Moloch (1999)

In 1942, in Bavaria, Eva Braun is alone, when Adolf Hitler arrives with Dr. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels and Martin Bormann to spend a couple of days without talking politics.

Director:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Writers:

Yuriy Arabov, Marina Koreneva

Stars:

Elena Rufanova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Irina Sokolova

7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Elena Rufanova	...	Eva Braun
Leonid Mozgovoy	...	Adolf Hitler
Irina Sokolova	...	Dr. Josef Goebbels (as Leonid Sokol)
Yelena Spiridonova	...	Magda Goebbels
Vladimir Bogdanov	...	Martin Bormann
Anatoliy Shvederskiy	...	Priest
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franco Moscon	...	Nazi Officer
Natalya Nikulenko
Rosina Tsidulko

Storyline

In 1942, in Bavaria, Eva Braun is alone, when Adolf Hitler arrives with Dr. Josef Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels and Martin Bormann to spend a couple of days without talking politics.

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Plot Keywords:

german | reference to adolf hitler | world war two | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Russia Germany Japan Italy France

Language:

German

Release Date:

13 October 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Moloch

Filming Locations:

Obersalzberg, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte,Fabrica,Fusion Product

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Russia for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 72th Academy Awards in 2000.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou (2008)

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Soundtracks

Gebet der Elisabeth 'Allmächt'ge Jungfrau' from TANNHÄUSER
By Richard Wagner

User Reviews

Magic, once you work it out.

Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss is about when people say this is a boring and pretentious film. Yes, this is an art-house flick. It's beautiful purpose is to make you think in many different ways and about many different aspects of Nazism; for instance, look how the throng assembles like one of Rembrandt's paintings of the ruling council when 'Adi' slumps into the chair. A very telling reference out - but this film doesn't restrict its references to 'highbrow' themes. In its stylised portrayal of Goebbels and Bormann it manages to suggest the stereotypes of American cinema, which is meant to generate insights into how to view this centre of evil. As the synopsis says, Hitler et al have come to Berchtesgaden for R & R, right? Not much fun, is it? At the centre of this empire, there is simply a void of yes-men who cannot relax in each other's company, who cannot even break out the wine until der Fuhrer has gone to bed, and who for whom every day is an exercise in the most intense nervousness *with no way out except through der Fuhrer's whimsical violent rage.* This movie is one of the driest I've come across. If Mel Brooks was the slapstick Nazis, this is Nazis as 'Big Brother' contestants. So underplayed, it's not exactly surprising many people complain there's nothing going on here - but then, the evil of the Nazis is a strange and unwanted gift for artists and filmmakers who want to get as damn near to Eliot's 'Objective Correlative' as possible, so they can play with a collective, coherent response. In this case, it begins with, "The Nazis were awful, awful people. When did their punishment happen, eh? How was death truly a punishment for their particular evil?" This movie shows, by making fun of them from several perspectives, exactly what their punishment was. When the film moves into the relationship between AH and EB later on, it is further complicated by the fact that Eva is the only one who has even seen what they are doing. Note the subtlety of the exchange which ends in Adi saying, "That's the right answer," or the weird symbolism of their body language when he finally catches up with her in the bedroom. Sokhurov is not trying to portray realistically what happened; he is using the space of Berchtesgaden as a space for a symbolic expression of what Nazism did to the Nazis themselves. Their hell began when they imposed it on others, and they only discovered it later, by which time, one of them was a doddering old neurotic wreck, another one way out of his depth, and still another one abandoned by his old comrades and desperately trying to curry favour. And the whole thing adds up to something ludicrous. I have read on another critique here, that Hitler was considered to be very boring. Well, he can't have been that boring, if you could provoke him to send you to the Russian front simply by criticising his ambitions - but then, the boredom angle is catered for in the first ten minutes with Eva's listlessness. This film is classic.