February 14, 1999 -- A filmmaker and teacher, Jay Rosenblatt had been a counselor in hospitals and psychiatric wards for 15 years. He brings this experience to his 30-minute film, Human Remains, a unique perspective on political evil.

But this is not a political or simply an artistic experimental film. In this documentary he asks us to consider the nature of evil from an odd angle. Using newsreel and archival footage, coupled with five separate voice-over actors, Rosenblatt presents five personal portraits of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco, and Mao Tse Tung. Erie and unnerving, each historical figure talks about their habits, health, women, food, sex and other mundane, everyday interests.

These old men could be someone's grandfather or old uncles. We know their public lives and the monster dictators they became. But this film ignores the public images of decorated military leaders in uniform, marching soldiers, tanks rolling. These are condensed personal journals and we are hearing about their most intimate thoughts.

Mao never bathed or brushed his teeth. He loved swimming, smoking and women. He, like Hitler, had only one testicle. Hitler relished American movies and pornography films, but he detested smoking. Stalin, Franco, and Mussolini appear to be devoted family men. Stalin, like Franco, is only 5 foot 4, but he has a short temper, even though he loves practical jokes. Franco and Mussolini are the outdoorsmen. Franco loves his fishing, hunting, one glass of wine per day, and TV. Mussolini loves speed, flying, women, hats, and manicures. He stands with his wife and five children for the cameras and struts on ski slopes with his bare-chest. They pet their dogs, play with children, and tell us about their favorite food and drink.

You find yourself enjoying these little insights, but then you remember who these men are. Rosenblatt wants it that way. There is humor, but this isn't funny. This is evil. It is fascinating, but rather uncomfortable. How did these five "normal" behaving men become so brutal, so inhuman? Human Remains encourages us to think about evil through another lens, confronting thoughts about evil that now seems much more complex.

This film was a Special Jury winner at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and also won the International Documentary Association's (IDA) Distinguished Achievement Award for Short Documentary.

The other IDA finalists were Working Sister, Three Stories, Repetition Compulsion, and Dear Dr. Spencer: Abortion In A Small Town. The Sundance Festival has over 1500 entries with 60 films selected for screening in the Short Films category. The 1999 Oscar nominees for Documentary Short Subject are, A Place in the Land, Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square, and The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Mike McElreath can be reached via e-mail as MikeM@uwyo.edu