Human Remains (1998) User Reviews

Morbidly fascinating

[KhrysaJim · 9/10 · 2 September 2002]

I caught this short on IFC and was riveted! The first-person approach made the film at once interesting and disturbing. These men almost seemed "human", and it was hard to distance their private lives from the personas we know from history.

Though not a short-documentary fan, I am very glad I caught this gem.

Great Concept

[Tzsm98 · 7/10 · 25 January 2005]

What a great idea to use the personal writings of the 20th century's dictators to illustrate their home movies, propaganda films and news clips.

The artist exhibited a keen sense of knowing what words to put with which shot. For example, Hitler's discussion of his flatulence voices over a shot of Hitler and two other people fanning the air about them. Wonderful contrasts between the words of the subject and the action of the subject as recorded on film appear in other shots.

The artist also had a keen ear for what words to choose. All of the subjects left extensive writings. He managed to pick the right five or ten minutes of their written remains to illustrate them properly.

Additionally, the similarities among the subjects startled me. On several points the words used were very close to identical. In other instances he illustrated the similarities in intensity rather than detail.

If anyone ever needed to know why the 20th century was such a mess and had only thirty minutes in which to figure it out, this film would be the place to go.

The sound effects used to enhance the film distracted me a bit. The unclear shots of the man with the shovel created another distraction.

The secret lives of the 20th century's worst dictators

[ajweir · 7/10 · 21 February 2001]

Using (mostly) black and white documentary footage, this short film focuses on the 20th century's dictators - Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco and Chairman Mau. Narrated as if retrospectively commenting on their personal lives and problems (Hitler's flatulence, Mussolini's hygiene routine, Mau's constipation). Reducing these figures responsible for human suffering on a grand scale to the level of personal insecurities/foibles, Human Remains curiously reinforces their crimes against humanity.

A powerful look at the banality behind evil

[Jeremy Ribakove · 10/10 · 2 April 2003]

This short psuedodocumentary is worth the search. It takes 5 of the major dictators of the 20th century (Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco, Mao) and shows us glimpses of their daily personal lives. It captures the averageness in the lives of dictators, but is never boring. With a first-person narration, the subjects take on a familiar feel, which becomes even creepier when you realize how their everyday habits, gripes, and superstitions could lead to genocide.

A first-rate effort, from the research to the footage to the narration.

Dictators are people, too

[craigjclark · 10/10 · 9 February 2002]

This is an ingenious and darkly humorous film. Over newsreel footage and home movies, Jay Rosenblatt shares with us intimate details about reprehensible historical characters such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco and Mao -- often times using their own words -- and in the process sheds light on some of the personalities that shaped the 20th century, for good or ill. The end result doesn't humanize then so much as its throws their horrible crimes into sharp relief. They don't teach this kind of stuff in school, but they should.

...but there was liver in the dumplings, and chicken stock in the nudelsuppe...

[YesYesNo · 7/10 · 31 July 2007]

The film contains five segments separated by the recurring image of a man shoveling through smoldering black ashes. The segments profile Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco and Mao. An ominous hum persists through much of the film, but disappears for Mussolini and Franco. Cute. First person voice-overs posing as the translated words of the dictators themselves offer intimate details of their habits, physical conditions and private affairs. Meanwhile, archive footage of the dictators relaxing with family and colleagues, or performing routine functions devoid of passion or ideology provides some visual evidence to complement the monologues.

The effect is engrossing and mildly comical, especially with the very casual style of the English 'translations'. Think Dr. Evil telling his life story. Those who didn't already know will learn that the great dictators were human beings with insecurities and unsavory habits like everybody else. The rest of us can enjoy the stream of interesting facts, the carefully sequenced, but certainly familiar footage, and the smooth delivery of the 'translator'. Don't expect anything too challenging or ground breaking, however.

Powerful

[avon · 10/10 · 1 December 1998]

What a fascinating, disturbing view of former world leaders.

The audience was spellbound. The graphics wonderful, editing perfect, professional all the way around.

