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

Director:

Dani Levy

Writer:

Dani Levy (written by)

Release Date:

11 January 2007 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

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

Plot Keywords:

Dark Comedy | Berlin Germany | Nazi Germany | Speech | German Shepherd

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Helge Schneider	...	Adolf Hitler
Ulrich Mühe	...	Adolf Grünbaum
Sylvester Groth	...	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
Paula Knüpling	...	Judith Grünbaum
Daniel Morocha	...	Jakob Grünbaum
Leonard Altaras	...	Benny Grünbaum
Regine Hentschel	...	Köchin Constanze
Bruno F. Apitz	...	KZ-Wärter
Hinnerk Schönemann	...	Gestapo Offizier
Ueli Jäggi	...	SS-Rottenführer
Natascha Bub	...	UFA Schauspielerin
Andrea Bongers	...	Sekretärin von Banner
Matthias Matschke	...	KZ-Wachmann
Blondi	...	Himself
Ilja Richter	...	Kurt Gerheim
Katja Riemann	...	Eva Braun
Meret Becker	...	Sekretärin
Marion Kracht	...	Maskenbildnerin Riefenstahl
Tim Fischer	...	Kempkas Geliebte(r)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Volker Behrens	...	Blockwart (uncredited)
Karsten Bähn	...	Soldat 118 (uncredited)
René Böhnke	...	Uniformierter (uncredited)
Sebastian Fuhrmann	...	Soldat 101 (uncredited)
Angelika Gersdorf	...	Besucherin einer Kundgebung (uncredited)
Harald Günther	...	Mann mit Stahlhelm (uncredited)
Thomas Hirschfeld	...	KZ-Häftling (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Britta Horn	...	Telefonistin (uncredited)
Rüdiger Kühmstedt	...	Kriminalbeamter (uncredited)
Karin Meschkat	...	Jubelnde Frau (uncredited)
Daniel Noack	...	Offizier (uncredited)
Mathias Schimpf	...	Soldat (uncredited)
Jana C. Schmidt	...	UFA-Schauspielerin (uncredited)
Michael Schweitzer	...	Fahnenträger (uncredited)
Ulrich Wohlleben	...	SS-Offizier (uncredited)

Directed by
Dani Levy

Writing credits
Dani Levy		(written by)

Produced by
Stefan Arndt	....	producer
Barbara Buhl	....	executive producer: WDR
Marcos Kantis	....	line producer
Lena Amanda Koch	....	assistant line producer
Bettina Reitz	....	executive producer: BR
Andreas Schreitmüller	....	executive producer: Arte

Original Music by
Niki Reiser

Cinematography by
Carl-Friedrich Koschnick		(as Carl-F Koschnick)
Carsten Thiele

Film Editing by
Peter R. Adam

Casting by
Simone Bär

Production Design by
Christian Eisele

Set Decoration by
Christoph Merg

Costume Design by
Nicole Fischnaller

Makeup Department
Dörte Eben	....	additional makeup artist
Gregor Eckstein	....	special makeup effects artist
Jeannette Latzelsberger	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Andreas Dobers	....	post-production supervisor
Peter Hartwig	....	production manager
Boris Mang	....	post-production manager
Verena Rahmig	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tobias Asam	....	third assistant director
Tanja Däberitz	....	second assistant director
Arndt Wiegering	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Ulrike Eversmeier	....	assistant to production designer
Eckart Friz	....	stand-by prop
Donna Hanisch	....	graphic artist
Manuel Hess	....	carpenter
Manuel Hess	....	props
Christian Pralle	....	set dresser
Bele Schneider	....	property master
Alwara Thaler	....	assistant prop buyer

Sound Department
Hubert Bartholomae	....	sound re-recording mixer
Raoul Grass	....	sound mixer
Pit Kuhlmann	....	sound supervisor
Jörn Poetzl	....	foley artist
Philipp Sellier	....	foley editor
Christian Wegner	....	sound mixer: reshoot

Visual Effects by
Joerg Bruemmer	....	digital compositor
Manfred Büttner	....	visual effects
Markus Degen	....	digital effects supervisor
Markus Degen	....	lead compositor
Holger Delfs	....	model maker
Thomas Diesselhorst	....	digital artist
Alex Friedrich	....	senior model maker
Dirk Frischmuth	....	digital compositor
Andreas Fröhlich	....	telecine colorist
Florian Gellinger	....	digital compositor
Frank Hellmann	....	film recording operator
Claudia Lechen	....	digital compositor
Eva Matthes	....	digital compositor
Dirk Matzkuhn	....	digital compositor
Sandra Moll	....	visual effects producer
Niels Müller	....	model maker
Sven Pannicke	....	visual effects producer
Iris Paschedag	....	draughtsman: model unit
Christian Pundschus	....	digital effects artist
Frank Schlegel	....	supervising model maker
Frank Schlegel	....	visual effects supervisor
Cindy Schnitter	....	assistant modelmaker
Heiko Schweizer	....	digital compositor
Tim Stern	....	digital compositor
Sebastian von Overheidt	....	digital compositor
Michael Wagner	....	digital compositor
Jonathan Weber	....	digital compositor
Simon Weisse	....	model maker: senior modeller
Bastian Schreitling	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Stunts
Oliver Fritsche	....	stunt rigger
Christof Genesis	....	stunts
Armin Sauer	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniel Böse	....	video operator
Katharina Dießner	....	clapper loader
Arnd Geißheimer	....	assistant camera
Götz Holborn	....	electrician
Olaf Klein	....	clapper loader
Nadja Klier	....	still photographer
Tobias Kownatzki	....	additional second assistant camera
Heiko Lange	....	grip assistant
Andres Lizana Prado	....	assistant camera
Andre Poser	....	additional lighting technician
Thorsten Quick	....	electrician
Kolja Raschke	....	camera operator
Helen Sabatzki	....	assistant camera
Nina Scheele	....	assistant camera
Michael Schmidt	....	best boy
Tommy Schulz	....	gaffer
Björn Schäfer	....	lighting technician
Susanne Schärf	....	assistant dolly grip
Nico Storch	....	key grip

Editorial Department
Christoph Strothjohann	....	assistant editor
Philip Whitfield	....	telecine colorist

Music Department
Skady Lis	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Nils Konrad	....	driver
Willi Lange	....	driver
Sebastian Raulin	....	driver

Other crew
Mathias Braun	....	location scout
Brian Cordray	....	script doctor
Jan Fees	....	assistant to line producer
Skady Lis	....	business and legal affairs
Verena Rahmig	....	production coordinator
Andro Steinborn	....	head of business and legal affairs

Thanks
Wolfgang Becker	....	thanks
Roberto Benigni	....	thanks
Maria Schrader	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Arte
• Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
• Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
• X-Filme Creative Pool
• Y Filme Directors Pool

Distributors

• First Run Features (2009) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Albatros Film (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2009) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Bontonfilm (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• X Verleih AG (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Beta Cinema (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2007) (Romania) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Optical Art (film recording)

Also Known As:

"Mein Führer - Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler" - Germany (original title)
"Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler" - International (English title)
"The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler" - Japan (English title) (alternative title)

Runtime:

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

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | Hebrew | Yiddish

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Arte

Trivia:

Director Dani Levy himself is from a Jewish family.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Harald Schmidt: Episode dated 20 December 2006" (2006)

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.