Max (2002/I)

Director:

Menno Meyjes

Writer (WGA):

Menno Meyjes (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 2003 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Art + Politics = Power

Plot:

A film studying the depiction of a friendship between an art dealer named Rothman and his student, Adolf Hitler.

Plot Keywords:

Art | Art Dealer | Politics | Painter | Artist

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	Max Rothman
Noah Taylor	...	Adolf Hitler
Leelee Sobieski	...	Liselore von Peltz
Molly Parker	...	Nina Rothman
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Captain Mayr
David Horovitch	...	Max's Father
Janet Suzman	...	Max's Mother
András Stohl	...	NCO
John Grillo	...	Nina's Father
Anna Nygh	...	Nina's Mother
Krisztián Kolovratnik	...	Nina's Brother
Peter Capaldi	...	David Cohn
Yuliya Vysotskaya	...	Hildegard
János Kulka	...	Mr. Epp
Katalin Pálfy	...	Mrs. Epp
Kevin McKidd	...	George Grosz
Heather Cameron-McLintock	...	Ada Rothman (as Heather Cameron)
Joel Pitts	...	Paul Rothman
Tamás Lengyel	...	Franz
Attila Árpa	...	Wilhelm
Daisy Haggard	...	Heidi
Gábor Harsai	...	Waiter
Paul Rattray	...	Hans
Derek Hagen	...	Fritz
Caroleen Feeney	...	Saleslady
Mike Kelly	...	Herr Wulf
Ben O'Brien	...	Herr Eichinger (as Ben O'Brian)
Agnes Becsei	...	Singing Girl
Tibor Soltenszky	...	Antique Dealer
Kerric Macdonald	...	Heckler in Courtyard
Matt Devere	...	Freikorps Thug
Judit Hernádi	...	Frau Schmidt
Kerry Shale	...	Dr. Levi
Heather Hermant	...	Mrs. Levi
László Borbély	...	Erich
Peter Linka	...	Soldier in Courtyard
László Görög	...	Someone in Crowd
Andor Tímár	...	Ritter von Lieberfelt
John Rado	...	Organizer (as Janos Rado)
Tamás Puskás	...	Sidewalk Cafe Owner
Pandora Colin	...	Max's Sister-in-Law
Robert Frohlich	...	Rabbi (as Rabbi Robert Frohlich)
Róbertne Bánky	...	Puppeteer
Miklós Dörögdy	...	Puppeteer
Mariann Kovács	...	Puppeteer
Péter Bognár	...	Puppeteer
István Erdös	...	Puppeteer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Whitelock	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)

Directed by
Menno Meyjes

Writing credits (WGA)
Menno Meyjes		(written by)

Produced by
Andrea Albert	....	co-producer
Sidney Blumenthal	....	associate producer
Damon Bryant	....	co-producer
John Cusack	....	associate producer
Jonathan Debin	....	executive producer
Andras Hamori	....	producer
François Ivernel	....	executive producer
Lacia Kornylo	....	associate producer
Cameron McCracken	....	executive producer
Tom Ortenberg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Dan Jones

Cinematography by
Lajos Koltai

Film Editing by
Chris Wyatt

Casting by
Nina Gold

Production Design by
Ben van Os

Art Direction by
Tibor Lázár

Set Decoration by
Ágnes Menyhárt

Costume Design by
Dien van Straalen

Makeup Department
Manyi Almássy	....	additional hair stylist
Manyi Almássy	....	additional makeup artist
Ildikó Aradi	....	second assistant hair stylist
Ildikó Aradi	....	second assistant makeup artist
Katalin Bakács	....	additional hair stylist
Katalin Bakács	....	additional makeup artist
Mara Bócz	....	additional hair stylist
Mara Bócz	....	additional makeup artist
Judit Endrényiné	....	additional hair stylist (as Judit Endrényi)
Judit Endrényiné	....	additional makeup artist (as Judit Endrényi)
Mariann Hufnágel	....	additional hair stylist
Mariann Hufnágel	....	additional makeup artist
Katalin Jakots	....	key makeup artist: John Cusack
Andrea Juhasz	....	first assistant makeup artist
János Jánosi	....	additional hair stylist
János Jánosi	....	additional makeup artist
Éva Kolontáry	....	hair stylist
Nóra Koltai	....	additional hair stylist
Nóra Koltai	....	additional makeup artist
Ildikó Makk	....	hair stylist (as Ildiko Makk)
Balázs Novák	....	additional makeup artist
Éva Szalai	....	additional hair stylist
Éva Szalai	....	additional makeup artist
Mónika Szatmári	....	additional hair stylist
Mónika Szatmári	....	additional makeup artist
Klára Takács	....	additional hair stylist (as Takács Klári)
Klára Takács	....	additional makeup artist (as Takács Klári)
Ancsa Tesner	....	additional hair stylist
Ancsa Tesner	....	additional makeup artist
Anna Tesner	....	additional makeup artist
Kati Tomola	....	makeup supervisor
Melinda Tompa	....	additional hair stylist
Melinda Tompa	....	additional makeup artist

