Hitler: Narodziny zła

The Rise of Evil follows Adolf Hitler from his days as a vagrant sleeping under a bridge, through his first speeches in a beerhall and the designing of the swastika at his desk at home, to his ambitious negotiations with President Hindenburg. I can only hope that the facts presented in the film are credible, but I do so willingly, because for a TV production, this is an excellently filmed and acted work that gives detailed answers to the question of how such a man from nowhere (he didn’t even have German citizenship!) could have become so powerful. It portrays Hitler not only as a psychopath with fanaticism and hatred in his eyes, but also as a brilliant manipulator who was able to outmaneuver politicians of far higher status. (14.11.2005)

Carlyle is a great actor, but his “Hitler-like" roaring (which he is paradoxically good at unlike in the non-rhetorical scenes where he’s tragic) together with his English spiced by his wannabe German accent resulted in me not being able to believe his character even for a second. Which, given the fact that he doesn’t leave the screen for the whole of the three hours, is a bit of a problem. The screenplay and its really, really very simplified take on Hitler, doesn’t do much to improve the overall impression. Something like this might have been expected immediately after the war, but not sixty years later. There are so many far better films about Hitler (so much more impressive and more chilling due to their non black-and-white perspectives) and documentaries that there is no real point in dealing with it yet again. But it’s not all that bad and as a movie mapping the ups and downs of a fictive dictator in a fictive land it might even have worked. (13.11.2004)

From a historical perspective, there could be some reservations about this film, however, the atmosphere of the rise of Nazism is portrayed convincingly and the casting is well-done. The television format of the film did not allow for any grand spectacle, but the focus here is primarily on the story and the performances. Robert Carlyle excelled in the lead role, maturing into a first-class character actor. Overall impression: 80%. (16.06.2006)

An extraordinarily made film. Really detailed and extremely powerful for a TV movie. The story of one of the biggest monsters in the history of Europe dissected to the smallest detail. Great cast. Carlyle is an exceptionally talented actor and handles his transformation from feeble worm to the most powerful and feared man in Nazi Germany without any problem whatsoever. The picture has you almost incredulously following the string of events leading up to the Second World War. So many coincidences, so many crucial moments that were absolutely dependent on perfect timing... it’s unbelievable that things went that far. Uncle Adolf! (20.03.2011)

Hitler: The Rise of Evil has a very ridiculous cast, Geli is blonde (!), and overall a lot of other key moments had to be "suppressed" in the name of blind drama. Well, it makes sense to travel with Adolf on the road to total collapse, but when doing so, a better choice is, for example, the older project Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil. (27.12.2010)