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Rating:  - chilling
I just happened to stumble on this when it first showed on HBO, and was tickled to see it on dvd. Absolutly fascinating to watch a room full of nazis sit and eat and drink and smoke and smooze..and calmly discuss the best method to extinguish and entire race of people. A great look at the depths of human evil.
Rating: - Very fine docudrama
'Conspiracy' is a rare thing, a TV movie that only gets better every time you watch it.
Not that you want to watch it very often, as it's essentially a dramatisation of how the Third Reich came to make its decisions about how the extermination of European Jewry should be planned and carried out. The Nazis called a conference in a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee; after it was over, all those who attended were sent copies of the minutes, and they were supposed to destroy these copies fairly swiftly. However, one attendee failed to do so. This last remaining copy of the minutes of the Wannsee Conference is one of the (many) major pieces of evidence that the Nazis planned the destruction of the European Jews at the highest level, and that it was not merely something that just sort of happened.
'Conspiracy' is a beautifully conceived and intelligently executed movie. The genius of it is that it's basically a movie about a committee meeting. We see the preparation of the buffet (the food looks truly yummy); we see everyone arriving and making small talk; we get a tantalising glimpse of the office politics; we get little glimpses of who has high status and who has low. The SS men (Barnaby Kay and Peter Sullivan) are tired, battle-hardened and cynical. The guy in charge of planning the economic future of the Reich (Ewan Stewart) is a naive and hopeful drone, constantly introducing himself to people and being snubbed in return. The lawyer who drew up the Nuremberg laws regarding the legal status of German Jews (Colin Firth), laws that this conference is about to consign to the dustbin of history, is simmering with barely-suppressed anger and resentment. Not because he's angry about the way Jews are being treated, but because he can see that all his hard work is about to be brushed aside. The only person in the room who appears to have anything resembling sympathy for the Jews is the representative of the Reich Chancellery (David Threlfall), and he's too pussy to do anything about it.
The acting honours go to all, as this is a real ensemble piece. But it's worth mentioning Stanley Tucci, who presents Adolf Eichmann as a classic kiss-up-kick-down middle management guy, nodding and smiling at his leader's taste in music and then dismissing it with contempt once the boss has left the room; and especially Kenneth Branagh as the top man at the conference, Reinhard Heydrich, who was at the time the head of the SS Security Service and one of the most feared men in Europe. The light-hearted way in which Branagh warns Firth not to try to stop the SS from doing whatever the hell it wants (because, he casually remarks as he lights a cigarette, 'there is no shortage of meathooks' in the Third Reich) is truly chilling. Branagh never scowls, never grimaces, never gets angry, never bullies anyone, never loses his glamorous cool. He smiles and smiles and smiles, but the implicit threat is always there. It's a great performance.
The script is incredibly economical, and expands on the historical evidence in a way that I (who have read quite a bit on the subject) find to be a respectable balance between the historically plausible and the dramatically effective. The direction is subtle and intelligent. Nobody here is presented as a spooky evil villain - the film is about the many ways in which they convince themselves that they're doing the right thing. And the acting, like I said, is top-notch. I would recommend this film to be shown in schools. It shows what happens when people think that their cause is so righteous that it justifies any kind of behaviour.
Rating: - Outstanding
Exceptional acting, direction, and writing. Wastes no time to get to the core of the story of what took place at the meeting. Recreates, through the interaction of the meeting members, the gravity and tension of what was being discussed: the Final Solution. Outstanding filmaking and story telling.
I went to the Wannsee Conference House outside Berlin in Spring, 2008, and the head librarian told me that the scenes outside the villa were shot on site, and that the filmakers measured the inside of the house so that the movie sets would be as close to the real villa as possible.
Note: The "story" picks up immediately. There is very little in the way of history, background, or context, so, if you don't already know a little of the history, I highly recommend doing a little reading in order to get the most out of this film. You can get some of that by reading the Wannsee Conference posting at Wikipedia.
Rating: - Supurb in every way
The acting, the story, script, setting, everything is terrific. This is a film I'll watch again and again.
Rating: - Great Movie
Wanted this on Region 2 (Europe), but couldn't get it anywhere, for some reason. Had to buy the region 1 disc and hack my dvd player to play it. Great film that i had not seen for some time. Don't expect an action packed movie full of guns and explosions. It's just a group of guys talking around a table. For those who like well acted and true to life stories, this is a wonderful piece of history. I highly recommend it.
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