Military Historian Reviews Infamous Dictators in Movies

Рет қаралды 541,617

Күн бұрын

Are these Hollywood portrayals of some of history’s most brutal dictators accurate? War historian, NATO Advisor and presenter of History Hit’s Warfare podcast James Rogers is here to tell us.
You can listen to the Warfare podcast here: podfollow.com/the-world-wars/...
James begins with a review of 'Stalin' (1992), a tense and thought-provoking portrayal of the infamous dictator of the USSR, filmed in the Kremlin itself. James discusses the film's authenticity, and the psychological toll of war.
He moves on to another satirical film featuring the Communist leader - 'The Death of Stalin’' (2017) starring Sir Michael Palin and Steve Buscemi.
Next, James analyses the depiction of Adolf Hitler in both the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Valkyrie' (2008), starring Tom Cruise, and ‘Downfall’ (2004) in which Bruno Ganz offers perhaps the most accurate portrayal of the Nazi dictator.
The focus then shifts to the military rule of Idi Amin, who served as the third Ugandan president. In ‘Last King of Scotland’ (2006), we see a Scottish doctor, played by James McAvoy, on a mission finding himself developing a close bond with the Ugandan dictator. James reviews the accuracy of Forest Whittaker’s oscar-winning performance depicting Amin’s bipolar personality, straying from a friendly and approachable man, to a brutal and power-hungry warlord.
Lastly, James reviews ‘The Devil’s Double’ (2011), a film focusing on the life of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 and led the nation into the First Gulf War (1990-91) after invading Kuwait.
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#moviereview #dictators #historyhit
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Stalin (1992)
03:36 The Death of Stalin (2017)
06:34 Valkyrie (2008)
10:38 Downfall (2004)
13:57 The Last King of Scotland (2006)
17:45 The Devil's Double (2011)

Пікірлер: 734

@mandalorion 9 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz really should have won an Oscar for that performance.

@ccptube3468 9 ай бұрын

He is Beyond that and don't need those worthless awards. Oscars are for P3d03s and Pretentious clowns.

@mandalorion 9 ай бұрын

@@matztertaler2777 have you seen the film? He doesn't speak like that all the time.

@DesertRat2001 9 ай бұрын

@@matztertaler2777 Your response is pretty clear you haven't seen the movie. One of the biggest reasons for people falling for Hitler is how he interacts with his staff, including Traudl Junge. It demonstrates the charisma he showed. Quite frightening, actually.

@hoilst265 9 ай бұрын

@@DesertRat2001 I'll bet you a dollar he's a typical wehraboo, and only knows Downfall from the memes. Doubt he's watched the film. ...I saw it in the cinema with a cute redhead girl which was...not the best idea for a date.

@AleCharlie 9 ай бұрын

@@hoilst265what happened with the girl

@cromulentwords 9 ай бұрын

When I was in 8th grade, our history teacher had us listen to a recording of Hitler giving a speech. No visuals; just audio. None of us spoke fluent German, but our teacher told us to pay attention to the inflection of Hitler's voice, and gave us a rough outline of what was being said. The most frightening parts were when his voice got softer, which was when he was attempting to connect with the crowd on a personal level, speaking about childhood and innocence, before changing back to forceful aggression as the crowd cheered. It was a terrifying introduction to how a powerful dictator can hold people captive in so many ways.

@johnnotrealname8168 6 ай бұрын

Well...:( kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hqmbaM2lnavWdGw.html ).

@bobapbob5812 3 ай бұрын

My wife worked on the set on Inside the Third Reich. The same happened during Hitler’s speech at Munich University. After the speech was over and Rutger Hauer looked over a quiet set everyone became silent.

@ExUSSailor 9 ай бұрын

Jason Isaacs was BRILLIANT as Marshal Zhukov in "The Death of Stalin".

@SPLuvr 9 ай бұрын

He 100% stole the show and I loved it lmao

@HistoryHit 9 ай бұрын

What's a war hero got to do to get some lubrication around here?

@markfinlay422 9 ай бұрын

"I'm off to represent the entire Red Army at the buffet. You girls enjoy yourself." Zhukov was a true hero.

@cleverusername9369 9 ай бұрын

Jason Isaacs is always a win, he elevates everything he appears in.

@hoilst265 9 ай бұрын

@@markfinlay422 "YER A STAIN ON THAT FOOKIN' UNIFORM!" - "every actor was asked to keep their normal accents"...except Isaacs, who rightfully went Full Yorkshireman! Ay-up, Comrades!

@chuckhoyle1211 9 ай бұрын

Forest Whitaker is such a talented actor. He always delivers.

@har3036 9 ай бұрын

He would have made a great Hermann Goering in Der Untergang.

