Mein Führer - Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler (2007)

Director:

Dani Levy

Writer:

Dani Levy (written by)

Release Date:

August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

The bastard love child of Chaplin's Great Dictator & Mel Brooks' The Producers

Plot Keywords:

Paul Joseph Goebbels | Dog | Assassination Attempt | Plot To Kill Hitler | Speech

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Helge Schneider	...	Adolf Hitler
Ulrich Mühe	...	Prof. Adolf Israel Grünbaum
Sylvester Groth	...	Dr. Joseph Goebbels
Adriana Altaras	...	Elsa Grünbaum
Stefan Kurt	...	Albert Speer
Ulrich Noethen	...	Heinrich Himmler
Lambert Hamel	...	Obergruppenführer Rattenhuber
Udo Kroschwald	...	Martin Bormann
Torsten Michaelis	...	SS-Wachmann Moltke
Axel Werner	...	Erich Kempka
Victor Schefé	...	Rottenführer Puffke
Lars Rudolph	...	Kammerdiener Heinz Linge
Wolfgang Becker	...	KZ-Kommandant Banner
Bernd Stegemann	...	Dr. Morell
Shawn Karlborg	...	Adam Grünbaum

Also Known As:

Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler (International: English title)
My Fuhrer (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:89 min | Argentina:95 min | USA:89 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | Hebrew | Yiddish

Color:

Color | Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

Klaus Maria Brandauer was considered for the role of Prof. Adolf Israel Grünbaum.

Movie Connections:

References Kolberg (1945)

Fairly good, but rather tame.

Unlike other countries, where satire about the Holocaust and the Nazis are already common such an approach is in Germany completely new. Afraid of being once again under the allegation that the Germans are still a bunch of Nazis, German filmmakers so far never touched this topic. Therefore the strong reactions against this feature by various Jewish groups and celebrities.

They shouldn't have worried. Director Dani Levy, though making fun of the Nazi party and Hitler, in still never diminishes the dangerous situation and their inhumanity.

The film starts at the end of 1944. The war is already lost, Berlin is destroyed, the Nazi administration solidified, Hitler (Helge Schneider) in deep depression. Goebbels (Sylvester Groth), in an desperate turn to get Hitler on stage to give a marvelous speech, gets Hitlers old Jewish speaking tutor Prof. Grünbaum (Ulrich Mühe) from the concentration camp back to the Führerbunker in order to support Hitler.

Helge Schneider, who so far showed little acting talent (his so called comedies before had little to do with acting) surprises here with an impressive performance, while Ulrich Mühe is as always reliable and very good.

But sadly, instead of really bringing a biting satire to the screen, Dani Levy managed only a fairly funny film. There are some hilarious jokes, but most of the time it stays in already known ground and the the proceedings are often enough simply meek. It's a good movie, but not a great one. A chance missed.