When "Mein Führer" turned out to be the movie of the night at the sneak preview, most of the cinema moaned. I guess it was because most, including me, expected a "not-that-funny movie" on a dark chapter of German history. Rather confirming that expectation, the movie starts out with original black and white footage from that time.
Yet, it turned out to be a very good comedy with a simple story, kept alive by the brilliant actors, especially Helge Schneider. And it has been the first movie I've seen that made a whole German cinema laugh about Adolf Hitler, Nazis, Jews and the jokes they make thereon.
My impression is that such a movie would not have been possible to be produced by a German studio ten years ago. It would have broken too many taboos. However, that does and may not mean that we are getting to a point that Germans forget about the cruelty of the Nazi regime. People might criticize the movie especially because of the belittlement and humanization of Adolf Hitler, illustrating him partly even as a victim of his generals, mainly Göbels. Yet, in my opinion, it performs extremely well in striking the balance between comedy and reminding the audience of that cruelty of the regime, for example by inserting the very serious element of Grünbaum's eldest son. But for understanding both, the comedian elements as well as reminders of the cruelty, it is highly recommended to have knowledge of that part of German history.
I hope and it is my impression that the movie sets a visual starting point for the time that German people learn to handle that history without tabooing or forgetting it.
Yet, it turned out to be a very good comedy with a simple story, kept alive by the brilliant actors, especially Helge Schneider. And it has been the first movie I've seen that made a whole German cinema laugh about Adolf Hitler, Nazis, Jews and the jokes they make thereon.
My impression is that such a movie would not have been possible to be produced by a German studio ten years ago. It would have broken too many taboos. However, that does and may not mean that we are getting to a point that Germans forget about the cruelty of the Nazi regime. People might criticize the movie especially because of the belittlement and humanization of Adolf Hitler, illustrating him partly even as a victim of his generals, mainly Göbels. Yet, in my opinion, it performs extremely well in striking the balance between comedy and reminding the audience of that cruelty of the regime, for example by inserting the very serious element of Grünbaum's eldest son. But for understanding both, the comedian elements as well as reminders of the cruelty, it is highly recommended to have knowledge of that part of German history.
I hope and it is my impression that the movie sets a visual starting point for the time that German people learn to handle that history without tabooing or forgetting it.