@DJ-iu5bb 2 ай бұрын

@@har3036 def would of made a good Jeff Fort or Chief Malik in a Chicago Gang type of movie for Almighty Black P Stones

@VivalaryMan 2 ай бұрын

Wasn't Herman goerring white? @@har3036

@brokenfoxx 9 ай бұрын

Downfall is a hell of a film. It's one of the few films that actually tries to present a person, a humanity to Hitler, which is an incredible thing to do and something we need to be reminded of; even the monsters are human. We're all capable of it.

@kb4903 9 ай бұрын

It’s brilliant. Shows the true horror of war and the chaos. No heroes, just people whose world is being destroyed all around them.

@brokenfoxx 9 ай бұрын

@@kb4903 I should rewatch it but oh man, I remember it being rough. Maybe I'll watch the satire Death of Stalin instead

@Jarl_egbert 9 ай бұрын

No it isnt, its propaganda designed to smear his image and mock him.

@DanielNattochDag-in6xw 9 ай бұрын

@@Jarl_egbert damn you just not a clown but the entire circus

@arnodobler1096 9 ай бұрын

@@DanielNattochDag-in6xw👍🤣

@torbjornkvist 9 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz was a living legend in the end of his career (and life). They say that all the other German actors in the bunker scenes, when Hitler explodes in rage, became very red, or white, in their faces when the big Bruno Ganz started barking at them. It wasn't acting anymore, it was true indignation.

@borismuller86 9 ай бұрын

My father was at school with him in Zürich and said he was a lovely man IRL. His transformation into Hitler was eerie. A great talent.

@R.B.564 8 ай бұрын

Yeah, I don't think there are many actors who can absolutely convincingly portray both a ruthless dictator and an angel (Wings of Desire).

@Pan_Blazej 9 ай бұрын

There's a great analysis of "Death of Stalin" on History Buffs. There it's said that Stalin speaks Cockney to represent that he spoke Russian with a heavy Georgian accent, which was seen as somewhat provincial.

@PUARockstar 8 ай бұрын

Every accent bar major russian one (and also posh old Moscow accent of radio, TV and theatre of that time that is basically dead now) was deemed provincial

@elisabethkronqvist3987 8 ай бұрын

One of my most cherished contrafactual scenarios in Soviet-era history still remains, "What if Chrushchev had been taller than Stalin, and had spoken Russian in a less provincial accent?"

@Electricfox 7 ай бұрын

IIRC the reason why Isaacs gave Zhukov a Yorkshire accent was because Zhukov was often described as blunt and no-nonsense, and Isaacs considered Yorkshiremen to be the English epitome of that, and TBH he's not wrong.

@padmelotus 8 ай бұрын

The CIA attempts at Castro's life weren't because he was a dictator, but because he was the wrong kind of dictator for the US. The US had supported the previous dictator - Fulgencio Batista - with financial, military and logistical help. But, Castro was communist and anti-Western. That was what the the US didn't like.

@attiepollard7847 8 ай бұрын

Thank you very much Captain obvious. It's best to put a western-backed dictator inside of other countries than a communist dictator in those Western countries

@masonharvath-gerrans832 8 ай бұрын

Cold War was a bitch. Both sides were hostile to one another, and Castro was openly aligned with the red fascists in Moscow.

@rebeccablackburn9487 14 күн бұрын

Exactly. He was an SOB, but he wasn't OUR SOB!!

@mlbp2567 6 күн бұрын

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@@rebeccablackburn9487Fidel Castro was anything but an “SOB”! ¡Viva la Cuba! ¡Viva Fidel!

@rebeccablackburn9487 5 күн бұрын

@@mlbp2567 that was what I meant. Plenty of world leaders have been viewed by the US as bad, but as long as they will cooperate with with us, we don't care if they are. Castro wouldn't, so our government has villified him hard.

@jonathanbrown9949 9 ай бұрын

Death of Stalin is a fantastically funny film but it also captures the horror of the late Stalinist period.

@borismuller86 8 ай бұрын

Armando Iannucci is a true genius. The fact he can make a comedy set during that period which is equally funny, satirical and impactful just proves that.

@FabioZCandioto 8 ай бұрын

Yeah the horror of defeating nazi germany having only 30 years to prepare and providing education and housing for free.

@mazzaf7575 8 ай бұрын

@@borismuller86It is an amazing film but it’s not supposed to be a comedy.

@spazzyshortgirl23 8 ай бұрын

@@mazzaf7575oh it is. Literally half the actors are professional comedians

@marks.3303 7 ай бұрын

@@mazzaf7575 It is. It's just a dark comedy.

@MattOsbun 8 ай бұрын

The Last King of Scotland was immensely powerful. So much so that I own it but can't bring myself to watch it again. Forrest Whitaker was deeply, deeply, frightening.

