Press materials shriek that The Empty Mirror “defies the Hitler taboo” by camping out
in what’s apparently Hitler’s bunker while the delusional Führer chats with ghosts from his past life. He lolls about in bed with Eva, talks shop with Goebbels (Joel Grey, looking like a bewildered kidnappee), and takes time out to watch a little Triumph of the Will. Those who stumble upon this monstrosity might recall the old Kids in the Hall bit “Censored Sketches,” in which two members defend their suppressed skit “Hitler Fucks a Donkey” by arguing that, with the rise of neo-Nazism, such a sketch would present Hitler as “one bad customer.” One can assert with all conviction that The Empty Mirror pulls off this feat.