Hitler comedy “Look Who’s Back” becomes Germany’s No 1 movie

Source: The Guardian, October 27, 2015

Look Who’s Back, a comedy about the return of Hitler, has become an unlikely hit in Germany, heading to the top of the box office chart in its third week of release.

The Borat-style film, based on the bestselling novel by Timur Vermes, puts Adolf Hitler back into German society and utilises the reactions of real people for humour. Over the weekend, it knocked Pixar’s hit adventure Inside Out off the top spot and became the country’s No 1 release. It has already made around £8.5m.

“Germans should be able to laugh at Hitler, rather than viewing him as a monster, because that relieves him of responsibility for his deeds and diverts attention from his guilt for the Holocaust,” director David Wnendt told the Guardian. “But it should be the type of laugh that catches in your throat and you’re almost ashamed when you realise what you’re doing.”

The plot imagines that Hitler has woken up in modern day Berlin, with no memory of any event post-1945 and ends up getting his own TV show. The book was a huge hit in Germany, selling 14m copies.

The film also highlights the increasing influence of the far right in Europe. “We’re highlighting that the danger of a resurgence is very much alive,” said Wnendt.

Look Who’s Back is the second homegrown hit this year for Germany’s Constantin Film, which also released Suck Me Shakespeer 2, a comedy that has made over £42m.

Huge Nazi banner for film causes outcry in France

Source: Jerusalem Post, October 1, 2015

A large Nazi banner unfurled in Nice, France, caused an outcry among locals and tourists.

The red banner with a swastika hung from the Palais de la Prefecture on Monday and Tuesday, during the filming of an adaptation of Joseph Joffo’s Holocaust memoir A Bag of Marbles.

“People started screaming,” tourist Andrew Gentry told BBC News. “They were really agitated.”

According to BBC News, the prefecture insisted it made efforts prior to Monday to alert people and even warned the city’s Jewish community. Nevertheless, many onlookers were puzzled.

“There was nothing to explain what was going on,” Gentry said. “The scene was just surreal.”

Some people started taking selfies in front of the banner.

During the war, German Waffen SS chief Alois Brunner stayed in the Hotel Excelsior in Nice to plan round-ups of Jews. The Palais de la Prefecture, which is being filmed to represent the Hotel Excelsior, said in a statement that it was an “honor” to play a part in remembering history.

A Bag of Marbles describes Joffo’s journey from Nazi-occupied Paris to a safer city in the southeast of France.

A French film adaptation was released in 1975. The remake is being directed by Canadian director Christian Duguay.