@ginabeena6757 6 ай бұрын

Yes, it was horrifying to watch his psychopathy! I can't rewatch it either.

@bob_the_bomb4508 9 ай бұрын

The best line in Valkyrie was: “There are very few problems in life that cannot be solved by the correct application of high explosive” :)

@erakfishfishfish 8 ай бұрын

I prefer this line from The Good Place: “I'm telling you, Molotov cocktails work. Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem.”

@Yora21 8 ай бұрын

@@erakfishfishfish This immediately came to my mind when I saw the first post! : D

@godfreyofbouillon966 9 ай бұрын

Dawnfall's famous meme scene was used for countless memes precisely because its such a powerful scene. Bruno Ganz performance was godlike. Such a great actor. RIP.

@torbjornkvist 9 ай бұрын

The film "Stalin" wasn't green-lighted by Gorbatjev. It was shot directly after the coup attempt in Moscow and Boris Yeltsin was on his way to become Russia's first president. The green light came in the last minute, probably inspired by cash handouts. Most of the film was shot in Hungary.

@davydatwood3158 9 ай бұрын

I first saw Forrest Whittaker in Good Morning Vietnam, when I was in junior high, and his "loveable buffoon" character locked into my mind. Then I saw Last King of Scotland and was just totally blown away.

@butwhataboutdragons7768 9 ай бұрын

Would recommend Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai as well as The Crying Game if you like him. The Crying Game is far better known for its twists, but Whitaker's role early on really is quite impactful. Ghost Dog is a very surreal feeling movie and it's almost like it takes place in some fantasy world, and you'd think Whitaker might be miscast as an assassin, but it turns out to be perfect.

@AirdrieRambler 8 ай бұрын

Hitler only reached the rank of corporal in WW1, hence the officer class mockingly referring to him as the "Bohemian Corporal". Another more widely used term was "Grofaz", a derogatory nickname abbreviated from the German for "Greatest military leader of all time".

@banhammer8510 3 ай бұрын

Its Gröfaz and simply means greatest leader of all times ( not explicitly military ) and no it was not meant derogatory when the nazis used it.

@KyleShiflet13666 3 ай бұрын

Hindenburg absolutely hated hitler

@banhammer8510 2 ай бұрын

@@KyleShiflet13666 and yet made him chancellor..

@duncancurtis5971 9 ай бұрын

Forest Whitaker as Amin was as scary as hell, ferociously insane.

@polyphoniczeitgeist465 9 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz was a spectecular actor! So much so, that he was for many years the carrier and keeper of the fabled and famous Iffland-Ring. This is an old ring, once owned by famous actor named Iffland around 240 years ago. After the death of its owner, it is then presented in his will to the "greatest living actor of the German language". Being awarded this ring is considered to be the highest possible honour among actors of especially stage but also film. There is no jury involved, just one great actor choosing his own replacement for the next generation.

@Ukraineaissance2014 9 ай бұрын

Voroshilov stood up to stalin, he supposedly screamed at him in public 'this is all your fault for destroying the red armies officers' (in the purges), i think thats what that scene was based on.

@fotograf736 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the wonderful video! Just a minor point; Hitler was never an officer, and distrusted the officer corps seeing them as a remnant of nobility, in fact in that very scene in Downfall he says something like "they learn how to hold a fork and spoon for years at the war academy." Edit: This was already mentioned by @Belcan57.

@berwynjones8593 9 ай бұрын

That's right. He even mentions in the film that he should have gotten rid of the officers like Stalin did. He hates the old school Prussian officer class

@hildahilpert5018 3 ай бұрын

I watched Downfall, and your right.Most officers in Germany were from the nobility.Not all were Prussian.Grandpa,s cousin, Generaloberst Carl Hilpert was Bavarian from Nuremberg.

@glorytoamerica6332 2 ай бұрын

Yeah this guy makes a lot of interesting statements

@BigHenFor 9 ай бұрын

Simon Russell Beale playing Beria gave me the Willies in the comedy 'Death of Stalin'.

@aaronleverton4221 9 ай бұрын

It's not surprising Steiner's attack failed. I mean, the guy was killed in Studley Constable, Norfolk, in 1943.

@johndoucette6085 9 ай бұрын

Nice one :)

@davidrenton 9 ай бұрын

he didn't want that Iron cross anyway, the name of this film is very hard to get :)

@aaronleverton4221 9 ай бұрын

@@davidrentonAh, I think you're referring to Corporal Rolf Steiner, I was talking about his second cousin once removed, the paratrooper Colonel Kurt Steiner.