Production Management
Andrea Barzsó	....	assistant unit manager
Csaba Benedek	....	unit manager
John Nabereznyj	....	post-production supervisor
Gábor Szántó	....	unit production manager
György Sánta	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gábor Gajdos	....	first assistant director
Kerric Macdonald	....	second assistant director
Csilla Szigeti	....	second assistant director
Tamás Vass	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Balázs Bajnok	....	construction crew
Victor Barabás	....	construction crew
István Berkes	....	construction crew
Béla Blazsej	....	props
Attila Budavári	....	construction crew
Attila Budavári	....	construction manager
László Bukor	....	construction crew
István Cicze	....	construction crew
Jane Clark	....	storyboard artist
Judit Csák	....	assistant art director
Miklós Diá	....	construction crew
Zoltán Hardy	....	property master (as Zoltán Hardi)
Richárd Tamás Janó	....	construction crew
Róbert Jász	....	stand-by constructor
Attila Kertész	....	construction crew
Tamás Kiss	....	construction crew
András Korein	....	construction crew
Géza Kotán	....	construction crew
Péter Kovács	....	construction manager
Mándor Kreidl	....	props
József Kudron	....	construction crew
Rajmund Kuszkó	....	storyboard artist
Antal Lakatos	....	construction crew
László Mohovics	....	props
László Molnár	....	assistant property master
Tamás Monori	....	props
Pál Ferenc Nagy	....	props
Gábor Paul	....	construction crew
Zsolt Pocsai	....	construction crew
Imre Popovics	....	construction crew
Rob Prior	....	poster artist
Tibor Rigó	....	construction crew
Miklós Roszoka	....	construction crew
Zsolt Sajgó	....	assistant construction manager
Ferenc Simiglai	....	construction crew
Ferenc Simiglai	....	painter
András Sule	....	construction crew
Lajos Surányi	....	construction crew
Eszter Szabó	....	painter
Tamás Szabó	....	construction crew
Krisztina Szilágyi	....	draft person
János Szivák	....	construction crew
Zoltán Sárközi	....	construction crew
Tamás Tamási	....	assistant set decorator
Károly Turzai	....	construction crew
Karin Van Der Werff	....	assistant to production designer
Todd Van Hulzen	....	artwork coordinator: pre-production
Csaba Vásári	....	stand-by constructor
József Ócsai	....	props
Péter Újvári	....	props

Sound Department
Fred Brennan	....	dialogue and adr editor
Fred Brennan	....	supervising sound editor
Steph Carrier	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kathy Choi	....	assistant dialogue editor
Sue Conley	....	adr editor
Colin Cooper	....	adr mixer
Colin Cooper	....	adr recordist
Stacy Coutts	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Eliot Crackower	....	control room operator
Roderick Deogrades	....	sound effects editor
Frederic Gibert	....	adr recordist
Barry Gilmore	....	adr editor
Martin Gwynn Jones	....	assistant sound effects editor
Garrett Kerr	....	dialogue editor
Thomas Kodros	....	sound consultant: Dolby (as Thomas G. Kodros)
Goro Koyama	....	foley artist
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Anna Malkin	....	foley recording assistant
Ron Malligers	....	foley mixer (as Ron Mellegers)
David McCallum	....	sound effects editor
Bogi Móricz	....	post-production sound recording coordinator
György Simon	....	boom operator
Gábor Sipos	....	boom operator
István Sipos	....	production sound mixer
Lou Solakofski	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
Jane Tattersall	....	sound effects editor
Paul Virostek	....	sound effects recordist
Don White	....	foley recording mixer
Rebecca Wright	....	foley mixer assistant
David Yonson	....	adr recordist