The most powerful movie I saw at Sundance.

Lives of the Monsters

[st-shot · 6/10 · 24 September 2010]

This brief documentary on the offstage idiosyncrasies of four (Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Franco) certifiable 20th century monsters and an inept wanna be (Mussollini) has some fascinating and lurid detail but it's back from the dead voice over narration more than once calls into question the veracity of the statements within the film and you get the feeling the maker does a little out of context word twisting to meet his needs. The deception certainly extends to the archival footage which is blatantly manipulated to emphasize irony, shock and dark humor regarding the subjects and some of this domestic clay feet exposure borders on TMI.

It turns out that reduced to their "human" size we are given a cross section of stereotypical pettiness, inept parenthood, bad hygiene, fierce tempers and a complete inability to relate to women ( perhaps here again we can exclude Il Duce) in statements that beg follow-up questions.

Human Remains piecemeal revelations may offer some incite but Rosenblatt's casual off the cuff style tends to have a grain of salt quality to it. But, like a car wreck, it's tough not to look at.

Strangely compelling and chilling

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 14 April 2009]

This is a very odd short documentary. It is broken into segments during which one of several dictators narrates about his life and thoughts and quirks. Of course they really didn't get Hitler, Mussolini, Mao and the rest to actually do the narration but the works are actually those they spoke during their sick lives. At times, these men sound very human and with various frailties but this is juxtaposed with their obsessions and quirks that are evidence that they are indeed twisted men. At the same time, however, their infamous deeds are not mentioned--mostly because this is already common knowledge. Some bizarre facts? Well, that Hitler was sexually obsessed with his young niece, Geli, as well as that Mao never bathed and didn't care at all that he spread VD to his many, many young sexual partners. While little of this was a surprise to me, as I am a history teacher, to most these oddities and hearing the thoughts of these freaks is strangely compelling and chilling. Well worth seeing.

The men behind the monster

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 14 November 2017]

"Human Remains" is a black-and-white documentary short film from 1998, so this one will have its 20th anniversary next year and it is one of the career-defining works by writer and director Jay Rosenblatt. Its still existing popularity today has a lot to do with the great deal of awards recognition it experienced after its release. If you read the title "Human Remains", you'd probably not expect a documentary on 5 of the most gruesome politicians of the 21st century. But it is fitting as we find out a great deal about Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco and Mao and what we find out exactly shows us that from some perspective they weren't too different compared to you and me. Constipation is just one aspect. Man if Mao had seen that, he'd probably have killed each and everybody connected to this project. Anyway, the film's biggest strength is that it does not give us the historic facts we could hear in a hundred other documentaries, but that it tries to shed a light on the human behind the historical figure and this attempt was more than successful and I guess that is also what all these awards bodies loved about this one here. It's sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always intriguing and informative. I certainly give this half hour a thumbs-up and recommend the watch here.

Its a very good film.

[skillrob · 8/10 · 11 November 2013]

I searched and searched for this short for years after first catching part of it on IFC way back before IFC started showing commercials. It may be the one of the best short films ever made IMHO. It is part drama part documentary. The drama comes in the form of the narrators (voice actors) who speak using accents that fit each character. A German accent for Hitler, Asian for Mao Zedong and so on. They each tell intimate details about themselves speaking in the first person perspective, while a single musical note adds to the darkness while we listen to what sounds very much like the random and mundane musings that take place in the minds of these madmen.

I finally found the short. It is for sale and rent see it for yourself.

Can't take your eyes away !

[cekadah · 10/10 · 8 June 2014]

I was just fixated watching! A great documentary on the daily lives of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco, and Mao. The documentary isn't about their evil deeds or their dictatorial powers. It's just a look into their personal thoughts, their hygiene, their likes & dislikes such as food.

Jay Rosenblatt has created a spellbinding format of a grave digger digging away as the documentary goes from one dictator to the next and looking at train tracks taking you there.

The subject will remain with you long after you watch. And the song at the end credits sums up what the world felt when these men were alive.