@stephmaehder4155 8 ай бұрын

Downfall's versions of Magda and Joseph Goebbels are terrifying. Joseph is frightening just standing there and Magda being fanatical enough to kill her own kids is nightmare fuel.

@ginao6810 7 ай бұрын

I saw the film at the cinemas when it came out in 2004. I haven’t seen it since, but I can so clearly visualise that scene of Magda putting the pills in the sleeping children’s mouths and clamping down their jaws. And the little one that struggles and she holds them . Chills me to the bone almost 20 years later.

@DMS-pq8 7 ай бұрын

Considering what the Soviets would have done to the children killing them with morphine was a blessing for them, Of course a good mother would have got them the hell out of Berlin before it was too late

@alyh3721 3 ай бұрын

@@ginao6810I remember walking in as my dad was watching it and just immediately leaving the room

@mlbp2567 6 күн бұрын

⁠@@DMS-pq8They were only scared because they thought the Soviets would do the same to them that the Nazis had done to the Soviets, and even then nothing would compare

@kartikvenkat5391 5 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz and Forrest Whitaker. Two brilliant actors. Did absolute justice to their roles. Fantastic.

@Gerwi545 9 ай бұрын

Have visited the wolf's lair in Poland. The preservation of it (most are destroyed but still existing in the midst of a forest) is very well done. Serious, informative and contemplative.

@JutiMayranen 9 ай бұрын

11:03 those recordings that Bruno Ganz listened were the ones which were secretly recorded by the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company, Yleisradio YLE during Hitler's visit to congratulate Finnish Marshal Mannerheim on his 75th birthday in 1942.

@TLDelapore 9 ай бұрын

I'm by no means fluent in Russian or Georgian but filming Stalin with that accent is brilliant. He had a Georgian accent that would have been seen similarly by Russians. Death of Stalin has impeccable casting.

@anegaute 3 ай бұрын

It also has a thuggish connotation, which fits Stalin to a T

@charlieross-BRM 7 ай бұрын

I had a room mate in a Canadian university 1973 who was a student from Uganda. Amin was ruling then. Eddie was expected to return home when he graduated but it was pretty clear that wasn't on his own agenda. Anyone paying attention back then knew what was happening in Uganda. Thirty years later I was mentoring refugees at immigration centers across Ontario. A Kurdish woman was one of those people we saw on the evening news, fleeing for Turkey along those mountain ridges for weeks. It was a privilege to listen to her first hand account of that exodus. Saddam had already been executed and she was safe and very well in Canada - but someone at the table casually used the name "Saddam" in a general remark and she froze for a few seconds, like someone just walked over her grave. That's how deep the fear of him got into the psyche of people on his exterminate list.

@shayne1289 5 ай бұрын

I worked in Baghdad between the two Gulf Wars. The Iraqi people I met were very humble and I was told several times that Arab hospitality would usually mean they would invite me to their homes for a meal or tea, but they knew that if they did, my visit would be followed by a visit from the Intelligence Service who would 'question' them about what I said, what I wanted, what they said to me and so on. If they weren't happy with the answers the person could be taken away for further questioning with no guarantee of them being returned whole, or at all. I had friendly shopkeepers also express regret they couldn't be more 'hospitable' while shaking their head sadly and pointing at the (mandatory) framed picture of Saddam above the door behind them. They were terrified.

@BELCAN57 9 ай бұрын

Hitler was a Lance Corporal, not an officer.

@fenfrostpaws2000 9 ай бұрын

Okay nerd

@submarineUK 9 ай бұрын

These idiots can't even get the most basic of facts correct. 😂 And Hitler wasn't off his head on drugs. Read Morrell's (his doctor) diary.

@headlights-go-up 9 ай бұрын

@@bradleyreese5156fact checking is a killjoy to you? Why are you even here?

@barbararice6650 9 ай бұрын

Germans didn't have Lance Corporals the rank was private first class, that's what Hitler was, nerd award 👈😑

@Ogurets123 9 ай бұрын

You're right! And I find it hilarious (and also very sad) that people are shooting you down for fact checking, while they're watching a channel that is precisely about: facts 😂

@jacobhill3302 8 ай бұрын

I found Bob Hoskins as a younger Kruschev in Enemy at the Gates intimidating

@snelgrave101 3 ай бұрын

He was good in most things was Bob.

@williamrobinson7435 9 ай бұрын

James Rogers has done some sterling work for History Hit. These film veracity comparison things are a tough assignment relative to a straightforward subject covering, but this was both informative and at points witty in delivery. Bruno Ganz is indeed a very fine actor and the portrayal of Hitler is quite brilliant. Nice one team! ⭐👍

@trevormegson7583 9 ай бұрын

Hello James. Thank you for your take. Powerful and highly watchable..

