| The Empty Mirror | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Barry J. Hershey |
| Produced by | William Dance David D. Johnson Jay Roach |
| Written by | Barry J. Hershey R. Buckingham |
| Starring | Norman Rodway Joel Grey Camilla Soeberg |
| Music by | John Frizzell |
| Cinematography | Frederick Elmes |
| Editing by | Marc Grossman |
| Studio | Walden Woods Films |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release date(s) | November 1996 |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4,688 |
The Empty Mirror is a 1996 film set in the underground Führerbunker where Adolf Hitler and his clan of loyal backers strive to outlast the destruction of the Third Reich.
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The film is a fictional drama set within the scope of a delusional fantasy; that attempts to explore a psychotic scenario surrounding Adolf Hitler (Norman Rodway), as he interacts with Eva Braun (Camilla Soeberg), Hermann Göring (Glenn Shadix), Joseph Goebbels (Joel Grey), as well as psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (Peter Michael Goetz) during a dictation of his memoirs to a military typist (Doug McKeon), while held up in his notorious withdrawn bunker. Hitler proclaims and authoritatively lays down his legacy and ideals while Nazi propaganda footage is proudly displayed in the background as a supporting element and testament to his madness. The film makes an effort to investigate Hitler's temperamental characteristics and to decipher the reasoning behind his derangement, as he reminisces about the past by expressing opinionated observations with the approval of his fellow ruthless subordinates.
Critical reaction to the film was generally mixed. Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times, commented, "Adolf Hitler may have been many things, but it seems unlikely that he was the colossal bore portrayed in the hyperthyroid hodgepodge of pseudo-psychotherapy."[1] Left unimpressed, Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times mused, "There's lots of flashy visuals as punctuation, but they simply serve to underline the theatricality of this entire endeavor, which belongs on a stage, if anywhere at all, rather than a screen in the first place."[2] Alternatively on a positive front, Peter Stack of The San Francisco Chronicle exclaimed, "Rodway's bellowing, sometimes pleading tour-de-force is so extraordinary that it's almost scary to watch."[3] Similarly, Todd McCarthy of Variety Magazine remarked, "for anyone willing to ponder the specifics of Hitler's twisted mind and acts, there are elements here to engage the interest."[4]
The film grossed $4,688 during a limited American release in May 1999.[5]
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