Hitler the Looney

[RICHARD ROMEO]

Couple of items of interest:
BERLIN (Variety) - "Conversation With the Beast," the directing debut of 
Oscar-nominated actor
Armin Mueller-Stahl, created a stir among audiences and critics when it 
made its German premiere
at the Berlin Film Festival over the weekend. 

Even in a country still obsessed with its Nazi past, "Beast," in which 
Mueller-Stahl plays a man
who claims to be Adolf Hitler, was bound to create controversy. Bob 
Balaban portrays an
American historian who comes to Berlin to interview the 103-year-old in 
an attempt to find out
whether his story is true. In the course of the film, the would-be fuhrer 
reveals the motivations for
his deeds. 

Young audiences at the screening warmly applauded the movie, but the 
critical reception was more
mixed. While some reviewers found the film's Chaplinesque humor unworthy 
of the subject matter,
trade sheet Blickpunkt Film described the picture as "uncomfortable and 
disturbing -- it rips open a
wound that we thought had healed long ago. But it is a suspenseful 
challenge to the viewer for that
very reason." 

Although produced in Germany, the English-language picture premiered in 
Toronto in September.
Christian Berg of Munich-based distributor Time told Daily Variety that 
Mueller-Stahl had been
anxious about opening the film in his homeland, and thus sought the 
protective atmosphere of an
international festival for the German premiere. 

The 66-year-old actor, who has appeared in nearly 100 movies, said he 
made "Beast" to free
himself of the shadow of Hitler. He has been nominated this year for a 
best supporting actor Oscar
for his performance in Scott Hicks' "Shine." 

Berg said "Beast" will open in Germany on Thursday Feb. 20 on only 20 
screens. A copy will be
sent to a single exhibitor in each major city, but the film will play for 
a longer period of time. A
largely arthouse crowd is expected, but Berg hopes that fans of 
Mueller-Stahl will give the movie a
chance despite its difficult subject matter. 

Reuters/Variety 

There has been a play running in NYC called Love Letters to Hitler, or 
something, you can guess what that's about--a small cast of three or four 
girls pouring their heart to the little corporal (or is that Napoleon's 
nickname?)


Richard Romeo
Coordinator of Cooperating Collections
The Foundation Center-NYC
212-807-2417
rromeo at fdncenter.org