Der Anständige 2014

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: Eerie and utterly riveting ... Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: A film that doubtless will intrigue a diverse cross-section of academics, historians and history buffs, despite some of Lapa's questionable attempts to enhance the dramatic impact of her narrative. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The movie adds little to our historical or emotional understanding of the Holocaust. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The Decent One once again posits that perhaps unanswerable question: How can seemingly "normal" people perpetrate the worst human atrocities? Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: At its most effective ... "The Decent One" reveals a psychological portrait of a man devoted to his family yet consumed by a soul-blackening and horrifically destructive cause. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Horrific images of beatings and shootings are adorned with isolated sound effects that seem borrowed from a comedy. The effect is repellently trivializing ... Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: [The] streamlined approach seems appropriate for the subject, which boils down to the banality of evil. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: The voice-over-driven readings and the illustrative footage - unwisely augmented with new sound effects - lack a fundamental filmic momentum. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: I found this film to be one of the most profoundly disturbing cinematic experiences in a life full of them. Read more

Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail: The director sometimes ham-handedly embellishes the readings of notes written by Himmler, his wife, his mistress and his daughter with music and sound effects, but the film works best when it is at its most austere. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Lapa leaves it to us to determine how a man could be so unaware of his moral failings, but some perspective from the filmmaker would have been helpful. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Apart from the devastating material itself, some of Lapa's aesthetic choices are extremely off-putting. Read more

Simon Abrams, Village Voice: The approach proves myopic; by emphasizing home movies and letters, Lapa fails to elucidate her hateful subject's actions. Read more