Max

Max
by Menno Meyjes

List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $3.98
You Save: $6.00 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.24 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

DVD details

DVD Reviews of Max

DVD Review: Hitler - The Early Years
Summary: 4 Stars

This is certainly understandable, for how is one to "explain" an Adolph Hitler? How is one to reconcile the man who was responsible for the deaths of millions with a flesh-and-blood person who lived and breathed like the rest of us? The answers to these questions have eluded sociologists, psychologists and artists for decades now and it is the rare person who even attempts to provide us with some possible explanations. It is for this reason that writer/director Menno Meyjes deserves extraordinary praise for bringing "Max" to the screen. Is it possible for a single film - especially one that runs a mere 108 minutes - to successfully address this bewilderingly complex subject? Probably not, but "Max" certainly takes a bold first step in trying to piece together this most mystifying of psychoanalytical puzzles.

Meyjes begins his story in 1918, immediately after the Germans have suffered a crushing defeat in World War I and now face further humiliation in the form of punitive measures meted out by the Versailles Treaty. We see Hitler as essentially an embittered 30-year-old social misfit, a rootless, impoverished, down-on-his-luck painter whose work shows some promise but who keeps being told that he needs to find that "authentic voice" that will distinguish his work from that of his more successful artistic contemporaries. One of the people who tells him that is Max Rothman, a wealthy Jewish art dealer who, like Hitler, served his country in the war and who, also like Hitler, has a good reason to feel embittered about the experience. It seems that Rothman's career as a great and promising artist was cut short by the loss of his arm in battle. Thus, while Hitler burns with a sense of nationalistic fervor (he blames everyone but the Germans - at least the Aryan ones - for his country's defeat), Max seems less inclined to declare total devotion to his country. This is just one of the many points of contention that define this fascinating relationship between the two men.

What Meyjes is able to do so well is to show just how Hitler transitioned from being basically a petty angry young man filled with feelings of personal doubts and inadequacy to being a bold, confidant visionary of a new world order based on German domination with himself at the helm. Through these two main characters, Meyjes paints a brilliant portrait of the times, of a country in ruins, of a people desperate to find scapegoats on which to pin their suffering. Even Hitler's anti-Semitism is initially vague and ill defined until some army leaders groom him to become one of the spokesmen for their new system known as "propaganda." Hitler is, obviously, a tightly coiled malcontent who, when he discovers he cannot convey his ideas successfully on canvas, changes his medium to that of speechmaking. Max, who has been encouraging him to pour his feelings into his artwork and to stay away from rabblerousing in the streets and beer halls, can do little but sit back in awe watching this seemingly insignificant young man beginning to exert his influence on the world around them. Although Hitler in many ways admires and respects this Jewish "friend," he can't get beyond the burning envy he feels towards the easy life that money and a privileged family have bought for Max. It is the great irony at the end of the film that Max becomes the unwitting first victim of Hitler-inspired hooliganism and violence and that, through this action, Hitler himself loses his opportunity to make a name for himself in the art world. The closing scene has a kind of perfect symmetry about it. These two men's lives intersect at a crucial moment in history, not in the way they intended, perhaps, but more as the result of a cruel trick of fate. A great theme that runs throughout the film is the old "what if" scenario. What if Hitler had been able to find acceptance in the art world? What if the Treaty of Versailles had not exacted so harsh a penalty from the German people? This theme is beautifully caught in microcosm in a scene where Max stages a small play lamenting the loss of his arm and his ability to paint and pondering over what works he might have produced had things turned out differently.

Because we know what ended up happening in the years following the events depicted in the film, "Max" is filled with a haunting sense of sadness and foreboding. For instance, we see the Jews of Max's family enjoying their luxury and wealth totally unaware of what awaits them in the near future. It's as if the Sword of Damocles were poised precariously above their heads, yet they are serenely unaware of its existence and the danger they are in. Even the astute Max seems only vaguely cognizant of the threat Hitler and people like him pose to his way of life or the health and lives of those he loves. For without the 20/20 hindsight that experience affords, who could ever rationally conceive that a man like the Hitler portrayed here could bring the entire world crashing down around him? That, in fact, seems to be Meyjes' point, that "evil" can arise where we least think to look for it - in the banal, the mundane, the mediocre people who surround us unnoticed - until one day we wake up and see it all around us, when it is too late to do anything about it. The real tragedy of the story is that Max, for all his insight into life and art, cannot see that the ultimate evil of our times happens to be standing right there next to him in a shabby overcoat and worn out shoes. For much of the film's duration, Max sees Hitler as, essentially, a benign misfit, one who simply needs to channel his somewhat disturbing beliefs in a more positive direction, i.e. his artwork. It is Max's obliviousness to the true potential of his "protégé" that gives the film its air of chilling menace. Meyjes writes dialogue that is sharp, sophisticated and meaningfully witty. For instance, he embodies much of his theme in lines that grate on our ears and our sensibilities in their almost irreverent casualness, but which make perfect sense in the context of the story - lines like "I'd like you to meet Adolph Hitler...I've never heard of him" or "Hitler, let me buy you a lemonade." Such statements throw us off balance and make us giggle - until we realize just how beautifully they portray the meaning of the work, that at one time Hitler was just a name like any other, not imbued with any special evil significance - just like the man himself. We almost expect the people in the film to jump back in horror from his sheer presence or the mere mention of his name - yet how were they to know what was to come? How were they to know they needed to flee or at least do something proactive to counter his growing influence and power? These are the questions that haunt us.

John Cusack as Max and Noah Taylor as Hitler give brilliant, insightful performances. Taylor does the well nigh impossible job of making Hitler seem strangely human while, at the same time, helping us to understand just how quick a leap it can be from disillusioned outcast to maniacal dictator.

"Max" is a brave and noteworthy triumph, a film that takes chances and sets a high standard for future historical dramas on the subject.

Description of Max