Art for the depraved

Max

Starring John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Leelee Sobieski, Molly Parker and…

Max

Starring John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Leelee Sobieski, Molly Parker and Ulrich Thomsen

Directed by Menno Meyjes

Most of the people I know are aware that Adolf Hitler wanted to be an artist. It’s the kind of thing a teacher throws into a history lesson or that you read on the back of a packet of instant oatmeal; you think about it for a second, wonder how different things might have been if he had sold a few paintings, say “huh” to yourself and go about your day.

Director Menno Meyjes brings us back to this idea in his latest film, “Max.” In it the young Hitler (Taylor) is down and out in Vienna, circa 1918. He returns from World War I to nothing – no family, no career, no money. He is still in the army, which gives him a place to live in the barracks, and he takes what odd jobs he can find, which gives him some money. What little free time he has he splits between his two passions, art and politics.

In the former pursuit he is aided by Max Rosenthal (Cusack), a wealthy, one-armed Jewish art dealer. When they first meet Max notices two things about young Adolf: His uniform and the sketches under his arm. We learn that they served together at Ypres (where Max lost his arm) and that Hitler, though lacking vision, has good artistic technique. Because he sees potential in Hitler’s quiet intensity – or just because he feels sorry for him – Max becomes something of a patron to Hitler, giving him a little money and encouraging him in his work.

Hitler’s political mentor is the officer Captain Mayr (Thomsen), who enrolls him in a course in propaganda and introduces him to the National Socialist Workers Party.

As the title suggests the film is more about Max than Hitler, but the latter is never far from mind. The camera lingers on him as he walks away long after scenes have effectively ended. Also, though his introverted personality is dominated by Max’s youthful ebullience whenever they share the screen, when he is present he seems to motivate all of the plot development. Max might be the film’s main character, but Hitler is obviously the reason it exists.

There are two possible interpretations of the way that the story is presented. The first, that in 1918 Hitler stood at a crossroads in his life. One road led to a life in art, one to a life in politics, and it was mostly chance that determined down which he walked. The other more interesting interpretation is that for Hitler, politics was art.

This second reading of the film is fascinating because it raises all sorts of questions about art and the responsibility of the artist. It goes much deeper than a simple speculation that if Hitler had been a more talented artist, the Holocaust would never have happened; it asks us whether or not the factors that allowed Nazism to flourish aren’t the same factors that drive us out in droves to see “The Lord of the Rings” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The stuff that popular art is made of is surely the same stuff that makes popular politics and Meyjes suggests that this is something we should not forget.

“Max” is not a brilliant film. It makes too much of coincidence and its treatment of Hitler’s anti-Semitism is cursory and awkward. Also, at times it seems that John Cusack is having too much fun with his character – some scenes seem in place only so that he can say something quotable. But as a conversation piece and as a character study it is top notch. This is the kind of film I would like to see screened in high school history classes. Whether or not history is the tale of individuals, individuals fill our lives and “Max” reminds us not to take any of them for granted.