'The Decent One': The documentary about Heinrich Himmler is excruciating
鈥淭he Decent One鈥� once again posits that perhaps unanswerable question: How can seemingly 鈥渘ormal鈥� people perpetrate the worst human atrocities? The normal monster in question is Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi SS commander who is often called 鈥渢he architect of the Holocaust.鈥澛�
Documentarian Vanessa Lapa, a Belgian who has been living in Israel since 1995, came into possession of a cache of hundreds of Himmler鈥檚 and his family鈥檚 personal letters, diaries, and photos and recorded their words over rare and newly restored footage that, especially when it bears down on the Holocaust, is excruciating to witness. Himmler in one of his letters says that 鈥渋n life, one must be always decent, courageous and kind-hearted,鈥� and 鈥渄ecent鈥� is apparently how he saw himself right up to the time he swallowed a cyanide capsule after he was captured by the British. Grade: B+ (This film is unrated.)
