SummaryA tale that careens through art, politics, love, hope, intolerance, obsession and destructive malevolence to provide an original and intimate portrait of a major turning point in modern history. (Lions Gate Films)
Directed By:Menno Meyjes
Written By:Menno Meyjes
Max
Metascore
Mixed or Average
56
User score
Generally Favorable
6.8
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
57% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
27% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
17% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
100
Reveals a key aspect of fascism's cynical use of art and architecture to mesmerize a weak and vulnerable society.
80
Immerse yourself in two fantastic performers, a polished narrative (by Menno Meyjes) and a “could have happened” scenario. It plays all too real if you ask me.
70
A historical fantasy connecting fact and wild supposition into a provocative work of fiction that poses ticklish questions about art and society.
63
The movie keeps you mildly interested all the way up to an elaborately staged final scene, yet it might give viewers the same queasy fooling-with-the-Holocaust feeling some felt for Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful."
50
Ultimately, Meyjes focuses too much on Max when he should be filling the screen with this tortured, dull artist and monster-in-the-making.
40
Suggests that had young Adolf Hitler managed to get his art show, the Holocaust might never have happened. This seems absurd, not to say insensitive.
25
"You're an awfully hard man to like, Hitler." Few serious films could survive a line like that. Max certainly doesn't.
User score
Generally Favorable
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
25% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Mar 15, 2015
8
A fascinating and tragic what-if as a jaded art dealer discovers a troubled and extreme artist and attempts to steer him away from the path of destruction and towards the fulfillment of his artistic dreams. The art dealer is Jewish, the artist a young Adolf ****. One of Cusack's last interesting films and performances before he started reading the cheques rather than the scripts.
Production Company:
- AAMPI Inc.
- Aconit Pictures
- Alliance Atlantis Communications
- Bioskop Film
- Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)
- H2O Motion Pictures
- JAP Films
- Natural Nylon II
- Pathé International
- UK Film Council
Release Date:Dec 27, 2002
Duration:1 h 46 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Art + Politics = Power
Awards
Genie Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Political Film Society, USA
• 2 Nominations
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
