Oliver Stone to Humanize Hitler in “Secret History”

By our guest blogger, Tim Strain

This is more like it.

Oliver Stone wants to come out of his shell again. The director was one of the loudest, sharpest and most important filmmakers of the 1980s and 1990s, crafting an incendiary filmography. “Natural Born Killers” is still perhaps the most violent American film ever. “Platoon” was one of the most realistic portrayals of combat ever. “JFK” attempted to de-bunk the biggest conspiracy of the century. He has been on a dry spell for pretty much the last 10 years, though, releasing the kind-of-but-not-really controversial “World Trade Center” and “W.” as well a flop for the history books in “Alexander.” “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” is due next month, and has some built-in intrigue amidst the current economic state, but could definitely be another turkey.

Now, he is back in really, really controversial grounds once again. As The Hollywood Reporter reported in August, Stone will be directing, producing, writing and narrating a 10-part, 10-hour documentary for Showtime entitled “The Secret History of the United States.” According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The project includes 'newly discovered facts and accounts' from the Kennedy administration, the Vietnam War and the great changes in America’s role in the world since the fall of Communism in the 1980s.”

Stone said the following in a statement:

“'Through this epic 10-hour series, which I feel is the deepest contribution I could ever make in film to my children and the next generation, I can only hope a change in our thinking will result,'" Stone said in a statement.”

In other words, this will be big. According to an article from The Independent on January 11, Stone noted he will be putting a more human face on the most hated figure in modern history--Adolf Hitler. He also plans to focus on Josef Stalin, Harry Truman’s call to drop the bomb on Japan, and the Cold War.

"Stalin, Hitler, Mao, McCarthy -- these people have been vilified pretty thoroughly by history. Stalin has a complete other story. Not to paint him as a hero, but to tell a more factual representation. He fought the German war machine more than any single person."

Stone also believe Hitler has become a “scapegoat,” and while he was a psychotic in terms of personality and intentions, he needs to be recognized as a product of a system.

"I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes to understand their point of view. We're going to educate our minds and liberalise them and broaden them. We want to move beyond opinions ... go into the funding of the Nazi party. How many American corporations were involved, from GM through IBM? Hitler is just a man who could have easily been assassinated."

Best of luck, Mr. Stone.