Special Effects by
Gábor Balogh	....	special effects
János Berki	....	special effects (as Janos Berki-Berkenye)
Furedi Csaba	....	special effects technician (2002)
Paul Denomme	....	visual effects executive producer
Attila Erczkovi	....	special effects
Gabor Kiszelly	....	special effects technician
Gyula Krasnyánszky	....	special effects (as Gyula Krasnyanski)
Ferenc Ormos	....	special effects supervisor
Iván Pohárnok	....	prosthetics
György Solymosi	....	special effects
Ferenc Sárik	....	special effects
László Takács	....	special effects
Ferenc Török	....	special effects
Attila Varsányi	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Jeff Baker	....	technical supervisor
Ian Britton	....	digital compositor
Drake Conrad	....	scanning and recording
Graham Cunningham	....	lead 3D artist: Calibre Digital Pictures
Peter Denomme	....	visual effects producer: Calibre Digital Pictures
Mark Fordham	....	lead matte artist
Rick Hannigan	....	project coordinator
Felix Heeb	....	scanning and recording
Noel Hooper	....	lead digital compositor/supervisor
Ariel Joson	....	digital artist
Gerry Legros	....	visual effects producer
Diana Madureira	....	production coordinator: Cine-Byte
Andrew Nguyen	....	digital matte artist
Anthony Paterson	....	visual effects supervisor: Calibre Digital Pictures
Chris Ross	....	digital opticals effects
Rick Saulnier	....	visual effects coordinator
Matt Schofield	....	matte artist
Mark Tureski	....	digital opticals effects
Rainy Venne	....	roto/rig removal
Allan Walker	....	matte artist

Stunts
Zoltán Bodor	....	stunts
László Imre	....	stunts
Bela Kasi	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Péter Katona	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Levente Lezsák	....	stunt performer
Domonkos Pardanyi	....	stunts
Erzsébet Szloboda	....	stunts
Béla Unger	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Gyula Balogh	....	electrician
Csaba Bankhardt	....	electrician
György Berghoffer	....	electrician
Balázs Bélafalvy	....	camera operator (as Balázs Bélafalvi)
Zsolt Büti	....	generator operator
Attila Csabai	....	camera loader: second camera
Dániel Decsi	....	video assistant
István Decsi	....	focus puller
József Dene	....	focus puller: second camera
Egon Endrényi	....	still photographer
György Garami	....	electrician
Ákos Gulyás	....	assistant camera
Károly Gál	....	best boy (as Gaál Károly)
Zoltán Halmágyi	....	electrician
Árpád Horváth	....	camera loader: second unit
Gábor Inczédy	....	electrician (as Inczédi Gábor)
János Kiss	....	grip
Tamás Krausz	....	electrician
Gabor Laczkó	....	grip
Zsigmond Molcsány	....	grip (as Zsigmond Molcsán)
Tamas Nyerges	....	Steadicam operator
Gábor Oláh	....	grip
Tibor Oláh	....	camera loader
Pal Paluch	....	grip
Attila Szûcs	....	crane operator
Attila Szûcs	....	grip
Rudolf Takács	....	gaffer
József Trombitás	....	best boy
András Tóth	....	key grip

Casting Department
Deirdre Bowen	....	casting: Toronto
Zsolt Csutak	....	casting: Hungary
Sándor Dénes	....	extras casting
Mali Finn	....	casting: Los Angeles
Tamara Gillon	....	casting assistant
Tamás Kertész	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andrea Bényi	....	dresser
Andrea Friebert	....	dresser
György Homonnay	....	wardrobe supervisor
Marie-Therese Jacobse	....	assistant costume designer
Péter Kincs	....	dresser (as Peter Kincs)
Gabi Komoróczy	....	dresser
József Lender	....	dresser
Andrea Nárai	....	assistant wardrobe master
Móni Simkó	....	dresser
Gabor Szabo	....	dresser
Nelli Szolnoki	....	dresser
Dóra Szóke	....	dresser
Zoltán Trubel	....	dresser
József Varjú	....	dresser

