Snide & Prejudiceby Anonymous

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July 26, 2003: ''Snide and Prejudice'' falls into a difficult movie category: dark, satiric comedy. It made me laugh often enough that I have to consider it a ''comedy'' -- but many people may find its subject matter more disturbing than funny. This unsettling film may remind you of a satirical comedy like ''Dr. Strangelove''....although ''Snide and Prejudice'' is far stranger, or at least strange in a different way, than that Stanley Kubrick classic. In addition to the movie, the DVD contains a good assortment of special features. Don't miss the ''director's commentary'' audio track in which director Phillipe Mora discusses the film with the characters of Cohen and Michael/Hitler, with Auberjonois and MacFayden recreating their roles -- the resulting conversation is fascinating and very, very funny! If you are interested in an unusual movie experience, I recommend ''Snide and Prejudice.'' It may upset you, and it may make you laugh -- and it also may make you think. More description and discussion: The story is set in a mental institution, the ''Temporal Displacement Foundation,'' where Dr. Sam Cohen (Rene Auberjonois) treats patients with a condition he calls ''psycho-historical multiple personality disorder with temporal displacement'' -- in other words, they think they're famous historical figures. Cohen attempts to cure his patients by supporting and reinforcing their delusions, using himself, other therapists, and even other inmates to act out the events, conversations, and personal relationships in the historical characters' lives. Although Cohen and his therapy program provide the framework for the story, the true central character is Adolph Hitter, as embodied by one of Cohen's patients, Michael (brilliantly portrayed by Angus MacFayden). At each therapy session, Cohen sets the scene with a brief description (such as, ''September 19, 1923, Munich: Hitler arrives at Nazi party headquarters for a meeting''), then observes as Michael acts out -- in effect, relives -- the chronology of Hitler's life. Much of the film consists of these vignettes, concentrating on Hitler's rise to power during the 1920s and 1930s. Anyone who has viewed archival film of Hitler taken before and during World War II, or who has read translations of his speeches, will find this film's imaginary version of Hitler chillingly familiar. Also unsettling is the way Cohen and his colleagues constantly refer to the patient as ''Hitler'', not only during the reenactments, but before and after as well. The farther the story progresses, the more real Hitler becomes -- until it is all but impossible to see Michael behind the uniform and mustache of his obsession. Another simultaneously disturbing and amusing aspect of the story was the too-familiar content of some of Hitler's speeches and political strategies. ''The more social chaos I can create,'' Hitler says at one point, in the early days of the Nazi party in Germany, ''the more people will join the party for security, because I promise to end the chaos.'' It is fascinating to what extent similar tactics are still in use around the world at the beginning of the 21st century. All in all, ''Snide and Prejudice'' tells an intense, intriguing story, beautifully acted and filmed -- and very, very strange.