Hotel Lux (2011)

In 1938 Hans Zeisig, an apolitical comedian, impersonator and cabaret actor, flees with a Russian passport (instead of American, which he would have preferred) from Nazi-Berlin, and finds ... See full summary »

Director:

Leander Haußmann

Writers:

Leander Haußmann (screenplay), Uwe Timm (based on motifs by)

Stars:

Michael Herbig, Jürgen Vogel, Thekla Reuten

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Herbig	...	Hans Zeisig (as Michael Bully Herbig)
Jürgen Vogel	...	Siegfried Meyer
Thekla Reuten	...	Frida von Oorten
Valeriy Grishko	...	Josef Stalin (as Valery Grishko)
Alexander Senderovich	...	Jeschow
Juraj Kukura	...	Wassili Ulrich
Thomas Thieme	...	Georgi Dimitroff
Gennadi Vengerov	...	Upit
Josef Ostendorf	...	Mama
Sebastian Blomberg	...	Karl-Heinz Müller
Sibylle Canonica	...	Frau Platten
Axel Wandtke	...	Walter Ulbricht
Steffi Kühnert	...	Lotte Kühn
Robert Dölle	...	Johannes R. Becher
Daniel Wiemer	...	Herbert Wehner

Storyline

In 1938 Hans Zeisig, an apolitical comedian, impersonator and cabaret actor, flees with a Russian passport (instead of American, which he would have preferred) from Nazi-Berlin, and finds himself in the legendary Hotel Lux, the 'lost paradise' of the Comintern, in Moscow. Everyone believes that Zeisig is a man named Hansen, Hitler's personal astrologer. But Zeisig quickly realizes that he's gone from the frying pan into the fire. In the Hotel Lux he meets his friends Frida and later Meyer again, still passionate communists. For the three idealists an adventure between love and death begins to run its course.

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Plot Keywords:

comedian | reference to charlie chaplin | stalinism | holocaust | nazi germany | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany Liechtenstein France

Language:

German Russian English

Release Date:

27 October 2011 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Готель Люкс

Filming Locations:

MMC Studios, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Pictures, Colonia Media Filmproduktions GmbH, herbX Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color Black and White

Did You Know?

Goofs

While spelling the word "Holly" from "Hollywood" in English Zeisig is pronouncing the letter Y not as "Why", even if he spells the other letters correctly in English.

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Quotes

Josef Stalin: [during the astrology session with Hans aka Jan Hansen] I know what that card means. Death. They all want my death. They all watch me even here, in the toilet while I'm shitting. Jeshov! Come out you bastard. I know that you are here. You are spying on me. Where are your cameras? Jeschov! Jeschov!

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Crazy Credits

The first part of the closing credits are displayed over the star sky, mixed with different constellations and star-made impressions of the main actors and different celebrities of the 1930s.

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Connections

References The Great Dictator (1940)

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Soundtracks

Bella ciao
Performed by: Chor der Roten Armee
Music: traditional

User Reviews

So much fun!

I am attending a film festival in Porto and so far this was the best movie in competition. I don't watch a lot of European films because they usually don't open in Portugal, but I try to use this opportunities to watch different movies and this time I wasn't disappointed. It's a story of two comedy actors in Berlin in 1939. One of them plays Hitler and the other Stalin to a room full of Nazi officers. The beginning is absolutely great and I could't stop laughing. With the war both comedians have to run and trying to reach Hollywood they end up in Moscow. At this point the film looses a bit of its initial vigor but I enjoyed it anyway and although the end is a bit predictable, it is still a very enjoyable movie and totally worth the time.