended.

** Presumably somewhat fictionalized - they do have a "cleaned up" transcript of the conference minutes, but I suspect the writers had to dramatize a bit here to fill in the gaps.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: The Conspiracy is an English version of a 1984 film "The Wannsee Conference" by Heinz Schirk. The former is much better than "The Conspiracy". The Conspiracy speaks of the house the conference took place in as being from a Jewish family which is not the truth (it was donated by a loyal nazi to the SS, after the war all SS property was turned over to the Allies). The movie fails to take into account recent scholarship about Wilhelm Stuckart (who is portrayed as being sympathetic to the Jews). To see a better movie of this horrific event, one must see the 1984 version in German with English subtitles. The 84 version shows more accurately the personalities of those involved. It also shows accurately German military customs, discipline and uniforms. Still, if you can't get the 84 version see this movie but also read the minutes of the conference on the internet.