Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)

Directors:

André Heller
Othmar Schmiderer

Writers:

André Heller (writer)
Othmar Schmiderer (writer)

Release Date:

22 March 2002 (Austria)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Documentary featuring interview footage with Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries during WWII.

Plot Keywords:

Hitler | Secretary | Employer Employee Relationship | Job Interview | Anti Semitism

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Traudl Junge

...

Herself

Also Known As:

Blind Spot. Hitler's Secretary (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material.

Runtime:

90 min | Canada:95 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Austria

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | Norway:A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG | USA:PG | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:14

Company:

Dor Film Produktionsgesellschaft

Quotes:

Traudl Junge: And I think it's also the case that if you value and respect someone you don't really want to destroy the image of that person... you don't want to know, in fact if disaster lies beyond the facade.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Der Untergang (2004)

Boring as cinema but thematically interesting

As a piece of cinema, "Blind Spot" is a bold experiment that simply doesn't work; the filmmakers have one good idea - occasionally they show Traudl Junge watching her own interview and commenting on it - but for most of the film's 90 minutes they have the camera immobile and stuck on her face as she speaks, and although her face is expressive and her words are interesting, your attention can't help but wander on several occasions. But "Blind Spot" is also a remarkably truthful confession of a woman / portrait of a man. Junge says that she doesn't want to talk a lot about the "banal" incidents of Hitler's everyday life, but she keeps doing it instinctively, as you would expect from someone who lived so close to him for three years. She also expresses her guilt about not being able to understand what was really going on at the time ("unforgivable"), and at the end she admits that not even her young age is a good enough excuse for her ignorance. Note: "Blind Spot" may work best for German-speaking audiences, as small details of Junge's speech are probably lost in subtitles of any other language.