Angel and Tiggs

Superb, superb, superb adaptation of the 2012 book.

This movie made me miss Europe. “The Union” is far from perfect, but I still haven’t found people with a smart, more provocative and darkly humorous way of dealing with sensitive issues like they do it there. The best definition I could find for Look Who’s Back is “slapstick”. That’s what the movie is.

The plot is simple: Adolf Hitler magically wakes up in the middle of 2014 Berlin, at the exact same spot of the infamous Führebunker. Yes, the original Adolf. Not a comedian, not a street artist, not a conman; the third post-Middle Ages anti-Christ himself. Obviously it takes him a while to understand what’s going on in the world. Germany is different. People, technology, mentality and the general context are very different from 1945.

Hitler’s journey starts comically. He’s a stranger to his own people. Add to that the fact that he is helped by a clumsy freelancer who has just lost his job and tries to seize Hitler’s convincing persona as an opportunity to go back into the media world. Media, by the way, is one of the key elements in the plot. The Fourth and Fifth State become huge platforms for someone who’s known to have mastered the art of influencing people and the power of public speech. References to Goebbels are abundant. Information and how society reacts to it becomes the core of the movie. That theme reminded me a lot of another German movie, The Wave.

The transition to a more serious, darker take on media and society in general is eye-opening to say the least. For instance, Hitler quickly (re)discovers the power of television and the manipulation of masses. He just didn’t expect how mediocre broadcasting can be these days (in this case, cooking, gossip and Judge Judy-like shows). Hitler’s role becomes more complex as he makes his own sweet way back into popularity in the middle of a fight for power between senior-ranking TV executives. That’s when society starts to revisit old wounds that have never been fully healed… Going further on sharing more snippets of the movie will end up in spoilers, but hopefully by this point you have understood where the whole discussion is going. Some views from ordinary Germans across the country interviewed during the movie are quite shocking to what some of us would have expected.

Look Who’s Back brilliantly switches back and forth from mockumentary to nonfiction. It is oftentimes hard to separate them. Oliver Masucci is a genius. I had never heard of him but have to give him praise for a monumental performance as the Führer himself. He’s well beyond a simple or funny impersonation. Masucci gives full life to 21^st century Hitler with a creepily and memorable performance.

I highly recommend Look Who’s Back.