Er ist wieder da [Look Who's Back]

Adolf Hitler (Masucci) wakes up in Berlin in 2014.  He believes it is 1945 and does not understand what is happening around him.  People believe he is an actor and want to have their pictures taken with him.  He eventually ends up at a newspaper kiosk where he begins catching up on the events since 1945.  The next day he meets filmmaker Fabian Sawatzki (Busch), who was filming a documentary at the same location where Hitler woke up.  Sawatzki was fired from the news station where he works and is looking for a big story to get his job back.  He gets Hitler some new clothes and they travel around Germany talking to people.  The footage is a hit with the new chairman of MyTV, Katja Bellini (Riemann), who believes Hitler is a comedian and method actor.

They put him on one of their biggest shows and he is a media sensation.  He speaks directly to the camera and shares his plans for world domination, and the audiences think it is comedy gold.  Audiences think he is funny and charming and want to see him everywhere.  As his popularity grows, some people get concerned.  Will anyone learn the truth?


In 2012, Timur Vermes wrote controversial novel "Er ist wieder da (Look Who's Back)."  The novel is a satire and makes people uncomfortable.  Some people are angered / offended by the premise: writing a novel about Adolf Hitler; others laud the sharp satire.  Regardless, the book became a best seller and the film rights were sold.  In 2014 the novel was translated into English and the film was released in 2015.

The novel takes place in 2011, but film takes place in 2014.  The film, like the novel, portrays Hitler as a human, not a monster.  It asks the audience to laugh at, and with him.  And like good satire, it makes you uncomfortable... continually wondering, "is it ok to laugh at this?"  It is an interesting film and I now want to read the novel.

Look Who's Back [Er ist wieder da] (2015) 116 minutes
Director: David Wnendt
Starring: Oliver Masucci as Adolf Hitler
Fabian Busch as Fabian Sawatzki
Katja Riemann as Katja Bellini
Christoph Maria Herbst as Christoph Sensebrink
Franziska Wulf as Kromeier
Michael Kessler as Michael Witzigmann