Er ist wieder da

I like movies that make me think. Er ist wieder da, was suggested to me as a comedy, and not being particularly fond of comedies, what I got was way more than expected.

The movie treads a sensitive line with sufficient care, but what is most important to me, with plausibility. Even the few places where the script becomes "unreal", in general the coherence and treatment of the insertion of THE character in present society is preserved, and that is for me an enormous value in itself. The probing of current times by the use of this major historical character is remarkably able to become an exercise of philosophy and even introspection.

In my opinion an extremely challenging script becomes here alive by his own merits, and the acting supports this substrate quite solidly.

I laughed, and even if I today would better file it as a tragicomedy, For the sake of our times let's call it a comedy. And I very much hope, from the bottom of my heart that, in the next years to come we can continue to say, that it was so.

I was traveling in Berlin a year ago when I first saw someone reading the eponymous book on which this movie is based. It stuck in a corner of my mind, so as my travels brought me back to Berlin and posters were advertising "Er ist wieder da", I had to give it a go.

The challenge, as with previous comedic movies themed around Hitler or the Nazi regime, is treading the line of reasonable taste and still being challenging enough to gain some relevance. One of the best known spoofs of the times, The Producers, uses it as a pivot to tell an engaging story about several memorable characters, so that works well. But here, there's little to pivot from, as Hitler, in realistic attire and demeanor, narrates his experience of present day Germany. So the twist, in part, is to make it a mockumentary in the spirit of Borat, see how people react to Hitler walking the streets and delivering his calculated critiques of the political system, the media - life in general. When it's not doing this, the film provides a decent dose of slapstick and irony to its more obviously scripted parts. Distinguishing one from the other is not really the key to enjoyment; the key lies in accepting this faithful representation of Hitler as a grotesquely humorous caricature of the symbolic power he holds over modern history in its most extreme moments. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be at the beginning, but one settles in well, after a while.

Narratively, not much really happens, other than the fact that the protagonist pops up in Berlin and gets acquainted to what the world is like nowadays. To help him in this, a few support characters act as guides; none believe him to be "the real thing", but rather a comedian or a satirist. So, in a sense, it's not really a very ambitious film, because the degree to which it engages with the moral dimension of the situation is limited. But it is ambitious in that it tries to keep a straight face even through the more ghastly, touch-and-go moments one would relate to a Hitler movie. It is at its best when it does this, but then the occasional piece of slapstick hits you in the face are you're back into the reality of a mildly amusing film that people have only heard of because it is polemic.

An important part in the whole thing coming together reasonably well is thanks to Oliver Masucci, who offers a strong performance to keep the "pots" in balance. Perhaps one could critique this in particular: the implication is that any piece of fiction told in the first person will make the viewer empathize with the character, hence humanizing the historical figure. But the historical figure itself is merely a representation of the man and "Er ist wieder da" tries to contextualize this - make away with what you know and imagine this were pre-1933. As mentioned, it doesn't go very deep with it and it would be quite problematic to do so. It's just a thought experiment which concludes in a slightly open and ambiguous fashion.

To address the real question though: did I laugh? Yes, I did. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I did. The film managed to create an amusing environment which plays off the character of Hitler, without making it the other way around (all the time). As for the big picture, I might not agree that the world is, collectively, where it was seventy years ago, in spite of the troubles we are currently facing, especially in Europe. Or that we would make the same mistakes all over again. But that's another story of me visiting Berlin.

The movie shows Hitler in a current day setting. Which at first is very humorous, but during the movie it turns from just funny into awkward and beyond. There are great scenes in which the movie refers to other movies about Hitler, like "Der Untergang", but also hilarious scenes in which the absurdity of a present day Hitler are just fun. The turn of the movie is subtle and fascinating. You only notice it after it has already happened, which to me reflects the real way this would occur. It even happens that at some point the audience questions its own laughter. This movie is fun to experience, but also confronting in the upcoming changes in political landscape.

So watch out, it is not just a comedy!

"Er ist wieder da": he is back again in English is a MUST SEE. First of all it is a really good insight in how Hitler influenced the German people and finally gained their trust. It is black humor but one of a amazing reality at that time and with a bitter similarity with the social status in Germany and Holland due to the huge flow of asylum seekers. A film to see for the young and the old. and good to see with your children ( like we did) Do'nt be foled by frustrated reviewers who have an opinion without having seen the movie. ( I call this " the Caligula " syndrome ,also one of the most underrated movies of all time: showing the reality of history !!!)

This film is intended to be about the way modern German society deals with important issues facing them, and they way they can quickly come under the spell of a "strong leader" ETC. Unintended by the film makers I suspect, was the way the modern left exposed themselves in the way they see those who dare to disagree with their positive views on globalisation and internationalism.

The main message of the film seems to be that those Germans (or Europeans in any European nation) who believe that Germany isn't some giant refugee centre for the rest of the planet, and that Germans have a right to their own indigenous land, not the rest of humanity, are just like Der Fuhrer.

An example of this can be seen in real time news footage of a Swede making the suggestion that asylum seekers, heaven forbid, should actually accept the cultural and societal norms of Sweden. Oh how "Evil" of that "intolerant" man! The film is well made and funny (who'd a thought Germans had a sense of humour?) in places. But take the leftist political message with a grain of salt. Europeans have EVERY RIGHT to be concerned about their demographic integrity and migration from the developing world that never seems to cease. They have the right to be concerned about these things without being demonised as Nazis or anything else.