Editorial Department
Juliane Brown	....	post-production assistant
Kenn Elliott	....	final colorist
Chad Glastonbury	....	negative cutter
Chris Hinton	....	color timer
Chris Petrenko	....	post-production assistant
Catherine Rankin	....	negative cutter
Viola Regéczy	....	color timer
Jay Steckel	....	post-production assistant
Ron Wisman Jr.	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Christopher Austin	....	conductor
Christopher Austin	....	orchestrator
Ben Foskett	....	music preparation
Dan Jones	....	score mixer
Oliver Ledbury	....	orchestrator
Elizabeth Purnell	....	orchestrator
Dénes Rédly	....	assistant recording engineer
Jonathan Stokes	....	music recording engineer
Wayne Swingle	....	music editor
Attila Tõzsér	....	score mixing engineer

Transportation Department
Sándor Panyi	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Kinga Baranyai	....	production secretary
Aileen Bell	....	post-production accountant
Réka Benyovszký	....	assistant: Mr. Meyjes
Eva Borsos	....	assistant accountant
Early Boyd	....	assistant: Mr. Hamori
Attila Bánhalmi	....	production assistant
Catherine Charlton	....	dialogue coach
Doug Dearth	....	assistant: Mr. Cusack
Gergely Fülöp	....	set production assistant (as Gergö Fülöp)
Linda Gamble	....	unit publicist
Tamás Guba	....	location manager
Balázs Kovács	....	crowd marshall
Judit Kovács	....	assistant accountant
Ágota Kovács	....	production coordinator
Sarolta Lentzki	....	animal handler
Tamás Maros	....	location manager
Lindsay McCracken	....	assistant: Mr. Cusack
Bogi Móricz	....	assistant: John Cusack, Budapest
Rozália Oláh	....	production accountant
E. Andrew Pecs	....	production accountant (as Andrew Pecs)
István Pocsai	....	set production assistant
Leonard B. Rosman	....	legal services
Richard Szabó	....	security HOD
Esther Szasz	....	interpreter
Balázs Szekeres	....	production assistant
Beatrix Szombati	....	assistant to executive producer
Gabriella Winkler	....	script supervisor
Susanna Wyatt	....	head of physical production: Pathé Pictures

Thanks
Consuelo Accetti	....	thanks
Jeff Berg	....	thanks
Cassian Elwes	....	thanks
Mark Horowitz	....	thanks
Ken Kamins	....	thanks
Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács	....	thanks
John Lieberman	....	thanks
István Mikó	....	thanks
Gaby Morgerman	....	thanks
Sándor Pozsgay	....	thanks
János Reichenberger	....	thanks
Julia Rosenberg	....	thanks
Arthur Schneier	....	thanks
Jozsef Schweitzer	....	thanks (as Professor Rabbi Jozsef Schweitzer)
Eli Selden	....	thanks
Richard Soames	....	thanks
Trudie Styler	....	thanks
Gustâv Zoltai	....	thanks

Production Companies

• AAMPI Inc.
• Aconit Pictures
• Alliance Atlantis Communications
• Bioskop Film
• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) (with the participation of)
• Film Council
• H2O Motion Pictures
• JAP Films
• Natural Nylon II
• Pathé Pictures International

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Toshiba Entertainment (Japan) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (video)
• Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution
• Hollydan Works (2003-????) (Serbia and Montenegro) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films
• Pathé Distribution
• Pyramid (Russia)
• Teleview International (2003) (Lebanon) (TV) (Middle East)
• Versus Entertainment (2007) (Spain) (all media)

Special Effects

• Calibre Digital Pictures
• Cine-Byte Imaging
• Multifilm Special Effects

Other Companies

• 4MC  video services
• Appeal to Conscience Interfaith Coalition  thanks
• Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities  thanks
• Edit Hire Post Production Services  AVID editing facilities
• Fearless Film and Video Corporation, The  video services
• Film Council  made with the support of
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Footsteps Post-Production Sound  foley re-recorded at
• Future Post  adr recording facilities
• Kodak  motion picture film supplied by
• Magyar Államvasutak (MÁV)  thanks (as MÁV - Hungarian Railways)
• Moving Picture Company (MPC)  digital video services
• People of Budapest, The  thanks
• Sixt Rent-a-Car  thanks
• Sydney Apartment Hotel  thanks
• Tattersall Casablanca  sound editing facilities

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Hungary | Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

AAMPI Inc.

