Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary

Filmmaking doesn't get much simpler than this picture, which merely records--without any background material beyond the briefest introduction--the recollections of Traudl Junge, who served as one of Adolf Hitler's private secretaries between 1942 and his death in the bunker in April 1945. The camera focuses on the elderly woman as, in a series of sessions in 2001, she recounts her memories and offers reflections, smoking countless cigarettes in the process. The only change comes when she watches some of her earlier remarks and takes the opportunity to elaborate on them. Not a portrait of evil, but rather a snapshot of a woman who regretfully describes her earlier impression of an avuncular, considerate Hitler as the result of her own youthful naiveté and ignorance, Blind Spot ultimately provides little new information on the Führer's final days, but it does preserve a fascinating account by one of the few direct observers who survived them (Junge died of cancer just hours before Blind Spot premiered at the Berlin Film Festival). Recommended. (F. Swietek)