The Man Who Crossed Hitler

Hitler on Trial (as this docudrama is called in North America) is a bit smart, a bit funny, a bit suspenseful, but also quite a bit dry. The first half especially feels like a stuffy attempt to dramatize the people shown, mainly by putting what they feel into the script instead of into the scene. For this part of the movie, the fact that the actors are painfully British and not at all German makes the film even harder to enjoy.

As the titular intrigue begins, however, things become more suspenseful and engaging. With Hitler in the courtroom, the fact that the scene is played out by clearly British, English-speaking actors allows the English world to experience Hitler's rhetoric in a new way and try to imagine what it would be like to confront.

What says a lot about this film is that the 1-hour documentary included on the DVD is exponentially more interesting and moving than the film itself. Nonetheless, Hitler on Trial makes a good effort to bring an often forgotten part of Nazi Germany's history - the time Hitler was confronted with his contradictions in court - to life.