by MATTHEW HAYS

For a time, the term "talking head" became one of extreme derision among documentary film enthusiasts. Setting up a camera to do a straightforward interview was seen as static and ultimately dull, an unimaginative approach to non-fiction filmmaking, with people favouring more gonzo or strictly observational approaches, like Michael Moore or Frederick Wiseman respectively.

But Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary is a fascinating feature doc, precisely because it is so unapologetically a talking head movie. As simple as it gets, the film is an edited version of a series of interviews with Traudl Junge, 81, who, back when she was a young lass of 22, became Adolf Hitler’s secretary. Junge soon rose within the ranks of Hitler’s most trusted, gaining an entirely unique perspective on the workings of his inner circle.

Filmmakers André Heller and Othmar Schmiderer haven’t just gone against the grain in terms of recent doc trends generally, they’ve also gone out of their way to avoid recent Holocaust-related doc style. For instance, there’s not one shred of archival footage, something that’s become an expected staple of the Holocaust doc. Instead, the utter, astonishing unbelievability of Junge’s words about these times stand in even starker contrast to the woman uttering them: a meek octogenarian, she could be the little old lady who lives down your street - clearly an extremely effective objective of the filmmakers.

Also truly weird are the details: Junge describes Hitler’s love of the family dog, most notably. Then the horror sets in - convinced they are doomed when the allies begin to march on Berlin, Hitler has a number of children in his inner circle euthanized. Junge’s description of the children’s reaction as they realize what is occurring is devastating.

The final moments of Blind Spot are revelatory. Were Germans, and, by extension, Europeans, swept up in history, or could they have done more to oppose these unfathomable acts? Indeed, she concludes, there were those who chose not to march along in Hitler’s parade of genocide. There was a choice.

Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary opens Friday, June 20

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