Max (2002 film)

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Max
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMenno Meyjes
Written byMenno Meyjes
Produced byAndras Hamori
StarringJohn Cusack
Noah Taylor
Leelee Sobieski
Molly Parker
CinematographyLajos Koltai
Edited byChris Wyatt
Music byDan Jones
Production
companies
Distributed byPathé Distribution (United Kingdom)
Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution (Canada)
Release dates
Running time
109 minutes
CountriesHungary
Canada
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$539,879

Max is a 2002

Austrian painter, Adolf Hitler. The film explores Hitler's views which began to take shape as the Nazi ideology; while also studying the artistic and design implications of the Third Reich and how their visual appeal helped hypnotize the German people. The film goes on to study the question of what could have been had Hitler been accepted as an artist. The film was the directorial debut of Menno Meyjes
, who also wrote the film.

Plot

In 1918, Max Rothman (

Versailles Treaty
. Hitler is also an aspiring painter, and wishes to have his artwork displayed.

Rothman comes to believe that Hitler has talent, but has failed to tap his inner potential to create great art. While Rothman is aware of his new protégé's

anti-Semitism
, he feels sorry for Hitler, who had nothing to come home to after the war, and encourages him to delve deeper in his art. Despite his overall doubts about Hitler, Rothman agrees to take some of his paintings under a contractual basis.

Meanwhile,

national socialist movement, the German Workers' Party
.

Later, Rothman begins to question Hitler's motives regarding his

German people
would be better off if they did not integrate themselves with different races. Seeing Hitler's architectural sketches, with their appeal to a romanticized national greatness, Rothman realizes this is where Hitler's talent lies, and that it would be far less dangerous if confined to art galleries. Hitler is thrilled by Rothman's enthusiasm, not understanding it is partly motivated by fear of what he might become.

Rothman and Hitler arrange to meet that evening to discuss Hitler's future projects, and after making a violently anti-Semitic speech to a group of supporters at a rally—with Mayr's backing—Hitler goes to a cafe to discuss a series of new

militaristic
drawings with Rothman. As Rothman approaches the cafe for his meeting with Hitler, he is savagely beaten by a group of anti-Semites who had attended Hitler's rally and been incited to violence by his words. As Rothman lies dying, an angry Hitler leaves the cafe, believing that Rothman has stood him up.

Cast

Production

Filming

The film was written and directed by

Budapest, Hungary
as backdrops for early 20th century Germany.

Response

Critical reception

Critics gave generally favorable reviews to the film. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a rating of 69%, based on 110 reviews, and an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads, "Well-acted in the execution of its provocative "what-if?" premise."[2] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw praised the film's "clever and plausible propositions about career and destiny."[4] while The Observer's Mark Kermode described it as, "Far from faultless ... but praiseworthy for its chutzpah, this rumbustious affair provokes both serious consideration and light-hearted appreciation."[5] Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times remarked that, "To ponder Hitler's early years with the knowledge of his later ones is to understand how life can play cosmic tricks with tragic results."[6]

Alternatively, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described a remark made by the character Rothman – "You're an awfully hard man to like, Hitler" – saying, "Few serious films could survive a line like that. Max certainly doesn't."[7] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times similarly commented "it fritters away its potentially interesting subject matter via a banal script, unimpressive acting and indifferent direction."[8] Gossip blogger Roger Friedman was criticized by Mica Rosenberg of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for writing a review of the film even though he had never seen it, but had only read an advance copy of the screenplay.[9]

Release

Home media

The Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the U.S. on 20 May 2003. Special features include interviews with the cast and crew as well as an audio commentary on the entire film with director Menno Meyjes.

Box-office

The film grossed $539,879 in 37 theaters during its 15-week American release.[10]

References

  1. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (12 December 2002). "The Monster in 'Max'". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ "Max". Rotten Tomatoes.
  3. ^ "Max". Metacritic.
  4. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (20 June 2003). "Max". The Guardian.
  5. ^ Kermode, Mark (22 June 2003). "Führer in the frame". The Observer.
  6. ^ Ebert, Roger (24 January 2003). "Max". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. ^ Travers, Peter (16 January 2003). "Max". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007.
  8. ^ Turan, Kenneth (27 December 2002). "Max". Los Angeles Times.
  9. ^ Rosenberg, Mica (5 December 2002). "Film portrays Hitler the artist". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
  10. ^ "Max". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 April 2008.

External links

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