The Decent One

2014

1h 34m

Documentary

Drama

History

List

70%

Tomatometer

30 Reviews

44%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

Filmmaker Vanessa Lupa uses personal letters, photos and archival film footage to paint a portrait of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi leader and a chief architect of the Holocaust.

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Wendy Ide

Times (UK)

An unsettlingly banal insight into the mind of the architect the Final Solution.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

Leslie Felperin

Guardian

The decision to add in sound effects to zhoosh up the imagery may irk some purists, but Lapa also knows when silence is most effective.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

David Jenkins

Little White Lies

Works despite director Lapa's little impositions.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

John Bleasdale

CineVue

The Decent One scratches the surfaces of a man without much of a personality who did terrible things. It comes as no great shock to discover there isn't really anything underneath.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 4, 2019

Full Review

Jasper Rees

The Arts Desk

There is little unknown about Himmler's pivotal part in genocide. The film's power is in its access to the private workings of psychotic power-mongering, ideological hatred and pious self-pity.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

Sr. Rose Pacatte

National Catholic Reporter

As racism and anti-Semitism continue to rise in Europe and the United States, understanding the life and mind of an anti-Semite [Heinrich Himmler] who rationalized a way to murder so many people because of race is an educational imperative.

Aug 10, 2017

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Audience Member

This is a very interesting documentary on many levels. Discovered in Israel where countless diaries, photos, records of Henrich Himmler and his family. The film uses actual footage in connection with the reading of this material to make a very powerful and horrible study of a monster. The added material is as interesting as the documentary.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A good documentary, shedding light on the mindset of the Nazi propaganda minister without sensationalising.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"What he did defies description." The Coops Review: https://fredacooper.wordpress.com/2015/04/01/review-the-decent-one/

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An interesting idea, that is either poorly executed or simply un-cinematic in form. It's an engaging idea to try to show different sides of people who have done such horrendous things in their lives. However, Vanessa Lapa's film would have been a much better book than a film. There's nothing visually engaging about this idea, and so it's hard to stay focused to what's going on. So in the end, this is a film that was hard to make it through.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Vanessa Lapa

Director

Tobias Moretti

Heinrich Himmler

Sophie Rois

Marga Himmler

Lotte Ledl

Hedwig Potthast

Antonia Moretti

Gudrun Himmler

Florentín Groll

Gehbard Himmler

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Vanessa Lupa uses personal letters, photos and archival film footage to paint a portrait of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi leader and a chief architect of the Holocaust.

Director: Vanessa Lapa
Screenwriter: Vanessa Lapa, Ori Weisbrod
Genre: Documentary, Drama, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 3, 2016
Runtime: 1h 34m

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