The Architecture of Doom

Peter Cohen's The Architecture of Doom, from 1991, is a fascinating and well constructed documentary focusing on the aesthetics of the Nazi regime. Cohen posits that Hitler's failure as an artist led to his attempt to revive what he saw as the classical artistic values of Greece and Rome in opposition to modern art which he thought was degenerate.

The effort to strip culture of its impurities led to a purge of the body politic itself, the Holocaust. Cohen mostly eschews talking heads as he lets Nazi propaganda footage show how Hitler tried to usher in a new era for German art, architecture and popular culture. The result, a combination of kitsch and utter horror, makes for riveting viewing. My wife noted how Hitler's paintings and aesthetics lacked any sense of ambivalence: a terrifying preview of a dichotomous political philosophy where you either stood with the party or were eliminated.

I recall seeing, in 1976, an exhibit of Hitler's paintings and Churchill's even feebler efforts at the Imperial War Museum. My father remarked that it was a good thing that the Second World War was not decided on artistic merit.