The Laughing Man (1966)

[Dave Monroe]

User Reviews

for liberté, fraternité and all that, you know these sayings...
 17 March 2006 | by slaughtermob (Germany) – See all my reviews

In this fascinating interview, east German film makers Heynowski and
Scheumann try to reveal the true face of western imperialism in
Africa, and the result is a propagandistic tour de force: Siegfried
Mueller, ex-officer of the Wehrmacht, in the uniform of the Kongolese
Army and adorned with the Cross of Iron awarded in 1945, talks about
his involvement as a mercenary in Kongo's civil war in the 1960s. In
the course of the film the bottle of Pernod is emptied, and the Major
gets more revealing; practically denying his earlier statements about
civil killings, the ethics of war and the defense of western
libertarian values. Masterfully caricatured with pictures of him and
comrades proudly posing with severed skulls, other Nazi officers now
active in Afrika and incidental mentioning of American exertion of
influence. The tag line reads "Confessions of a Murderer", and the
directors skillfully talk the increasingly drunk Kongo-Mueller into
his role and into the the wanted statements. I was deeply impressed by
this movie, which gives unique insight into a neglected chapter of the
cold war and its zeitgeist, and also its sheer suggestive power, which
creates a ghastly image of this smiling murderer. This film was banned
in West Germany for many years. Highly recommended, even though
extremely hard to find.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165853/