The Decent One

Himmler, alongside Hitler and Goebbels were the real architects of the Nazi regime. Though many other culprits existed and were brought to justice, these three evaded any form of public trial. This has lead to a cloud of mystery around how human beings could do such horrors to one another. This film uses real documents, letters and diaries collected over time and as part of an batch stolen by US troops, more for their uncertainty of what would happen to them than criminal intents. These are used to capture Himmler as he was in the real world.

I studied the second world war for A Level and remember it being a time of legends. Evil and good shared the same realm and the figures of evil were given little more than a stereotype shell. This always worried me, as people can distance themselves and motivations from these monsters. Thankfully in the last few years we have seen this change and the renewed desire to make human people such as Hitler (the Downfall, an excellent film) and explore how a being can become such. This documentary had me torn. We have on the one hand an exceptionally compelling story of a man and a monster. A man that saw a different people (with shared identity) and set about destroying them. With the use of source documents he is brought to life, like never before. He is brought to us whole and we can then pick at the pieces of information.

The other hand is quite problematic. I have seen a lot of films in truth and many documentaries, with many focused on the Second World War.The direction is skilled and balanced but it seems the stock footage has the effect of putting us at distance. It reminded me of the series The World at War. Excellent as that was it was too instructional and formulaic for a modern, more media savvy viewer. Tobius Moretti is a superb actor but here he is literally a voice at the same tone and wavelength. This helps create a hypnotic effect with all of the stock footage and re-enactments that add a repetitive tone. That is all the negatives mind and as a piece it is a very worthy watch. The overall comment I would make is, thanks to the ambition of the film makers the film has opened up the life of a monster who was a loving husband and ashamed of some of his actions. It is a strong piece and very much a film that will stay with you.