`MIRROR' DISTORTS REFLECTION OF REIMAGINED NAZI HISTORY.

Byline: Marla Matzer Daily News Staff Writer

Put Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Hermann Goering and Joseph Goebbels together in a bunker after World War II with Sigmund Freud and you're in for a claustrophobic character study of evil. ``The Empty Mirror,'' an independent film being distributed by Lions Gate Films, could be called ``Hitler in Hell''; though it purports to ``reimagine'' the demons and aspirations that drove Hitler, it's ultimately more of a revenge fantasy about the monstrous dictator having to live with himself and contemplate his deeds into old age.

The story has Hitler and his closest confidantes living in the bunker where they retreated as the Allies closed in on Berlin in 1945. There, they are condemned to contemplate their acts in a limbo ``detached from historical time,'' according to the movie's press materials.

The film often seems like a stage play on which a camera was turned. Norman Rodway as Hitler delivers a number of monologues in which he comments on actual newsreel footage playing in the background. Though the real footage is probably the most interesting part of the movie, the device makes for a clumsily paced film.

That's true, too, of the expository dialogue that characters Eva Braun (Camilla Soeberg), Hermann Goering (Glenn Shadix) and Joseph Goebbels (Joel Grey) recite in order to spur comment from the Fuehrer about things he did in his infamous career. In a couple of scenes, one almost expects Hitler to break out into a little soft shoe while recounting his evil deeds, a la Applegate in ``Damn Yankees'' (``Those were the good old days...'').

The story, and these actors, might have worked well on stage. But on film, the effect is entirely too stagey. Grey plays Goebbels with an over-the-top, limping weasely-ness; Rodway as Hitler struts and poses in his full dress uniforms as if they were so much steel-toed drag.

Sigmund Freud (Peter Michael Goetz) has apparently been thrown into the mix to induce further psychological reflection on the part of Hitler. The biggest problem with the whole affair is buying into the premise that, left alone with his thoughts, Hitler would have had any regrets other than losing the war. Anyone who studies history knows that top Nazi criminals such as Adolf Eichmann remained unrepentant to the end, or else fled or killed themselves to avoid any such consequence altogether. This conceit, therefore, strikes a false chord.

?The facts

The film: ``The Empty Mirror'' (not rated).

The stars: Norman Rodway, Camilla Soeberg, Glenn Shadix, Joel Grey.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Barry J. Hershey. Written by Barry J. Hershey and R. Buckingham. Produced by David D. Johnson, M. Jay Roach and William Dance. Distributed by Lions Gate Films.

Running time: One hour, 57 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Our rating: One star

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PHOTO Norman Rodway, left, portrays Hitler, and Joel Grey is Joseph Goebbels in the misguided character study ``The Empty Mirror.''