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Radical Evil

.
Stefan Ruzowitzky 2013

“We were only following orders.” This remarkable film asks why Nazi soldiers agreed to do what they did, exploring how killing became a routine, how these men managed to excuse themselves, how they were manipulated by their leaders. It’s the blueprint of a genocide. We hear the killers’ thoughts as they wrote them down in letters and diaries at the time, and what they said in court years later. RADICAL EVIL is marked by Oscar®-winning director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s scenic transformations and DoP Benedict Neuenfel’s development of a unique visual language.
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Running Time:
52/93 min.
Spoken Languages:
English, German
Subtitles:
English, German
Directors:
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Producers:
Wolfgang Richter
Cinematographers:
Benedict Neuenfels
Editors:
Barbara Gies
Production Companies:
docMovie
European History
Genocide
History
Holocaust
Society
War

Press

  • Video Librarian
    "Drawing on comments from modern authors (Robert Jay Lifton, Dave Grossman etc.) and Nuremberg lawyer Benjamin Ferencz, along with classic psychological experiments, the documentary describes how basic human pathologies of conformity, persuasion, propaganda, desensitization, and deferred responsibility led to “radical evil” (a phrase borrowed from Kant). What is most disquieting here is the suggestion that this wasn’t some malicious sorcery unique to Hitler and European anti-Semitism, but could happen in other societies as well. Highly recommended."
  • The Independent
    "Ruzowitzky suggests there was nothing unique about the Nazi killers – and that we might all have done the same in their place."
  • Münchner Abendzeitung
    “Not a dry textbook study, but a strong and rousing call to the future, because the psychology of perpetrators will remain with us.”
  • The German Board of Film Evaluation / FBW
    “An impressive and shocking film about perpetrators, who became the victims of a system, that was radically evil. An intelligent film with a unique stylistic concept and important new insights into the human mind.“
  • Journal Frankfurt
    “A critical examination of the German past and above all a bitter analysis of how young soldiers of the Wehrmacht could turn into collective mass murderers. A tough topic, but important and well done.”

Festival Participation

  • Jerusalem Film Festival - 2014
    Jewish Experience Award
  • Bergen International Film Festival - 2014
  • Miami Jewish Film Festival - 2014
  • Berlin International Film Festival - 2014
  • Festival of Tolerance - 2015

Additional Materials

Distribution Company

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