Conspiracy (2001)

At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.

Director:

Frank Pierson

Writer:

Loring Mandel

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Clare Bullus, Stanley Tucci

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Reinhard Heydrich
Clare Bullus	...	Maid (as Claire Bullus)
Stanley Tucci	...	Adolf Eichmann
Simon Markey	...	Stenographer
David Glover	...	Supervising Butler
David Willoughby	...	Orderly #1
Tom Hiddleston	...	Phone Operator
David Spinx	...	Cook
Dirk Martens	...	NCO
Barnaby Kay	...	Rudolf Lange
Peter Sullivan	...	SS.Col. Eberhard 'Karl' Schöngarth
Ben Daniels	...	Dr. Joseph Bühler
Andreas Guenther	...	NCO2
Ewan Stewart	...	Dr. Georg Leibbrandt
Brian Pettifer	...	Dr. Alfred Meyer

Storyline

In January 1942, as the United States enters World War II, a conference assembles near Berlin. S.S. General Heydrich and his associate, Lieutenant Eichmann call the meeting to discuss the "evacuation" of Germany's Jews and other undesirables, a code word for their extermination in concentration camps. To begin this Final Solution, they must change the mind of a small group of men opposed to the idea, led by Chancellor Kritzinger.

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Plot Keywords:

holocaust | nazi officer | political crime | nazis | final solution | 

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Taglines:

One Of The Greatest Crimes Against Humanity Was Perpetrated In Just Over An Hour.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

14+

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stanley Tucci is the only American actor in the production, yet he was not asked to affect a British accent to match the other members of the production.

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Goofs

When Klopfer asks "How many lawyers are there at the table? Raise your hand", Rudolf Lange is seen raising his hand twice in two different shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Adolph Hitler invaded Poland in September, 1939, starting WWII. By the winter of 1942, his armies were freezing and starving in the snows of Russia, where his best general had died of a heart attack, and America had entered the war. For the first time, Hitler's dream of a German empire to last 1,000 years was in doubt. While he hired and fired generals and the winter grew colder 15 of his officials were ordered from their commands and ministries to meet in a quiet lakeside ...

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Connections

Version of Die Wannseekonferenz (1984)

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Soundtracks

String Quintet in C Major', D.956: Adagio
Written by Franz Schubert
Performed by Ensemble Villa Musica
courtesy of Naxos of America
by arrangement with Source Q

User Reviews

A comparison with "The Wannsee Conference"

I saw "The Wannsee Conference" several years ago and there are some differences in focus.

"The Wannsee Conference" in my opinion, focused more on Heydrich as the central figure. Eichmann was, frankly, Heydrich's shadow. In "Conspiracy" Eichmann is a stronger presence and a more terrifying bully. He is always degrading or humiliating someone below him in this film.

The Heydrichs were quite different. The Heydrich of "The Wannsee Conference" struck me as more of the "Blond Beast" as his terrified subordinates called him. A sociopath of Satanic purity motivated by no greed lesser than that for total domination of himself and everything around him. A man with no use whatsoever for any feelings, who despised sadism because even that is a feeling. A perfectionist of tremendous ability in anything he chose to do, without the least shred of humanity. I really didn't get that sense of pure unblinking malevolence from the Branagh of "Conspiracy" as I did from "The Wannsee Conference".

There is a third point. By the time of this conference Heydrich had had himself appointed ruler of Bohemia and Moravia which allowed him to report directly to Hitler. Another hat Heydrich wore, the hat in which he was chairing the conference, was head of the Office of Reich Security. As head of the Office of Reich Security the chiefs of the Gestapo and SD (intelligence) were HIS direct reports, not Himmlers. So not only was he out from under Himmler's physical supervision, not only could he filter everything that ended up on Himmler's desk, but he could report directly to a Hitler who adored him as prototype of the New German. Heydrich was Hitler's golden haired boy. He was everything Hitler could have wanted in a son. And Heydrich certainly saw himself as Hitler's ultimate heir. I believe that had the Nazis won he would have succeeded Hitler. Heydrich had pulled off the ultimate office politics coup, i.e., bypassing your boss, cutting him out of the loop, and reporting directly to his boss. He was a direct threat to Himmler at this point so his assassination by an SOE team was something Himmler probably took with a tremendous (secret) sigh of relief.

In "The Wannsee Conference" Heydrich is interrupted, I think twice, by phone calls from Himmler. In "Conspiracy" Eichmann flatly tells a subordinate that no calls are to be taken during the conference "except from Hitler and he won't call". I wondered, "What about Himmler who is nominally his boss's boss ? Refusing to take a phone call from your boss is total disrespect for his authority.". Is this a difference in viewpoint between the two films ? That the Heydrich of "Conspiracy" is so confident of his role as Hitler's surrogate son and heir that he can blow off Himmler while the Heydrich of "The Wannsee Conference" is not ?

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

19 May 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Conspiration

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1