@HistoryHit 9 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

@Grim2 8 ай бұрын

3:06 - LMAO! All of sudden the vid takes a sharp turn toward propaganda! XD

@alexliberti9679 9 ай бұрын

I would love to see more if this guy react to more dictators

@fragnet4635 9 ай бұрын

Very well read and reflected historian, thank you James and keep it up.

@inregionecaecorum 9 ай бұрын

I met an African dictator once at a Christmas party. He had been overthrown by then and he helped me put my coat on as I got ready to go home, it was heavy and he said to me "What have you got in your pockets, gold bars?"

@nicolasrodriguez3581 9 ай бұрын

Which dictator?

@inregionecaecorum 9 ай бұрын

@@nicolasrodriguez3581 Yakubu Gowon, he was in exile studying at Warwick University at the time.

@214TwoOneFo 8 ай бұрын

I’ll take things that never happened for 500$

@slappy8941 8 ай бұрын

@@214TwoOneFoYeah because nothing ever happens, right? Do you also think that things disappear when you close your eyes? 😂😂😂

@xondisco 8 ай бұрын

Was that in the 1970s? I heard he became a churchwarden in England. That he's still around and is 88 now

@davidbridge5652 9 ай бұрын

I constantly re-watch the death of stalin. There is always something new to pick up. Brilliant film.

@Whuttheskel 6 ай бұрын

James is brilliant! It is really interesting to hear his take on these.

@alaintremaine3302 9 ай бұрын

Stalin, Hitler, and Idi Amin are well-known 'dictators of choice.' since the West (the U.K. and the U.S.A.) opposed these dictators. Lesser known dictators, passed over by NATO advisors, and supported by Prime Ministers and Presidents were: Ngo Dinh Diem (Viet Nam), Park Chung Hee (Republic of Korea), Anastasio Somoza Sr. & Jr. (Republic of Nicaragua), Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq (Pakistan) and Augusto Pinochet (Chile).

@perrodetokio 9 ай бұрын

Indeed! Same with the dictator Videla (Argentina). Not only did the IMF grant him a loan (which had been denied to the previous argentinian DEMOCRATIC government), but he was also recognized by the USA as a lawful government. How curious.

@masonharvath-gerrans832 8 ай бұрын

Yep, just realise that just because the West helped those bastards doesn’t mean that there is no regret. The West is confronting its mistakes head-on. I don’t see Russia confronting Bolshevism‘s crimes head-on at all, and in fact they are embracing him. So don’t be silly. It’s important to call out the mistakes made and even condemn them, but don’t get tunnel vision

@adrianpina3125 2 ай бұрын

It´s glad to see this kind of comments. Even more when this expert only react to the movie and didn´t say anything differente from what all the West have told about this figures.

@annoyed707 Ай бұрын

He is reacting to major movies. Were movies made about the others?

@Charliecomet82 21 сағат бұрын

@@annoyed707The only one I know of was Somoza Jr., portrayed in "Under Fire."

@lenardbaum6378 8 ай бұрын

What i found absolute wild is, that Downfall not even won one oscar - Bruno Ganz was absolute mindblowing

@peterbockholm3176 9 ай бұрын

The death of Stalin: The script is (officially) based on a graphic novel with the same name written by Fabien Nury and illustrated by Thierry Robin. A year or so before the movie premiered I read the book "20 Letters to a Friend" by Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin's daughter. When I had seen the film I read the book once more. There's surprisingly little that differs between her book and the film in regards to the character of the characters and the circumstances surrounding them both in their "daily business" and their dealings after the death of Stalin. I can't find any reference to the book anywhere, not in the movie script or the novel, but they did for sure read Svetlana's book very thoroughly and took notes. She also wrote a book titled "Only One Year: A Memoir" about the first year after her defection. I haven't read it yet by I can recommend 20 letters.... for anyone interested in that part of history. She doesn't glamorize anything, it feels quite honest. She in no way hide the fact that she had an enormous hate towards Beria and how he exploited Stalin for his own agenda when Stalin became weaker with age. Stalin was after all her father and perhaps somewhat surprising she speaks fondly of him as such.

@rfvtgbzhn 11 күн бұрын

From what I know Svetlana Alliluyeva's books are autobiographic, but "the Death of Stalin" is a comedy movie, so of course there are differences.

@Gibson1980 9 ай бұрын

Didn't know Lance corporal changed from an enlistedmen's rank to officer ...

@skylarpaquette4783 7 ай бұрын

I think lance corporal is nco, is it not?

