Look Who's Back (film)

Look Who's Back

German release poster
Directed by David Wnendt
Produced by
  • Lars Dittrich
  • Christopher Müller
Screenplay by
Based on Look Who's Back
by Timur Vermes
Starring
Music by Enis Rotthoff
Cinematography Hanno Lentz
Edited by Hans Funck
Distributed by Constantin Film
Release dates
  • 8 October 2015 (2015-10-08) (Germany)
Running time
 116 minutes
Country Germany
Language German
Budget €2,956,960[1]
($3.3 million)
Box office $25.5 million[2]

Look Who's Back (German: Er ist wieder da, pronounced [ʔeːɐ̯ ʔɪst ˈviːdɐ daː]; translation: "He's back") is a 2015 German comedy film directed by David Wnendt,[3] based on the bestselling[4] satirical novel of the same name about Adolf Hitler by Timur Vermes.[5][6][7] The film features unscripted vignettes of Oliver Masucci as Hitler interacting with ordinary Germans while in character, interspersed with scripted storyline sequences.[8] It was listed as one of eight films that could be the German submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not selected.[9]

Plot

Adolf Hitler (Oliver Masucci) wakes up in present-day Berlin, in a park where his former wartime bunker once stood, and with no memory of anything that happened after 1945. He is disoriented and interprets modern situations and things from a Nazi perspective.[3][5][7][10] Everyone he meets assumes he is an actor impersonating Hitler. He arrives at a newspaper kiosk and begins to read about modern day issues in Germany. Through these newspapers he discovers a completely different ideology from the country he left and not an ideology agreeable to his taste.

Hitler next meets Fabian Sawatzki (Fabian Busch), of the television station MyTV, who had been coincidentally filming a documentary about the children of Berlin in the park where Hitler awoke. Sawatzki proposes to use Hitler in a television programme. An idea for an animal-centred show ends suddenly when Hitler shoots a dog with a concealed pistol. Hitler suggests that the subject of the film be politics. The two set out on a journey to different places in Germany, with Hitler talking to the people being filmed, learning about their issues, and promising to help. Hitler finds himself disillusioned with the German political spectrum. He disparages the ruling CDU as "Bavarian social drinkers", and still bears a strong grudge against the SPD as the party of his old enemies Friedrich Ebert, Paul Lobe, and Otto Wels. The only party Hitler agrees mostly with is the Green party as their program is similar to his Blut und Boden campaign. In the meantime, Hitler becomes a street sketch artist to earn money for the programme.

After returning to Berlin, Sawatzki introduces both Hitler and his programme idea to the MyTV station chiefs. The MyTV chairman, Katja Bellini (Katja Riemann), decides to use Hitler in one of the MyTV comedy shows. Before the show, Hitler learns about the Internet and uses the Web to learn about the modern world and prepare his return to politics. While on air, Hitler presents his old plans for world domination, but he unintentionally becomes a big comedy hit. As Hitler's unintentional prowess in comedy increases, Christoph Sensebrink (Christoph Maria Herbst), one of the MyTV executives, discovers the unedited scene from Sawatzki's documentary where Hitler had shot the dog. Sensebrink shows this footage on air, ruining the burgeoning career of both Hitler and Bellini, and resulting in his own promotion to station chief.

With the help of Bellini and Sawatzki, Hitler publishes a new autobiographical book about his new life in the 21st century, titled Er ist wieder da, and it becomes a bestseller. The book's popularity overshadows Hitler's controversy over the dog he had killed. Soon after, the book is turned into a film. Without Hitler, ratings and ad revenue at MyTV drop precipitously and Sensebrink, after a fit of rage which parodies Hitler's breakdown in the German film Downfall, decides he must publish Hitler's new film.

Hitler plays himself in the movie and during the filming he is beaten by two Neo-Nazis who believe him to be a fraudulent impersonator. Hitler is hospitalized, but the news of his beating generates sympathy and he returns to high standing with the German people. While Hitler is recuperating, Sawatzki reviews his old footage and discovers a Terminator-esque ball of energy in the background, after which Hitler first appeared. Returning to the site, he finds burnt leaves. With horror, he realizes that the Hitler he encountered is the real person all along. He rushes to the hospital to confront Hitler, but he only finds Katja, who says that Hitler was back at the movie studio. When Katja doesn't understand him when he says he found the real Hitler, Sawatzki trashes the hospital room in frustration.

Sawatzki arrives at the movie studio, where he forces Hitler on to the roof at gunpoint with his own pistol. Calmly, Hitler replies that he was elected by the German people, and if he is a monster, then so is every German. This prompts Sawatzki to shoot Hitler in the face, where he falls off the roof to his apparent death. Suddenly Hitler reappears behind Sawatzki, claiming he cannot be killed, as he is a part of every German. This entire scene was revealed to be a part of the film, and Sawatzki was merely a body double in a silicone mask. The real Sawatzki had been committed to a mental hospital following his previous outburst.

Once the work for his film finishes, Hitler senses that he is on the path to a political comeback. He is more popular than ever, and nationalist Germans give Hitler hope that Germany might be ready for his return to power. With Hitler and Bellini riding in the back seat of an open Mercedes convertible and amongst images of actual politically motivated right-wing demonstrations, The film ends with Hitler's words, "I can work with this".

Box office and reception

The film had box office success, reaching number one in Germany in its third week of release.[11]

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a poor review, stating that it lacked substance "suggest[ing] something meaningful about either contemporary German society or whether Hitler's ideas and methods could potentially take root again".[12] Adam Taylor of The Independent, writing about the response of Germans to the filming itself, called the results "surprising" and a "little disturbing".[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Look Who's Back (2015) - Box office & Business". Intenet Movie Database. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Er ist wieder da (Look Who's Back)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Connolly, Kate (6 October 2015). "David Wnendt on filming Look Who's Back: 'Our idea was to see how people react to Hitler'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. ↑ German Comic Novel About Hitler Becomes Bestseller, at Algemeiner Journal; published 7 January 2013; retrieved 16 December 2013
  5. 1 2 Jaafar, Ali (21 October 2015). "Hitler Pic 'Look Who's Back' A Smash In Germany". Deadline. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Adam (24 October 2015). "Look Who's Back: New film asking what would happen it Hitler returned to Germany has a worrying answer". The Independent. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 Hofmann, Sarah Judith (9 October 2015). "Hitler is ′back′ - but did he ever leave?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Lee, Benjamin (27 October 2015). "Hitler comedy Look Who's Back becomes Germany's No 1 movie". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (3 August 2016). "'Toni Erdmann,' 'Fritz Bauer' Among German Oscar Hopefuls". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Lindsay, Duncan (7 October 2015). "Look Who's Back movie follows 'Hitler' in modern Germany and how people react to him". Metro. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Lee, Benjamin (27 October 2015). "Hitler comedy Look Who's Back becomes Germany's No 1 movie". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  12. ↑ van Hoeij, Boyd (14 January 2016). "'Look Who's Back' ('Er ist wieder da'): Film Review". Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Adam, Adam (23 October 2015). "Look Who's Back: New film asking what would happen it Hitler returned to Germany has a worrying answer". Retrieved 29 May 2016.

Schuman, Rebecca. "The Netflix Movie Look Who’s Back Is Like Ali G but With Hitler, and It’s Mesmerizing." Slate Magazine. N.p., 13 May 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Er ist wieder da.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.