Conspiracy (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Frank Pierson

Writer (WGA):

Loring Mandel (written by)

Release Date:

19 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

One Of The Greatest Crimes Against Humanity Was Perpetrated In Just Over An Hour.

Plot:

A dramatic recreation of the Wannsee Conference where the Nazi Final Solution phase of the Holocaust was devised.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Conference | Holocaust | SS | Jew

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Kenneth Branagh	...	Reinhard Heydrich
Clare Bullus	...	Maid (as Claire Bullus)
Stanley Tucci	...	Adolf Eichmann
Simon Markey	...	Stenographer
David Glover	...	Supervising Butler
David Willoughby	...	Orderly #1
Tom Hiddleston	...	Phone Operator
David Spinx	...	Cook
Dirk Martens	...	NCO
Barnaby Kay	...	Rudolf Lange
Peter Sullivan	...	SS.Col. Eberhard 'Karl' Schöngarth
Ben Daniels	...	Dr. Joseph Bühler
Andreas Günther	...	NCO2 (as Andreas Guenther)
Ewan Stewart	...	Dr. Georg Leibbrandt
Brian Pettifer	...	Dr. Alfred Meyer

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-3 | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Since detailed records of the Wannsee Conference did not survive World War II, minor details of the film (such as the seating arrangement at the conference table, what was actually served for lunch, and who was wearing a uniform compared to who wasn't) were totally up to the guess of the film's producers and not based on any historical evidence.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr Stuckert first greets Dr. Kritzinger, he calls him "Bitzinger".

Quotes:

Heydrich: [the meeting is near a close, and Heydrich is listening to everyone's decision] Do we have any disputes left to face here either with my authority or with that we have agreed? General?
Müller: Let us astonish Charles Darwin.
Klopfer: [raises glass] I second the motion. It is our most important war.
Heydrich: Sir?
Kritzinger: We are discussing the inevitable and bringing it about in the most practical way under one command. I have no dispute with that, I understand the realities. And indeed, count on my support.
Hofmann: With the understanding that consideration will be given to my proposal, yes. Proceed.
Dr. Georg Leibbrandt: I defer to the SS.
Dr. Alfred Meyer: If you are to do it, then force-feed it. Speed it along. Our situation, such as in Warsaw, is difficult, edging towards disastrous. Thank you.
Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart: ...Oh, yes. What can I say? My enthusiasm is boundless.
Undersecretary Martin Luther: Obviously.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Adagio from 'String Quintet in C Major', D. 956, op. post. 163

Coldly brilliant

The other reviewer her could not be more wrong, and shows a lack of historical knowledge. Heydrich WAS rushing to get through the meeting -- that was why it only lasted 90 minutes! The meeting was not held to plot the Holocost, but rather was a staged production organized by the SS (who already had started planning the final solution and embarked on mass murder at smaller scales 7 months earlier)to obtain administrative and cooperative buy-in from the other facets of the German government, and their recognition of the SS's total authority over carrying it out. And Heydrich was alternatively charming and then abrupt and short: he was head of the Gestapo, after all. Although Branagh is much smaller and better looking than Heydrich was, he does what an actor does -- capture the essence of a presence, the gist of the personality. Likewise, Tucci embodies the "banality of evil" -- a schedule obsessed numbers & detail man, an accountant concerned only with pleasing his superiors and making mass murder efficient, while dissociating himself from the meaning and consequences of his actions.

Although not as well-acted, the German language Wansee Conference is actually a bit better in imparting the agenda-driven business meeting quality of the event. Anyone who has ever been to a business planning meeting (in any business, but especially in government or regulated utility during budget planning time) cannot help but feel sick at the ordinary familiarity of it all. Replace killing people with making and marketing widgets, and you got it.