Albert Speer was Adolph Hitler’s ally and chief architect, but unlike Hermann Göring and Alfred Jodi, he was not sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials. His excuse: He did not know about the crimes being committed—though he had no qualms claiming that upwards of 12 million toiled under him as slave labor.

In 1969, Speer wrote a bestselling memoir, Inside the Third Reich. Paramount tried to adapt the book into a feature film, and director Vanessa Lapa uses the meetings between Speer and Hollywood screenwriter Andrew Birkin as the framing device to explore Speer’s life, his complicity, and Hollywood’s fascination with trying to find men among monsters. It’s a powerful and troubling documentary that won’t leave you any time soon.

Speer Goes to Hollywood (2020)
Directed by Vanessa Lapa
Written by Joelle Alexis, Vanessa Lapa
Produced by Tomer Eliav, Vanessa Lapa
Realworks, Not rated, Running time 97 minutes, Premiered Feb. 26, 2020 at the Berlin International Film Festival

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The above blurb first appeared in the pages of Boulder Weekly Vol. 30, No. 12, “Reel to reel.”