@Bobbymaccys 9 ай бұрын

Forrest Whitaker as Idi Amin is nothing less than enthralling to watch

@ginao6810 7 ай бұрын

I went to the cinema with my Modern History class to watch Downfall in grade 11. It wasn’t a school sanctioned event*. We were a very small class (12) with a teacher who really got us as a group. We all decided to go on a Tuesday night and watch the movie together. We kept talking about it for weeks afterwards. We’d come to class and someone would say they researched a character or event or place, and this is what they found. I’ve never watched it since, but there are parts I can see in my mind so clearly. The mother and her sleeping children 😢 *to be clear, the school knew about it, it just wasn’t a school funded/instigated excursion. Parents knew about it, a few parents watched the movie too, not because we needed chaperones, but because they wanted to see the film. It was all above board.

@chiselcheswick5673 8 ай бұрын

The Death of Stalin is one of my favourite films. Great example of how to make a complicated and dark period of history accessable and interesting to watch (plus it has some very funny moments).

@spazzyshortgirl23 8 ай бұрын

The funeral scene and every Zhukov scene kills me

@ChicoCabra 9 ай бұрын

It would have been nice to see Castro and Franco, they have been portrayed in around 5 films each. Interestingly, (James) Franco is going to play Castro in an upcoming film.

@amys2650 8 ай бұрын

I could literally listen to him review things all day

@judechauhan6715 8 ай бұрын

16:41 thought he was gonna say "one thing that I think unites pretty much every" and then I thought it would end "unites everyone is their hatred/celebration of independence from British rule" lol

@claudiamann7111 9 ай бұрын

Fabulous movies. Thanks for such an interesting program.

@Rich.L-J_KZN 9 ай бұрын

This is why I love History Hit, such great insights, great commentary!

@pfranks75 6 ай бұрын

I have a subscription to History Hits and they do put their best documentaries on KZfaq.

@zax8961 5 ай бұрын

Fascinating analysis!

@will-i-am-not 9 ай бұрын

I worked in Uganda near the end of the war mid eighties. Everyone said that Idi Amin was a baby compared to the butchery of Milton Obote

@stewartmackay 9 ай бұрын

Interesting stuff, thank you.

@TheRantolo5 9 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz was a stunning actor. To say the least.

@TzunSu 8 ай бұрын

This was very entertaining! He claims that the actor who played Hitler in Der Untergang listened to Hitlers private recordings, but afaik, there exists only one recording of Hitler speaking in private, in a normal tone of voice, when he's meeting with the Finnish Marshal Mannerheim.

@gjh997 8 ай бұрын

Excellent video. Great watch 👌

@savageantelope3306 2 ай бұрын

Loving the commentary

@wag0NE 9 ай бұрын

Great commentary more of James please

@Tadicuslegion78 9 ай бұрын

I want to know how many hours of latex and gluing it took to make Robert Duvall look like Robert DiNero looking like Stalin

@benjaminosterloh3605 9 ай бұрын

I doubt there was much Russian … I’ll see myself out now

@Tadicuslegion78 9 ай бұрын

@@benjaminosterloh3605 Stalin: *Short chuckle* Gulag son,

@stevenhernandeznon-profitf968 8 ай бұрын

@@benjaminosterloh3605lol

@jamesoblivion 7 ай бұрын

In historical footage, you can see Hitler, toward the end, holding his left hand behind his back, as it shakes uncontrollably. He definitely had some kind of tremor there, which Downfall accurately portrays.

@chuckhoyle1211 9 ай бұрын

The appeal of the dictator is that they can get things done. When things have collapsed and people are suffering they turn to someone who can get things done. A person who can cut through the bureaucratic nonsense and implement change. If things are bad enough, any change can be seen as an improvements. They can "make the trains run on time." Usually they become corrupt and self-serving, but you can understand the appeal in the beginning.

@CharlieNoodles 9 ай бұрын

No, they claim that they will get things done but they tend to be fairly ineffective leaders. They’re good at appealing to populist ideas and in seizing power but once they have power they don’t really know what to do with it.

@sheboyganshovel5920 9 ай бұрын

Most of the time their greatest ability is oratory. They don't understand the world they're living in, but they can paint vividly. People fall for it. They want to believe the simple view the dictator presents, they want to believe there's an enemy who can be defeated and the rivers will run gold.

@heldinahtmlhell 6 ай бұрын

Another appeal is that they're usually patriotic and are greatly preferable to being run by the US's chosen puppet. This is certainly the case with Putin. Life for Russians under Putin is far better than it was in the 90s when the west plundered the country. Also, external threat causes and justifies internal authoritarianism. It's very hard to be democratic when you're under attack from global superpowers. You see a small taste of this dynamic in the west, eg the UK didn't have an election during the war, The Patriot Act/Guantanamo Bay as a response to 9/11. "Strong" leadership is invariably the response to outside threats. This is why US foreign policy and dropping democracy bombs on countries is so egregious.

