Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin / Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary
Traudl Junge was one of Hitler’s secretaries. At 81 years old, she breaks her silence about her experiences in the Hitler inner sanctum. She was there in the bunker at the end and was the one who took dictation for Hitler’s will.
Putting aside for the moment any opinion of Junge herself, it is fascinating to hear her speak, but the film ultimately doesn’t work as a documentary. As primary source material, it’s a gold mine, but as a documentary, it’s greatly lacking. I mean, I studied Weimar and Nazi Germany in college, so I know quite a bit about the players and events, but if you don’t, this film will not help you put it in any sort of context.
This is raw footage of Junge talking and nothing else. There must have been at least two interviews because the film occasionally shows her watching herself from the first interview and providing further clarification or another annecdote.
It’s hard to fault the film simply because of who she is and what she has to say, but for purely stylistic reasons, there should have been some sort of context. Photos of who she was talking about; an explanation of what the Stauffenberg was; what the role of of the people she talked about was; things like that. Or maybe have a David Frost (or German equivalent) style interview format so there is some interaction rather than the fade-to-black dead space between clips.
; would watch again
October 25th, 2006 at 11:12 am
[...] Someone pointed me to this as a dramatic reenactment of Traudl Junge’s interview that resulted in Blind Spot. [...]