Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Traudl Junge
Directors: Andre Heller, Othmar Schmiderer
“I have finally let go of my story. Now I feel the world is letting go of me.”
Traudl Junge had been hounded for years to give an account of her existence with the infamous Adolf Hitler. As one of Hitler’s personal secretaries she details her experiences with him from 1942 to 1945 and it is quite a shocking revelation that gives a new look at the actual existence of Hitler, particularly in the final days during the siege of Berlin.
It is refreshing that it is entirely Traudl Junge who appears on the screen so what you get is her unmixed and unmodified viewpoint. But this unfortunately proves to be a bit heavy going and tedious in parts as she dips into her own personal life on too many occasions. However the film picks up and really gets juicy towards the end as she explains the last crucial hours of Hitler in his bunker, which is the high point.
On the whole BLIND SPOT: HITLER’S SECRETARY is an interesting journey into Hitler’s private rooms but the film still leaves questions unanswered on certain key details and perhaps it would be better off in book form. There is a very melancholy feel to the film as Traudl Junge has never really forgiven herself for not doing anything to oppose Hitler, even though she was ignorant of what he was actually doing. She passed away on February 11 2002 in Munich hours after the film was released and just days after the publication of her memoirs, In the Final Hours. She was 81 years old.
