Il mio miglior nemico

Other reviewers of this film mention the chore of listening to the German language while reading subtitles, but believe me, it could be a lot worse. My copy of this dvd was dubbed rather than subtitled, and the uninspired American voices emanating from the mouths of the actors diminished the believability of this WWII drama. For a while, it was unintentionally funny to hear Victor Kaufmann's parents, Hannah and Jakob, conversing in a West Texas drawl, but the Nazi guards, who sounded a lot like Charley Sheen, were not very convincing. My dvd was marked as an IFC film marketed by Phase 4 Films. Try to avoid that label like the plague. The Trailer for My Best Enemy, available on this IMBD website, offers the original German language with subtitles, and provides us with a glimpse of what looks like a pretty exciting story, if one can just find a copy that's free of dubbing.

The story line was entertaining for the full 109 minutes, with several unexpected turns to keep us awake. The film initially shows a short scene of an airplane that was shot, leaving only a few survivors. It immediately jumps back to what happened before, and returns half way to pick up the story after the plane crash. Regardless, the story line remains clear and interesting throughout, maybe even thanks to this flashback and forward.

I saw this film at the 2011 Berlinale filmfestival on a Sunday morning as part of a large (over 1,500) audience. I can only assume that the majority was of German origin. I saw a cross section of nearly all ages present, maybe except people old enough to have actually lived during World War II. Nevertheless, a considerable part of the audience would have heard their fair share about this dark part of German history. Regardless of that being the main topic, all present were apparently enjoying what was shown on the screen.

The scenario scratches the surface of the well-known good versus bad choices one can make to advance a career, or conversely to keep principles upright and refusing to go along with the common trends. I consider it logical that this film does not take a vigorous stand, being intended for general viewing, but still presenting the dilemma's in a compelling way.

In conclusion I find that the film makers did a good job, by keeping the end product attractive for a broad public, and simultaneously not trying to evade the underlying problems of choices that everyone makes in a lifetime. After all, it is easy for us to judge those choices as bad. Upcoming Nazism before the World War II involved many such situations, and thus offers an infinite source of subjects for films like this one.

However, these dilemma's are an inherent part of a broader issue. This is confined to neither the 1930-1945 time frame nor to Germany. I saw at least 5 other films that revolved around similar situations, all of them released in the last 12 months, based on recent developments in very different countries and regimes.

There can be no doubt that this film is wonderfully scripted, brilliantly acted and very skillfully directed. It is pacey, exciting and at times even amusing. On those grounds it should definitely be given a fair viewing.

A Jewish art dealer in Vienna has inherited a Michealangelo masterpiece that was stolen from the Vatican 400 years before. Mussolini wants it back and the Nazi government needs to appease him for Italian military support. The plot revolves around the complex struggle by the Germans to seize the painting and the Jewish family to keep it.

Of course the plot is absurd. So many really great masterpieces had been seized across Europe by 1942 that a single piece would hardly attract so much effort. Besides which Italian military support was probably not worth it anyway and the attention given by the High Command to this issue is utterly ridiculous.

Interesting also is that the justification of the dealer and his family to keep this stolen treasure is never questioned. We are led to feel total sympathy for their efforts to keep it.

But there is something much more sinister behind this production. As a elderly German who personally knew so many of the character types involved in the drama I was left deeply saddened that 70 years on we are still portraying all Germans as nasty maniacs and all Jews as beyond reproach. Not a single German in this film has any positive characteristics at all. They are all without exception portrayed as being either brutal, heartless, self seeking, incompetent or simply stupid. In fact many of them are given all of these faults. And to balance this not a single Jewish character is given any negative characteristics at all. They are all without exception portrayed as being honorable, clever, caring, compassionate and socially concerned. Indeed most of them are given all these attributes.

I realize that many readers who accept the factual absurdity of this approach will feel it either acceptable artistic license (on the grounds that Nazism was so bad that even lies are justified) or that it's just a bit of fun and it doesn't really matter.

Of course were this to be an isolated example of such distortion I wouldn't waste my time writing this review. But it isn't. This particular handling of the Nazi-Jewish conflict is sadly copied in literally dozens of major productions made each year to perpetuate sympathy towards the Jews and hatred of the Germans. Accordingly whole generations have grown up who seriously believe that ALL wartime Germans were bad and all supported Nazism. But this was simply not true. Hitler was never elected with overall majority support and effectively staged a clever Coup d'Etat to seize power over a nation that wasn't even his.

If only such dramas were balanced enough to show this.

This played at the Berlin International Film Festival. While the acting is good and the story checks every major plot point it should, it feels a bit constructed. It is very predictable, but still glamorous in a way. While it is entertaining enough to keep you in your seat and interested enough, you might not feel completely satisfied after all (especially if you see the end coming).

You might also think that the theme of the second world war has been done enough already. But that shouldn't be the main focus of your attention. Again, it is entertaining and fun enough, but it is also very flawed. If you don't mind those flaws, you will like the movie.

This is a good period drama that conveys well the craziness that pervaded the Nazi regime. However, I found nothing humorous in this film and can't imagine why anyone would classify it as even a "Dark Comedy". Tragic things occur in this film and they only begin to touch on the actual tragedies perpetrated during the war.

I thought that the actors did a great job of conveying the personalities and tribulations of the characters. It's difficult to have a film set in World War 2 that deals with the Nazi regime without seeing stereotypes but the characters here are nearly entirely believable as individuals. Even those that fit stereotypes are believable as individuals because they are neither common nor used as a bludgeon.

The settings and costumes are all very well done and help bring the viewer to that time and place. I especially found that the locations used were extremely well-chosen and helped to give a feeling of actually being in those places.

I definitely recommend "My Best Enemy" but set your expectations appropriately, it's a drama.