@katherinecollins4685 8 ай бұрын

Enjoyed this

@diabsoul 9 ай бұрын

I wish he went into more detail as to why he didn't like Valkyrie.

@blackhoundrise8431 9 ай бұрын

I can’t take Downfall seriously anymore thanks to those Chuck “Downfall” Norris KZfaq videos. I laugh everytime I see this scene and imagine subtitles talking about Chuck Norris on his way to destroy him 🤣🤣

@conor9345 9 ай бұрын

Facts

@davidprosser7278 8 ай бұрын

Beria: "He's feeling unwell".

@gezzarandom 8 ай бұрын

Apparently Stalin knew Hitler was planning an attack on Russia but waited until he had the information regarding Japan’s intentions before he acted. Not sure if it’s true or not.

@humblescribe8522 8 ай бұрын

He knew because people were telling him. But he assumed Churchill and Roosevelt were lying to get him to fight Hitler and die on their behalf, and he assumed his generals were just being paranoid. He thought he understood Hitler better than anyone. He was wrong. When he realised how badly he had miscalculated, he went into a depression and wasn't seen for two weeks. But he got past it.

@mattatomattahto 7 ай бұрын

From what I understand, Stalin and Hitler both knew they would end up fighting each other at some point, Stalin just misjudged when and how.

@willhovell9019 8 ай бұрын

Saddam was supported by the west for sometime as he fought the Iranians. In the round was it really worth a million + people's lives and facilitate the rise of ISIS /DESH to get rid of him!? A huge unanswered question that was paid for in Iraqi, Kurdish, Marsh Arab & Yezidi lives and limbs 😢 It is hugely more complex than film or you portray

@Shade01982 5 ай бұрын

Those questions are always incredibly complex. Many blame the west for the rise of these terrorist organizations, having meddled in Middle East politics for so long. But come on, not only were these not the same people for the most part, it wasn't even the same generation.

@murder13love 9 ай бұрын

Probably the first time I have seen a historian note the fact that Hitler was on drugs

@MagicButterz 9 ай бұрын

It's very well known

@bacht4799 9 ай бұрын

I have a question.. has anyone made a joke about how the would be if a artist with drugs problems ruled the world because you could say we have try and it didn’t work out…😅

@chuckhoyle1211 9 ай бұрын

It is becoming more common as time goes on. Hitler really was bananas. If he would have just paused to consolidate instead of needlessly attacking the Soviets things probably would have ended up very different. Unconstrained ego coupled with drug fueled mania usually does not end well.

@jamesgordon177 9 ай бұрын

what are u talking about? maybe in the 70s. But ur making up facts if u say historians dont say that. But also Historians dont lean on the fact he was on drugs either.

@Jarl_egbert 9 ай бұрын

Except he wasnt, and quite literally everything yout hink you know about the man, is completely false.

@kellypritchard6516 8 ай бұрын

Would love his opinion on Aung San Suu Kyi and her arc of Myanmar's hero to new dictator

@stephanleo 6 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz was actually a swiss actor! What a performance.

@cannae216 6 ай бұрын

I'd love to see you cover the outstanding movie Conspiracy in a future vid. In addition to Downfall, Conspiracy is one of my fave WW2 movies. Not a drop of violence--just men talking at a table for the entire runtime--but it's simply horrifying. Over fancy coffees and with the haughty air of legitimacy, they condemn millions to death.

@Jayjay-qe6um 9 ай бұрын

Downfall was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.

@sjtimmer7 8 ай бұрын

The thing he says about paranoia being necessary for dictators, I want to see him play or watch CK3 with a paranoid ruler, who dies of stress, because someone tries to kill him.

@johndaarteest 9 ай бұрын

This is the first time I've seen that clip of Downfall with it's original wording without it being a meme lol.

@DiabolicalAngel 6 ай бұрын

Bruno Ganz gave a haunting performance. Damn.

@carolbuzelim 2 ай бұрын

I remember watched Downfall at school. What a movie, amayzing The speach with everyone hearing is awesome

@Pancakespls 7 ай бұрын

This scene from Downfall is the ultimate meme template 😂

@beatrixxxkiddo 8 ай бұрын

The last king of Scotland is amazing, hugely recommended

@poopesure 6 ай бұрын

Theres a great archival footage documentary called "State Funeral" about Stalin's funeral showing the people's reaction and the state ceremonies.