Trivia:

Writer/director Menno Meyjes reports that before the script was written, Steven Spielberg's Amblin company was interested in the project. But Spielberg told Meyjes he couldn't bring himself to help make a movie he thought would dishonor Holocaust survivors. Nevertheless, he considered the script an excellent one and encouraged the director to push for its realization, but without Amblin.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the little girl crawls underneath the table to "steal" a cookie, the direction she is crawling from changes when the camera cuts to another angle.

Quotes:

Max Rothman:Listen, do you want to meet some girls?
Adolf Hitler:Girls?
Max Rothman:Yes, girls! They're these fantastic creatures who make you feel creative without you having to do anything.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Cinema Snob: The Devil with Hitler (#4.30)" (2012)

Brilliant, totally non-offensive treatment of difficult subject

Sight unseen, the Jewish Defense League has urged Lions Gate Films to shelve this movie, due to its radical notion that Adolf Hitler was shaped by the world around him rather than being born the Antichrist. Specifically, the JDL protests that there is nothing "human about the most vicious, vile murderer in world history." As a person of Jewish extraction who has seen the movie (at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival), I would take exception to this stance and urge Lions Gate to proceed as planned. This film is a brilliant, engrossing, thought-provoking work that does Hitler no favors and sheds light on the real-world forces afoot in post WWI Munich that only could have nurtured his worst beliefs and talents.

Dutch-born Director Menno Meyjes has shown an affinity for tough ethnic and cultural clash themes in his career as a screenwriter (THE COLOR PURPLE, EMPIRE OF THE SUN and THE SIEGE are among his credits). But here, in his first chance to direct his own writing, he's come up with what's certainly his most fully realized work to-date. Eschewing simplistic notions, he weaves a fascinating story that deals at length with the career as a painter that Hitler is known to have unsuccessfully pursued at one time.

The title character of the film is a fictional (but based on a composite of real-life characters) Jewish German WWI vet named Max Rothman. He's lost one of his arms in battle, but is able to return to a much better situation than the average German vet: a loving wife and family, a gorgeous mistress, and family wealth that enables him to start an art gallery that prospers dealing in modern expressionist works. Hitler, by contrast, returns to pretty much nothing, and at age 30 is desperate to finally make the grade as a commercial artist.

Sensing that Hitler has a passion that there could be a market for if only he could find some way to get it out onto canvas, Max encourages him to experiment with schools of painting that seem a better fit for his temperament than the traditional ones he's decided to limit himself to. Unfortunately, Hitler's real artistic gift seems to be for a then-new form of performance art known as `propaganda,' and his Aryan war pals provide him with support for pursuing this field while simultaneously fanning his smoldering anti-Semitic sentiments.

Noah Taylor - who many feel got robbed of an Oscar nomination for his role as the young David Helfgott in SHINE - is mesmerizing in the Hitler role. Even made up to look gaunt, pallid, and thoroughly unappealing (although not freakish), you still can't take your eyes off of him. With body language, countenance, and tone of voice, he's able to suggest a raging intensity lurking just below the surface of his character's socially awkward loner exterior. Taylor still won't come up with any awards recognition for this role (it's WAY too hot a potato), but that doesn't change the fact that he's brilliantly conquered a daunting acting challenge.

John Cusack, in a welcome change from the light roles he's been playing lately, is also excellent as the title character, skillfully portraying a worldly businessman who's too focused on artistic images to ever notice the big picture. The subject matter allows near-zero latitude for levity, but SOME mirth is needed to keep the proceedings from becoming unrelentingly grim. Meyjes ingenious solution to this quandary is wry comments on art and (especially) the business of art by Max - a perfect fit for Cusack's deadpan delivery.

Even though you KNOW which career path Hitler is ultimately going down, the equilibrium between the forces pulling him in both directions and the incredible `what might have been' fascination factor keep you thoroughly transfixed throughout the film's near-2-hour running time. NOBODY in the huge auditorium where I saw the film got up or stirred from the opening scene through to the supremely ironic ending - not even to answer the call of nature. MAX is sure not `the feel-good film of the year,' but if you've been longing for a powerful, all-encompassing drama that doesn't require you to check your brain at the door, this is the film you've been waiting for.