Max (2002/I)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Menno Meyjes

Writer (WGA):

Menno Meyjes (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 2003 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Art + Politics = Power

Plot:

A film studying the depiction of a friendship between an art dealer named Rothman and his student, Adolf Hitler.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Supposedly True Story | What If | Severed Arm | Infidelity | May December Romance

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	Max Rothman
Noah Taylor	...	Adolf Hitler
Leelee Sobieski	...	Liselore von Peltz
Molly Parker	...	Nina Rothman
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Captain Mayr
David Horovitch	...	Max's Father
Janet Suzman	...	Max's Mother
András Stohl	...	NCO
John Grillo	...	Nina's Father
Anna Nygh	...	Nina's Mother
Krisztián Kolovratnik	...	Nina's Brother
Peter Capaldi	...	David Cohn
Yuliya Vysotskaya	...	Hildegard
János Kulka	...	Mr. Epp
Katalin Pálfy	...	Mrs. Epp

Also Known As:

Hoffman (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Hungary | Canada | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:NC-16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG (edited for re-rating) | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

AAMPI Inc.

Trivia:

To help get this controversial movie financed, producer/star John Cusack took no salary for acting in the lead role.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Max sees Hitler for the first time, he correctly calls him "Corporal", but the uniform Hitler is wearing has no rank insignia. German Army uniforms in both world wars displayed NCO ranks on the collar.

Quotes:

Liselore Von Peltz: Where's your wife?
Max Rothman: Waiting for her entrance, I suppose.
Liselore Von Peltz: And where does that leave me?
Max Rothman: Talented, with options.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Children of the Setting Suns (2006)

The Artist Formerly Known As Hitler

MAX (2002) *** John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, Ulrich Thomsen. Filmmaker Menno Meyjes' audacious yet non-offensive examination on the colossal What If of all time: What if Adolph Hitler continued his path into a career as an artist instead of a genocidal madman? Based on facts and an amalgamated character in the form of Max Rothman (a never finer Cusack in one of his best ‘adult' roles to date) a WWI vet who has returned to his Munich based art dealership minus a limb with an ever-gnawing question: What now? Enter problematic young artist wannabe and fellow German war vet Hitler (Taylor in a tricky yet full-force to be reckoned with turn) insisting his friendship with the tormented Rothman to the limits (and the beginnings of the end for history). The film is a tad bland in some areas however the prickly wonderings of what may have been make it all the worthwhile.