dispatches from the new world of work

Move Over, Jamie Foxx

I pretty much thought I'd seen the best impersonation possible when I saw Jamie Foxx "do" Ray Charles. But last night changed all that. Don't know who I'd vote for if I were an Academy member and they were pitted against each other, but BRUNO GANZ's Adolph Hitler in Downfall is Foxx's clear equal. I stood outside the Curzon Mayfair (London) theater in a state of transfixed shock for many minutes after the film.

Tom Peters posted this on 05/18/05.

Comments

So, Tom. Does this mean you actually took the night off? :)

Posted by Tony May / Mayday Media at May 18, 2005 10:55 AM

why shock, tom?

do you want to say a little more?

Posted by jens at May 18, 2005 11:24 AM

jens, "Shock", in tompeters lingo, is a description of Passion, Love, Art, Design, Creativity, Excellence, Cool, Revolutionary, Magic, gracious, Clear, Awesome-Storytelling, Brutal, Talented etcâ€¦.. SHOCKing = WOW and WOW = all the above. Believe me, this is a good review.

Posted by Luis at May 18, 2005 12:14 PM

Are you sure it wasn't still the recovery from the State opneing of Parliament Tom :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at May 18, 2005 12:23 PM

luis, agree. still: shock, why?
lots has been said and written about the downfall... how can one portray hitler as a human? where is the evil?... others said: yes, super, wow, shockingly convincing...
i am not surprised that tp is amongst the later (personally i am too)...
still: shock, why?
this is, to my concern, where it (irritation, passion, disgust) is getting interesting.
tom?

Posted by jens at May 18, 2005 12:34 PM

Trevor, right as rain (PS it's raining in Warsaw today); I think I was tripping on my Ermine movie attire.

Posted by tom peters at May 18, 2005 2:17 PM

I have read a million words on the topic, but this guy is so good at playing a madman, and spending 2 intense hours on a 2-day episode--including mrs Goebbels (sp?) poisoning her kids in slo mo--was wrenching. I randomly walked out of the theater with a Brit about my age and we stood on the sidewalk comparing our emotional experiene. Plus, I get off on a certain level of acting; I was a Ray Charles fan of sorts, but the Jamie Foxx portrayal per se was riveting (remember Hoffman as an autistic).

Posted by tom peters at May 18, 2005 2:26 PM

PS I'm far from being a "movie freak" ... so this was special.

Posted by tom peters at May 18, 2005 2:29 PM

Tom, do you mean to imply by your use of the term "impersonation" that you have direct experience of our friend Adolph? Just checking.

Posted by Tom C at May 18, 2005 2:31 PM

Tom - please share - if you know - why Hitler's oratory was so perversely/deviously effective? Most of Europe was briefly enslaved.

Posted by Sean at May 18, 2005 3:08 PM

Tom - I agree. This was one of the most powerful movie experiences I've had in a long time. I saw it with my 12 year old, believe it or not, who has a strong interest in understanding the Holocaust.

What a glimpse into the unraveling of one of the most damaging, devious plans in history ... if you see this movie, expect to think about it for a while afterwards.

(Did you see Bruno Ganz in Wings of Desire? One of my favorite movies ever.)

Posted by Steve Yastrow at May 18, 2005 10:51 PM

All I have to say is I am now planning to see the movie...at first thought, I thought it would be "more-of-the-same".....Thanks Tom for your feedback....pas

Posted by Patrice at May 19, 2005 1:11 PM

Sean, regarding your question: the key was not the capabilities and training hitler had at Oratory this is a sample of a self-made leader BUT the passion, obsessive desire and blind faith he had on his ideas. He was one of these "monomaniacs on a mission" on the completely wrong mission...
We have a clear-like-water lesson here to be aware that it is not how good you are at something but what you put that greatness to work for.

BTW, Thank you Mr. Peters for keep sharing good and varied stuff with us :-)

Posted by Omara at May 21, 2005 1:05 PM

For those interested in understanding Hitler I highly recommend the Hitler book to explain all Hitler books: Explaining Hitler by Ron Rosenbaum. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006095339X/002-3044318-5983244?v=glance

Rosenbaum argues that our search to understand the Hitler psyche leads us into â€œthickets of conflicting evidence, a tangled undergrowth of unreliable memory and testimony, of misleading rumor, myth, and biographical apocryphaâ€ that has us fill the void of certainty with our own assumptions about the meaning and causes of evil. Rosenbaum painstakingly documents the well-argued hypotheses of why Hitler did what he did. But in the end these theories say more about us â€“ our preconceptions and agendas - than about the Hitler mind. Hitler as Rorshach test. (The Introduction alone is worth the price of the book.)

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Posted by John O'Leary at May 21, 2005 1:38 PM

thanks john.
"hitler as rorshach test" sounds like a tempting perspective/theory.

Posted by jens at May 22, 2005 10:21 AM