Conspiracy

On today's menu, we have a dark slice of history, presented in movie format, filmed with excellent style and topped with some amazing acting.

Today's serving is a somewhat overlooked TV movie: Conspiracy (2001).

Conspiracy is one of those movies that are hard to explain in a nutshell. If someone asks you “What's it about?” or “What happens in it?”, you're in a bit of trouble.

What it's about is the Wannsee Conference. This was a secret meeting held in a villa by Lake Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The importance of this meeting is monumental, as this was when the Final Solution was enacted. In other words, when the fate of the Jews were set in motion.

That's what Conspiracy is about.

But what happens in it then? Well, they talk, and talk, yell occasionally, and then talk some more. And that's the trouble with this film. An explanation like this does absolutely no justice to this masterpiece what so ever.

For a start, the cinematography is brilliant. From the unusually long takes, to complex shots, it's just beautifully filmed. Many of the actors (more on them in a bit) have experience doing Shakespeare on stage, so they were used to memorizing lots of lines, and they needed all that skill. According to the IMDB trivia page, they filmed up to twenty pages of script in one go. Sometimes more.

The score is great. There is none. Apart from one of the final scenes, when Heydrich puts on a record, there's not a single note of music in the entire movie, which serves to highlight the seriousness and gravity of the subject matter. It also adds a hushed element which heightens the secrecy of the meeting in question.

Now for the actors. No amateurs here, no Sir.

We start with Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich, the head of the RSHA (Reich Security, Main Office). This can not have been an easy role to pull off, if you know even a bit of what what this monster in human skin did. But Branagh does a marvelous job. He switches from being charming and placating to ice cold and vicious in a heartbeat. Great performance.

Next up is Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann, the chief bureaucratic organizer of the Holocaust. He is not far behind Branagh in skill here. He is imperious and cruel to underlings and servile to anyone with more power. One part in particular struck me, and that is when you notice how sickened he is by what they're discussing, but despite that, he is absolutely committed to the path ahead.

I can't of course go through everyone here, but the cast includes other luminaries such as; Ian McNiece, Colin Firth, Tom Hiddleston and many more, and absolutely everyone deserved their paychecks, without question.

Naturally this is not a documentary, not even a docudrama, but it's not far from, since all notes were destroyed after the meeting, except one, so the film goes very closely by what actually happened. Thus you can learn a few surprising things about the events surrounding this event.

I have seen Conspiracy probably six or seven times, and every time, I've noticed something different. If you watch closely, you can follow the complex emotions that run through the room. Where one of the arguing Nazi official is smugly triumphant or when another is aghast at what is presented. Many reactions are obvious, but where I used to think someone was sitting quietly, you can actually tell what he's feeling.

The overarching subject is of course as gruesome as it is important, but even if you don't give a crap about it, do watch this incredible film.