While I like anachronistic comedies and have a high tolerance for the offensive, this film certainly is not for everyone. In fact, I wonder if it's for anyone! Who would enjoy a film that purports to be a comedy but often seems like it's trying to shed a better light on Adolf Hitler--to make him a vulnerable and even pitiable man?! Sure, films like "The Producers" and "The Great Dictator" have managed to poke fun at the Nazis and Hitler and succeeded....but "My Fuhrer" is certainly not in the same league a these classics.
The film is a fantasy set in January 1945--just months before the end of WWII. A Jewish prisoner is summoned from his death camp to, of all things, work with Hitler directly--and to coach him for an upcoming film. Instead of the broken man he has become, his Propaganda Minister (Goebbels) claims to want to have this Jewish acting coach help the Fuhrer to find his former strength. And so Hitler and Dr. Adolf Grünbaum work together--and in the process learn to need each other. Scenes where Hitler cries about his abusive childhood, talks about how the Final Solution wasn't really his idea and calls the Doctor his "Jewish friend" are very surreal--and in really bad taste. In another warm and fuzzy scene, Hitler visits the Doctor and his family late at night and soon is invited into bed to snuggle with them--and you think "My God--what are the film makers thinking?!?!". Sure, there's a bit more to the film than this (including a few interesting psychological insights into the man)..but mostly it's a film that seems to be saying that Hitler is not exactly the monster we all think he was--he had a 'nice' side or at least one not all that rotten.
The bottom line is that this is a highly offensive and dumb film. Trying to put a nicer face on Naziism seems gross--because it is. While technically reasonably well made, it's just gross and the film is probably not worth your time unless you are VERY curious and can allow yourself to watch the film without being overwhelmed with anger as well as not mind that it isn't at all funny--which is a problem, since it was intended as a comedy.
By the way, the film repeats a historically inaccurate 'fact' that many hope is true--that he's part Jewish himself. This actually was a rumor started by the British during the war to discredit the crazy leader. It is a fact we want to believe but there just isn't much evidence to support it.
The film is a fantasy set in January 1945--just months before the end of WWII. A Jewish prisoner is summoned from his death camp to, of all things, work with Hitler directly--and to coach him for an upcoming film. Instead of the broken man he has become, his Propaganda Minister (Goebbels) claims to want to have this Jewish acting coach help the Fuhrer to find his former strength. And so Hitler and Dr. Adolf Grünbaum work together--and in the process learn to need each other. Scenes where Hitler cries about his abusive childhood, talks about how the Final Solution wasn't really his idea and calls the Doctor his "Jewish friend" are very surreal--and in really bad taste. In another warm and fuzzy scene, Hitler visits the Doctor and his family late at night and soon is invited into bed to snuggle with them--and you think "My God--what are the film makers thinking?!?!". Sure, there's a bit more to the film than this (including a few interesting psychological insights into the man)..but mostly it's a film that seems to be saying that Hitler is not exactly the monster we all think he was--he had a 'nice' side or at least one not all that rotten.
The bottom line is that this is a highly offensive and dumb film. Trying to put a nicer face on Naziism seems gross--because it is. While technically reasonably well made, it's just gross and the film is probably not worth your time unless you are VERY curious and can allow yourself to watch the film without being overwhelmed with anger as well as not mind that it isn't at all funny--which is a problem, since it was intended as a comedy.
By the way, the film repeats a historically inaccurate 'fact' that many hope is true--that he's part Jewish himself. This actually was a rumor started by the British during the war to discredit the crazy leader. It is a fact we want to believe but there just isn't much evidence to support it.