The Empty Mirror

A surrealistic what-if fantasy in which Adolf Hitler madly dictates his memoirs while holed up in his infamous bunker after World War II, this is one of those art house films so impressed with itself and brimming with pretension that it's difficult to sit through at all, let alone take half as seriously as it takes itself. Veteran British actor Norman Rodway stars as the mad dictator, goose-stepping around a minimalist sound stage while Nazi propaganda films are projected in the background, devouring scenery with rabid pontifications about his philosophy and his legacy. Writer-director Barry Hershey, who flogs to death every concept and symbol he puts forth, has apparently convinced himself he's being visionary, when in fact he's just being obvious. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)