Director Norman Jewison called Pierre Brossard, the Nazi war criminal in “The Statement,” “a monster and a sad man.” These five Nazis show different personalities.
1. OSKAR SCHINDLER IN “SCHINDLER’S LIST”
(Steven Spielberg, 1993)
Initially consumed by greed, Oskar Schindler used World War II to put Jews to work without pay. But when Schindler sees Nazi tyranny firsthand, he uses his party affiliation to hire more than 1,000 Jews, strictly to save them.
2. ADENOID HYNKEL IN “THE GREAT DICTATOR”
(Charlie Chaplin, 1940)
Screaming political speeches so barbaric that mics bend in fear, Chaplin’s parody of Hitler is a hilarious triumph. A Chaplin fan, Hitler apparently felt betrayed by the comedian and banned the film.
3. DANNY BALINT IN “THE BELIEVER” (Henry Bean, 2001)
Loosely based on real-life Jewish Nazi Danny Burrows, Ryan Gosling dynamically conveys his character’s tumultuous divide. Beating a Jew publicly and paying respects to The Torah privately, Gosling’s Danny Balint is one of film’s most disturbing, unforgettable enigmas.
4. TRAUDL JUNGE IN “BLIND SPOT: HITLER’S SECRETARY”
(ANDRE HELLER AND OTHMAR SCHMIDERER, 2002)
Junge was an aspiring dancer when she found herself working for Hitler. This priceless documentary interview shows how his charm and celebrity won her over; she really liked the man, and never forgave herself for it until her final days.
5. DR. STRANGELOVE IN “DR STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB”
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(Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
Peter Sellers’ performance of the title role is the most cherished from this Cold War comedy. Contorted in his wheelchair and speaking in a sly German accent, he attempts to advise the president on the brink of nuclear war, but his Nazi loyalties hilariously erupt in Freudian slips and salutes, which Sellers improvised.