Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (Im toten Winkel-Hitlers Sekretarin) (2002) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Theatrical Trailer Trailer-The Endurance DVD-ROM Extras-Weblinks
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	86:51
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,4	Directed By	André Heller Othmar Schmiderer
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Traudl Junge
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

    Normally, you would not think that ninety minutes of a person talking to an unseen interviewer, in German with English subtitles, and unrelieved by any other footage, could be so fascinating. However, in this case the person doing the talking is Traudl Junge. At 23 she became one of Adolf Hitler's four personal secretaries, a position she held for two years until the Führer's death. Prior to that she had been a secretary at the Reichschancellery.

    This interview was recorded over several sessions in 2001 and released early the following year, in fact on the day that Junge died. Apart from two brief and barely audible instances, we do not hear the interviewer. The film is broken up by occasional black screens, and some footage of Junge watching portions of the interview played back on a monitor. The whole time all we see is her face against the background of what must be her apartment. The 81-year-old Junge speaks lucidly and frankly about her experiences during the period in which she was secretary to one of the most infamous men of the last century, plus also gives some information about her background (though she does not mention that her husband was an SS officer who was killed in 1944). We also hear about what happened to her after the war, though very briefly.

    The "blind spot" of the title refers to her assertion that very little about the outside world was discussed while she was in service with the Führer, and thus she was unaware of the crimes that were being committed. Whether you believe her or not, her story has been consistent over the years.

    What is interesting about this film is the insight Junge gives into Hitler as a human being. Rather than being the ranting lunatic as he is sometimes portrayed, he seems to have been polite and courteous, and Junge admits that she liked him. It was not until she found out what was happening that she came to despise him. She also conveys the increasing paranoia in the bunker in Berlin as the Russians closed in on the city, and the events leading up to the suicides of Hitler and Eva Braun, who she knew personally.

    While this may not be everyone's cup of tea, it is certainly interesting from a historical viewpoint. Much of the material is familiar, and despite publicity for this film claiming that Junge spoke for the first time about her experiences, she can be seen talking about these events in documentaries such as The World at War and the various Hitler exploitations made by Guido Knopp.

Video

    The film is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. This is an NTSC format disc.

    There is really not a lot wrong with this transfer. The limitations of the original video recording (as well as the TV format) are obvious, in that it is not especially sharp, nor are the colours particularly vibrant. The room in which the film was made is well-lit, so there are no issues with shadow detail. Contrast seems fine to me.

    There are no artefacts of any kind to mention.

    Subtitles are provided in English with yellow lettering. These seem to be quite timely and appear to match what Junge is saying, though once the subtitles referred to Russian forces when she seemed to mention Stalin.

    The film is presented on a single-layer disc, so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
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Audio

    The sole audio track is German Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Dialogue is clear, just as well considering that that is all there is. The sound seems quite reasonable for an audio interview, and I could detect no issues with it. I am not sure whether it is stereo, as there is really nothing in the way of directional effects and there is no surround encoding. In either case, it does the job required of it.

    There is no music score.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Subwoofer
Overall

    An opportunity lost in some respects, as there is a wealth of material on this era out there that could have been used to provide some context.

Theatrical Trailer (1:36)

    A trailer for the film is included, in 1.85:1 but not 16x9 enhanced. The trailer seems to be matted from the original material. It is a pretty straightforward series of excerpts from the film with text explaining who Traudl Junge was.

Trailer for The Endurance (2:07)

    This is the trailer for a documentary about Shackleton's Antarctic expedition. It is presented in 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

DVD-ROM content

    When inserted in a computer DVD drive, a Flash menu screen is displayed with options to play the film, subscribe to a newsletter or visit the websites of Columbia Tristar and Sony Pictures. One of these links is to a list of other DVD releases.

    The US Region 1 release is identical to the Region 4, even to the extent of including the FBI warnings before the main menu.

    An interesting film, though the talking head format may be offputting for some.

    The video and audio quality are both satisfactory.

    The extras do not amount to much.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall