330px-A_Kitten_for_HitlerAbove you see the film, “A Kitten For Hitler,” a short holiday film written on a dare by the late director Ken Russell. In a 2007 interview Russell explained how the film came about: “Ten years ago, Melvyn Bragg and I had a heated discussion on the pros and cons of film censorship. Broadly speaking, Melvyn was against it, while I, much to his surprise, was absolutely for it. He then dared me to write a script that I thought should be banned. I accepted the challenge and a month or so later sent him a short subject entitled A Kitten for Hitler. ‘Ken,’ he said, ‘if ever you make this film and it is shown, you will be lynched’.”

The result is a low-budget, self-indulgent sophomoric work of genius. Deliberately as offensive as possible, this short film tells the tale of a young Jewish boy who thinks that Hitler wouldn’t be such a bad man, if only he’d gotten a good Christmas present. You will groan loudly as the story unfolds and whether or not you make it to the end is dependent on how tolerant you are of work that is awful on purpose. You will either laugh yourself silly or be deeply, deeply offended.