John Cusack finds controversy as 'Max' brings Hitler to screen

"Come on, Hitler, I'll get you a glass of lemonade."

That line of dialogue, says John Cusack, embodies the essential paradox of "Max," which tells the story of a gallery owner's relationship with the young Adolf Hitler: "We don't want to admit that he was human. Like Grendel, he lives in a cave and breathes fire."

It's not that "Max" makes Hitler sympathetic — it most emphatically does not — but it does reveal the future Nazi leader as an actual person, a loner who paints pictures, listens to propaganda and drinks lemonade.

"Max" opens in Seattle this Friday at the Metro Cinemas, with much controversy preceding it. Last year, before its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film was denounced — sight unseen, said Cusack — by such groups as the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Defense League, for allegedly humanizing Hitler.

Upon viewing it, however, the national director of the ADL praised the film. " 'Max' does not glorify Hitler in any way," wrote Abraham H. Foxman, "offering an accurate and realistic portrayal of Hitler the monster that certainly does not lend itself to a sympathetic view."

Cusack, an executive producer for "Max," is devoting much time to doing interviews for the film, saying that distributor Lions Gate has little money to spend on it. "The whole budget for the national release," he said, "is maybe a 20th of what Harvey Weinstein (co-chairman of Miramax, distributor of 'Chicago') is spending this weekend. People have to look for this film, search it out." He notes that the majority reaction has been positive, though some comment has been vicious.

"A lot of people wish this movie would just go away," he says.

So why would Cusack, an A-list star beloved for such films as "Say Anything" and "High Fidelity," risk his Hollywood reputation to attach himself to a less-than-endearing project? Simple: He loves movies that get people talking (he was an early champion of "Being John Malkovich," in which he starred in 1999), and fell in love with writer/director Menno Meyjes' script.

"My agent said, 'There's a script here, it's wild, it's about this guy, an artist, he's got one arm and he's talking about art with Adolf Hitler. I'm afraid to send it to you, because you're going to love it.' I read it in one sitting. I said 'This is incredible — I've got to do it.' "

Cusack, himself a writer (he co-wrote "Grosse Pointe Blank" and the film version of "High Fidelity"), said he'd always been fascinated by the post-World War I era depicted in "Max," which is set in 1918 Munich. "I love reading about the period, starting with 'All Quiet on the Western Front' in high school. Those idealists became so disillusioned, recreating the 20th century — they had to rethink everything. Art changed. People started, at least for the time being, confronting the illusions of this romantic vision of war." He was also inspired by Modris Eksteins' book "Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age" — "one of the most mind-boggling books I've ever read."

Hitler, notes Cusack, had one original idea — "for all his cowardice and lies, the most original demonic idea he ever had was that the future was going to be the fusion of art and politics. He understood that art got to people's subconsciousness — he saw art and said, 'This is so powerful, how can I control this so we can go back to war?' He stole from the avant garde."

Then a homeless World War I veteran, Hitler was an aspiring artist who attempted a career as a painter before making his political debut in 1919. In the film, played by Noah Taylor, he meets up with German-Jewish gallery owner Max Rothman (Cusack), a fictional character who represents, says Cusack, "the spirit that Hitler tried to kill." Rothman and Hitler forge an odd, doomed friendship. "Max understands that art and imagery is about ideas, that ideas are about power. He's wounded, shattered by his war experiences, but at his core he's a loving human being, progressive and inclusive and humanistic."

Time's up, and Cusack has to move on to his next interview. It's unlikely that he'll be making this kind of outreach effort for his next films, the thrillers "Identity" and "The Runaway Jury"; "Max," with its dangerous content, needs the extra push, and its political message is close to his heart.

"This isn't about something that happened back then," he says. "It's happening right now." He talks — quickly, as we're nearly done — about the aesthetics of politics, about tough-talking politicians who harness theater to convey their messages. "We think, well, that's just politics, but ('Max') shows you the future extension of that kind of mentality, how dangerous it is."

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com