@peterbockholm3176 9 ай бұрын

The Russian Ark is another film shot in the real Russian historical location. It's a film with double plots which can make it somewhat confusing if you like me watch it as a film buff. One plot is the last high society ball before the revolution, the ball took place in 1913. The second plot is a jorney through russias history and is told via a dialogue between an unseen narrator and a visible charachter presented as ”the European”. I belive that they aren't a part of the ball but moves outside or along it. Each room represents a different part of the history. The production facts are staggering, 2.000+ actors and three orchestras. Shot in one single take moving through 33 rooms in the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, the very same rooms where the actual ball took place. The rooms survived the revolution surprisingly well and have since been carefully restored to what they looked like that day. The Hermitage Museum would only allow them on day of filming, the team calculated that they only would have time for three attempts, they aborted the first two but got it right the third time. There's a documentary about the production that's almost as fascinating as the film itself. The Russian Ark is a 96 minute long masterpiece by Aleksandr Sokurov whether you're a film or history buff, or both.

@adammac4960 9 ай бұрын

He was a Corporal not an officer. Not sure if he was a fullscrew or a lancejack but he did get the iron cross which wasn’t easy to win.

@lindenmanmax 9 ай бұрын

I still have yet to read Giles Foden's book The Last King of Scotland, but I thought the screenplay softened Amin out of recognition. There were good reasons for this. First, it's more interesting to see power corrupting an idealist than it is to watch an already corrupt person acting out his worst impulses. Second, if Amin were shown to be genocidal from the get-go, Dr. Garrigan would look like a jerk for joining his suite, and we wouldn't invest any emotion in him.

@pauldonnelly910 7 ай бұрын

I hadn't noticed until just now that in that famous picture of Stalin with his fingers intertwined, he's flipping a double bird.

@Rog5446 9 ай бұрын

What's the point of playing tennis with your double, when there's an assassin about, they will kill both of them.

@HistoryHit 9 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

@perrodetokio 9 ай бұрын

I guess the assasssin has to shoot one of them first. Giving the other one (real or fake) to react. "Eeny meeny miny moe"😅

@norcatch 9 ай бұрын

The reason we have recordings of Hitlers private voice is Finnish broadcaster YLE bugged they railway carriage in quite a primitive way when he met Mannerheim. They put a big microphone on top of a cabinet in the room, ran a thick wire out the window down the tracks to the radio carriage and recorded it. Took quite a while before the SS discovered it. I believe the recording was discovered in the archives of Norwegian broadcaster NRK, of all places, in the 90s.

@JDMilitaria 9 ай бұрын

13:18 Infantry officer? I thought he only obtained the rank of Corporal and was mostly used as a messenger?

@stevedavy2878 8 ай бұрын

Correction - Hitler was not a military officer in WW1, he was a Corporal

@egoaron 9 ай бұрын

I love the upbeat music... "And these are the most evil dictators in the history" dupi-dupi-doop-doop, dipy-doop-doop

@FrankGhal 8 ай бұрын

I did not expect the historian to look like that, been listening to him for awhile.

@FlorianD30 8 ай бұрын

The Soviets would have attacked Germany if Germany hadn't attacked first. Hitler knew that Stalin would attack and Stalin knew Hitler would attack sooner or later. It was a good ol Mexican standoff.

@CarterElkins 9 ай бұрын

11:38 Huh, could've sworn that rant was about him losing a game of Sid Meier's Civilization.

@Khono 8 ай бұрын

18:03 Aww, I wish they were playing doubles Tennis.

@Howie900 8 ай бұрын

With Valkyrie that was courage, to risk everything especially your family to do what is right takes everything.

@LukeJamesActor 9 ай бұрын

Great video, Love The Death of Stalin.

@mattysheehan9786 9 ай бұрын

I always took the hand shaking as Hitler’s rage at hearing the news

@adampage73 9 ай бұрын

I have a slightly silly reason for thinking Death Of Stalin is not a 5* film. The cockney accent. A wartime British ambassador likened his provincial accent to something akin to George Formby, something slightly ludicrous to most Soviet's ears. I get they were trying to strengthen the gangster link with cockney accent but I be more creeped out by a villain who is absurd but could easily destroy you.

@Baron-Ortega 9 ай бұрын

My reaction to the thumbnail was "arnt we all" 😂

@Zurich_for_Beginners 9 ай бұрын

Some critics say only Bruno Ganz could have played the rolle in "Der Untergang". Ohne important aspect is that he is Swiss. Together with his works it clear it is just a rolle. Anyway Hitler was only Gefreiter that is a Privat First Class. A Rank that comes in war times more or less with seniority if you survive long enough.

@donaldpump287 8 ай бұрын

Correction: the wolf`s lair wasn`t in Poland at the time

@Ugly_German_Truths 8 ай бұрын

Didn't you just announce on the podcast that it would end in a few weeks?

@anssimyllymaki1624 4 ай бұрын

Only surviving record of Hitlers normal talking voice is from Finland. Hitler visited Mannerheim's birthday at Finland. Journalist secretly recorded conversation between Hitler and Mannerheim.