The Speer and Hitler: Devil's Architect

On first impression, I gave this documentary three stars, but upon careful consideration, I had to lower it by one. The problem is not so much the average acting performances of most of the cast, the uninteresting TV-style direction, or that some of the actors clearly do not resemble their historical counterparts. The issue is the manipulative tone, where the form humanizes Speer too much and emotionally takes his side. The extensive testimonies of his children, the cheap sentimental stories, and the readings of letters, simply do not belong in a professional and unbiased documentary. The tone is manipulative in that, even though indirectly, it still agrees with Speer in his claims that he didn't know, didn't understand, didn't have a clue, and that his guilt is only that he theoretically could have known and understood. The truth is that from his position and the perspective of historical facts, he simply did know, understand, and above all, he was responsible for many things. This television pseudo-documentary perfectly corresponds to the efforts of a part of the German public to throw the responsibility for the horrors of the Nazi regime on a few individuals.... Overall impression: 40%. (08/01/2008)

A classic TV mini-series that comes to terms with the legacy of the Third Reich. The entire series stands and falls on a very interesting cast: Sebastian Koch (Albert Speer) and Tobias Moretti (Adolf Hitler). In Germany, they learned long ago to make the past present and are not afraid of a society-wide debate. (05/04/2021)