by MATTHEW HAYS

The protests seemed pretty idiotic to me from the get go. Last year, a number of journalists and even some Jewish lobby groups, stated they were shocked and dismayed to hear that Max, a film about Hitler in his younger days, was being made. Even Maureen Dowd, esteemed liberal New York Times columnist, tossed in her two bits, suggesting Hitler shouldn’t be humanized.

Isn’t this kind of a problematic argument? Last time I checked the history books, Hitler wasn’t an alien from outer space, but rather human, and backed up by a bunch of other humans. That makes him pretty rich fodder for dramatic inquiry (as well as being scary). And hasn’t Hitler already been brought to the stage and screen and played by a wide range of actors? Clearly, amnesia - among other signs of unclear thinking - was setting in.

And the film that caused all the fuss, Max, is actually thoughtful, insightful and extremely well acted. The film could hardly be further from some kind of endorsement of the man who was Hitler as someone warm and fuzzy. To the contrary, Noah Taylor brings a stinging precision to the role of a frustrated, disenchanted young Adolf.

The film’s main character, however, is the fictional Max (John Cusack), an idealistic and well-educated Jewish art curator who takes a passing interest in the young Hitler’s work. The film, directed and written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Menno Meyjes, maps out the evolution of the two characters, never letting us forget about the encroaching fascism that was spreading through Europe in 1918.

It is an uneasy film to watch. Not because the filmmaker has any sort of misguided empathies for Hitler, but rather because Meyjes refuses to resort to any of the cinematic clichés that often ruin movies about this period. For approaching this historical figure as such, with texture and dimension, Meyjes deserves praise, not protest. :

Max opens Friday, Jan. 24

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