Synopsis
Through previously undiscovered private letters, photos and diaries that were found in the Himmler family house in 1945, the "The Decent One" exposes a unique and at times uncomfortable access to the life and mind of the merciless "Architect of the Final Solution" Heinrich Himmler.
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Cast
- Heinrich HimmlerSelf (archive footage)
- Tobias MorettiHeinrich Himmler (voice)
- Sophie RoisMarga Himmler (voice)
- Lotte LedlHedwig Potthast (voice)
- Gudrun Himmler
- Antonia MorettiGudrun Himmler (voice)
- Florentín GrollGehbard Himmler (voice)
- Pauline KnofAnna Himmler (voice)
- Lenz MorettiYoung Heinrich Himmler (voice)
- Hermann GöringSelf (archive footage)
Recommendations
- 83
Christian Science Monitor
Himmler in one of his letters says that “in life, one must be always decent, courageous and kind-hearted,” and “decent” is apparently how he saw himself right up to the time he swallowed a cyanide capsule after he was captured by the British. - 75
New York Post
Eerie and utterly riveting. - 60
Time Out
Apart from the devastating material itself, some of Lapa’s aesthetic choices are extremely off-putting. - 60
The New York Times
The voice-over-driven readings and the illustrative footage — unwisely augmented with new sound effects — lack a fundamental filmic momentum. - 60
The Dissolve
Lapa’s story is in the disconnect between the words and the visuals, or the visuals and what we know to be true, or even the words from one moment to the next. - 60
New York Daily News
Vanessa Lapa constructed this straightforward biopic about SS leader Heinrich Himmler from a recently found trove of his personal letters and photographs. Her streamlined approach seems appropriate for the subject, which boils down to the banality of evil. - 60
Los Angeles Times
At its most effective, though, The Decent One reveals a psychological portrait of a man devoted to his family yet consumed by a soul-blackening and horrifically destructive cause. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
It’s perhaps too focused on the Reichsfuhrer’s personal life... while the director’s decision to add sound effects to silent images sometimes feels uncalled for.
