Brutality in Stone

"Brutality in Stone" (Brutalität in Stein) is a documentary short on abandoned Nazi edifices and how they supposedly reflect the nature of the infamous regime. Filmed in the early-1960s and shot in black and white the visual document highlights designs that vary from the arched elegance of the classical to the stiff and sterile Teutonic. Speeches from the Nazi era by prominent figures like Hitler and Hess are used as accompaniment to the eerie tour including crowd cheers from the notorious Nazi rallies adding to the unsettling effect. While the film purports to show the evil of the era through its architecture the effort is a failure as the silent sentinels of stone are as guilty of its time as a hunchback lacking perfect posture. One merely sees dirty and empty buildings, nothing more. If the filmmakers were expecting more they were certainly dreaming. For what it is, the movie is a brave attempt in facing the country's dark and ugly past at a time when the nation was barely interested nor remorseful. For film enthusiasts and historians.