Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler 2005
Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126
Produced by BBC
Director n/a
DVD, color, 48 min.
College - Adult
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Psychology
Date Entered: 02/01/2008
Reviewed by Barb Bergman, Minnesota State University, MankatoThis BBC production delves into the beginnings of the now common process of psychological profiling. During World War II, the U.S. government asked psychoanalyst Walter Langer to compile an analysis of Hitler’s past, his present state of mind, and likely reactions to future events. The program cites several correct predictions, for example, Hitler’s suicide in light of his defeat. Langer made his forecast based on his Freudian analysis of the information he was able to gather and review. (Although given that the report almost 300 hundred pages in length, there surely must have been incorrect predictions as well).
Production values are typical of BBC news productions—effective use of historical footage, reenactments of conversations as reported in Langer’s book The Mind of Adolf Hitler, and some interviews, to illustrate the events and keep the viewer engaged.
Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler is recommended as an interesting piece that should be useful in psychology and law enforcement courses. Students of psychology will most likely be interested in the application of Freud’s theories, while law enforcement may be more interested in the information gathering processes described.