Lantern doc deconstructs a 20th-century symbol

Above : The documentary feature “The Meaning of Hitler” opens Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre. (Photo/IFC Films)

Some symbols of the 20th century are enduring. The legacy of World War II is chief among them.

One of those symbols is forever equated with WWII, and it is the focus of a documentary film that will open Friday at the Magic Lantern Theatre . Its title: “The Meaning of Hitler.”

What with the recent rise of neo-nazi sentiments around the world, any dive into a subject that many of us thought we already knew well is welcome. That’s true even if it might not make for an enjoyable Friday-night movie.

That’s assuming, of course, that your idea of an end-of-the-week movie experience is escapist entertainment instead of a serious look at one of history’s most unpleasant eras.

For professional film critics, of course, serious fare is exactly what they expect to see. Here are some comments:

Owen Gleiberman , Variety: “One of the film’s themes is that Hitler, more than ever, remains a presence in Germany and in the world, which suggests something basic and disturbing: that the impact of Hitler and Nazism, the iconography of it, the power and the mythology – that all of that may now be having a greater impact on the generations coming up than the actual horrors that Hitler perpetrated.”

Sheri Linden , The Hollywood Reporter: “Through thoughtful analysis and searching questions – all of it sharply edited by the directors – ‘The Meaning of Hitler’ shines a cleansing light on a mythology that stretches across a century, from a beer-hall uprising in 1923 Munich to a white supremacist rally in 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia. And beyond.”

Eric Kohn , IndieWire: “As it meanders through a parade of talking heads, pensive narration, fragments of biography, and genocidal sightseeing, the movie assembles a trenchant argument against shrugging aside the specter of Nazism, and makes it clear that the fascism of the past can happen just as easily today.”

If that doesn’t make you choke on your popcorn, I don’t know what will.