Conspiracy (2001)
Genre: Drama / War
Duration: 96 minuten
Country:
United States / United Kingdom
Directed by: Frank Pierson
Stars: Stanley Tucci, Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth
IMDb score:
7,6 (29.267)
Releasedate: 19 May 2001
Conspiracy plot
"One meeting. Six million lives."
General Heydrich has been ordered by the Führer to organize a secret conference, der Wannsee Konferenz. On 20 January 1942 he gathered fifteen Nazi leaders for this meeting in a villa on the Wannsee, just outside Berlin. There are some important and urgent matters that need to be discussed. The growing number of Jews is a thorn in the side of the Fuehrer and it is up to General Heydrich to look for solutions at this meeting.
Actors and actresses
Reinhard Heydrich
Adolf Eichmann
Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart
Erich Neumann
Heinrich Müller
Josef Bühler
Rudolf Lange
Martin Luther
Gerhard Klopfer
Alfred Meyer
Reviews & comments
Roger Thornhill
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- 6070 messages
- 2476 votes
I can hardly share most of the objections mentioned here. The fact that the English (and Americans here too) play Germans and therefore speak German just seems to me to be part of the suspension or disbelief necessary for literally every feature film. And that it would be boring, all those people just in a room, I can't reach it either, all the characters are introduced excellently and soon get such a personal and clearly outlined character that they come to life almost immediately, so that you don't sitting around the table with fifteen strangers but with full-fledged characters who all contribute to the discussion and thus to the impact: the man who cannot bear the fact that his "warrior honor" is tarnished by carrying out executions as if he were only an executioner , the general who turns white from the proposed mass murder but throws it on a wrong cigar, the man who hides himself and his awareness of the approaching holocaust behind the Nuremberg racial laws that he himself drafted and so on, all excellent and very "living" characters, all played fantastically -- not to mention the excellent performances by Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci as the two bela most important characters in this whole story. Even black humor is present: the director of the Four Years Planning Bureau who is not taken seriously by anyone, or the way in which Heydrich cunningly confirms his supremacy upon entry by abolishing the Hitler salute for the duration of the meeting. I've seen the film six times now and every minute of it remains exciting, not only because of its enormous historical importance but also because of the dramatic tension between all the characters.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Jeroenymus
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- 39 messages
- 35 votes
A board meeting from '42.
Incredibly well portrayed one and a half hour piece of history. Of course based on truth because nobody knows exactly what was said during this meeting. It has been proven that the meeting took place. Eichman's minutes were later found in Berlin, but that doesn't say everything, of course. He apparently had not destroyed them as requested by Reinhard Heydrich. For example, the word extermination was replaced by removal or deportation. Today we are all aware of the effect. The dialogues are very well developed. The NSDAP summit is present with all kinds of other party top figures and government officials.
In a very neutral and emotionless tone, plans were made to destroy the Jewish race in Europe. While enjoying a snack and a drink (as if it were the most normal thing in the world) it was decided how they would remove all 'units'. At one point, Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart doesn't quite agree with one part and is abruptly interrupted. He is taken aside for a moment outside and told that opposition and criticism are bad for his career. Today it could have been an average management or board meeting of a large company. Replace the word Jew with employees and the labor bearings with reorganizations and reorganizations. The coldness, the emotionless, self-interest first, the ingredients are the same as then. Reports were actually made about whether 3 Jews could sleep in a barrack or only two!!!!! horrifying. Mandatory food for everyone!!!!!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Jawaddedadde
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- 5348 messages
- 2196 votes
Excellent!
I already knew it was going to be okay when I saw that it was a BBC/HBO production. Fantastic yet at the same time repulsive piece of history. This docudrama does not show how Jew-hatred arose, but how the Nazis wanted to 'solve' the Jewish question. Unbelievable how businesslike this meeting was. As if it were an everyday matter and not the extermination of an entire race! Particularly interesting are the definitions and the wording used. Not elimination, but evacuation, where evacuation is of course simply synonymous with elimination.
All important Nazi leaders were represented in this meeting, and what is striking is that - despite their common desire to make Germany and by extension Europe free of Jews - they still take very different positions. One thinks of the economic impact. After all, Jews can be used as workers. Others prefer sterilization. Still others argued without batting an eyelid for complete eradication. No women and no men means no sex and no offspring. Simple right? poignant.
You can still have some sympathy for the characters of Colin Firth (Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart) and David Threlfall (Dr. Wilhelm Kritzinger), although the former really just wanted a legal framework, rather than the fate of the Jews. That Kritzinger seemed to be the only one who seemed to have a bit of common sense.
It is therefore not surprising that both gentlemen are threatened in veiled terms by Reinhard Heydrich - the great driving force behind this project - to speak out in favor of this meeting. In any case, a very strong performance by Kenneth Branagh.
A film that everyone should actually see, if only for its historical value. Madness at the Wannsee.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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