Trama

In early-1930s Berlin, an elegant Russian émigré and eccentric chocolatier convinces himself that he has seen his doppelgänger, and hatches a murderous plan to trade his existence for an entirely new one. Will he get over the deep despair?

In early-1930s Berlin during the Weimar Republic and the Nazis' rise to power, elegant Russian émigré and eccentric chocolatier Hermann Hermann leads a petite-bourgeois life with his voluptuous, frivolous wife Lydia. Troubled about his Jewish roots, Hermann convinces himself that he has seen his doppelgänger in the person of unemployed vagabond Felix, going as far as to hatch a murderous plan, intent on trading his very existence for an entirely new one. Now, Hermann's desire for transcendence is gnawing at him. Will he get over the full-blown mental breakdown and the profound despair?—Nick Riganas

Germany in the early 1930s. Against the backdrop of the Nazis' rise, Herman Hermann, a Russian émigré and chocolate magnate, goes slowly mad. It begins with him seating himself in a chair to observe himself making love to his wife Lydia, a zaftig, empty-headed siren who is also sleeping with her cousin. Hermann is soon given to intemperate outbursts at his workers, other businessmen, and strangers. Then he meets Felix, an itinerant laborer who he delusionally believes looks exactly like him. Armed with a new life insurance policy, he hatches an elaborate plot in the belief it will free him of all of his worries.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>