Er ist wieder da/Look Who's Back (2015)

It would be interesting to see how various historical figures would react to today’s world.  Would Johannes Gutenberg be impressed by how easily words are printed?  How would Jonas Salk react to the anti-vaccine movement?  There’s a Doctor Who episode that has Vincent Van Gogh looking at an exhibition of his work.  Plenty of common people have been pulled out of time in movies.  Just ask Bill and Ted.  Look Who’s Back wonders what would happen if Adolf Hitler suddenly showed up in modern Germany.

It starts with Hitler on the ground wondering what happened.  Where are his trusted advisors?  How did he end up in a park?  Not to far away, Fabian Sawatzki filming some kids for a project he’s working on.  His boss, Christoph Sensebrink, doesn’t like it.  In fact, Sensebrink fires Sawatzki.  It isn’t until later that Sawatzki realizes that he has Hitler on tape.

Sawatzki is able to find Hitler, knowing that he has something that might get him his job back.  He assumes, along with everyone else, that what he has is actually some sort of actor performing satire.  It's like how we all know Borat is really Sacha Baron Cohen.  Hitler obviously must be someone trying to make a point, however distastefully he might be doing it.  Sawatzki has no problem becoming his unwitting accomplice, filming Hitler around the country.  (They decide to make a political documentary.)

It’s a sensitive topic for Germany and the rest of Europe, so there is an inherent danger in doing this.  (Various movies have had problems filming Nazis, as they couldn’t show symbols of Nazi Germany.)  One person even approaches Sawatzki and Hitler to tell them how horrible they are for doing this.  This makes it all the more unnerving that Hitler never breaks character.  Then again, why would he?  He’s Hitler and he’s intent on getting back his former glory.

The movie does take a few liberties.  It is correct that Hitler didn’t do too well as an artist.  However, the movie shows him drawing poorly, whereas Hitler seems to have focused more on painting.  Also, Hitler is said to have possible suffered from Parkinson’s late in his life, with there being reports of his hand shaking.  In the movie, he seemed to be in relatively good health.  Hitler also seemed surprised in the movie that Germany had lost World War II.  He knew that things weren’t going well for Germany.  He eventually shot himself and his wife, Eva Braun, took a cyanide pill.

One statement that had me take to Google was where Hitler says that he was elected, implying that it’s the electorate’s fault.  I’ve heard that he wasn’t really elected, but this may stem from the fact that elections in Germany at the time weren’t what Americans would think of as an election.  His first few public offices seem to have been appointed.  He does seem to have gained office through elections, but it seems that in those instances, it had to do with the fact that his party had the most seats in the Reichstag.  Whichever party got a plurality/majority generally had their leader appointed chancellor.  (If someone can clarify, please leave a comment.)

This is not a movie for children due to the topic.  I’m not even sure it’s a movie for most adults.  This is one of those movies where context will carry a lot of weight and this is reflected in the movie.  In the movie, many Germans are shown interacting with Hitler, some of them saying that they might vote for him.  (I’m not sure if these are actors or actual people hoping to make the final cut.)  In one scene, an elderly Jewish woman recognizes Hitler and yells at him, as she knows exactly who he is and what he‘s done.

That, to me, is the irony of the movie.  There is a level of discomfort watching it.  Writers for a talk show are tasked with making racist jokes.  We feel uncomfortable as the writers go through a few of them.  We’re aware of the historical context, but someone who lived through it knows the context and will have an entirely different reaction.  It would be interesting to watch the movie with someone who lived through that era just to see what they thought of the movie.  (Again, I’d welcome comments.  I’m sure that a few things in the movie went over my head.)

I would say that those involved in the movie did well.   The political element wasn’t forced, but was used to show that Hitler could regain power.  If there’s one thing I’ve constantly heard about him is that he knew how to manipulate.  He came into power not by promising to kill people, but rather by promising a better life for people.  His tactics might be different, given that he didn’t have Google and YouTube in 1945, but his ambition would be the same.

IMDb page

Hitler's Children review

Wir sind die Nacht [We Are the Night] (2010)

I’ve never hidden the fact that I have a thing for vampires, particularly of the female persuasion.  When I came across We Are the Night on Netflix, I decided to add it to my queue.  Here was a movie about vampires with three attractive women on the cover.  Add to this that it was available streaming and it was just a matter of time before I got around to watching it.

The story goes that Louise, Charlotte and Nora are the three female vampires you see in Netflix’s image.  One night, Lena stumbles upon a rave that they’re throwing.  Louise sees Lena and knows that Lena is the one that she’s been looking for.  Louise turns Lena first chance she gets.  This makes Lena a little nervous.  To have some random woman bite you is strange.  It’s not like she has many people to turn to, though.  She’s out on parole and doesn’t really want to make waves.  So, she goes to sleep and wakes up to discover that she has no reflection.

So, she goes back to try and find Louise.  Louise lets her in on their history.  The three women rock and roll all day and party every night.  Being undead, they can do whatever they want.  Coke?  Won’t kill you.  Sex?  You won’t catch anything.  In fact, the movie starts with Louise, Charlotte and Nora killing everyone on a plane and jumping out the airlock.  That pretty much sets the tone for the movie.

You don’t necessarily see a lot of killing or sex.  Much of it is implied.  This isn’t to say that it’s not an interesting movie.  Louise & Co. don’t turn men.  They feel that men are arrogant pigs and any male tendency is only amplified by being a vampire, making them a pain to have around.  So, yeah.  It’s all about four vampire women having as much fun as they want.  They steal sports cars.  They bribe a security guard to let them into a high-end store.  They do drugs without any regard for consequences.

This does draw the attention of the police.  Lena is sold to a pimp, expecting her to feed off him.  It doesn’t go as planned and they have to kill him and torch the evidence.  The problem is that they leave a living witness, who reports the incident to the police.  The police are able to piece everything together and find the four vampires.  They have a plan to leave town quickly, but it‘s not enough.  The police have them surrounded.  Will they escape or is it the end for the vampires?

One thing that gets me about vampire movies is that they always tend to use a few clichés.  I’ll admit that I expected this coming in to the movie, but I always feel compelled to bring these up.  The most obvious is the use of mirrors.  Yes, I understand that we need a way for someone to either identify themselves or someone else as a vampire and the easiest way to do this is to look in a mirror.  It’s easy and effective.  Still, I could never figure out what it was about a mirror that prevented a vampire from being seen indirectly.  You can see them.  They cast a shadow.  This means that they should also have a reflection.

Bursting into flames in sunlight is another one.  At least this one can be explained as an Achilles’ heel.  You’re given all of these neat powers like quick regeneration and super strength.  There has to be a down side.  I guess combustibility isn’t that hard to believe.  Sunlight is pretty powerful and there does seem to be some variation on this.  (For example, vampires might only be hurt by sunlight or can use sunscreen.)  It also gives the vampires an obstacle.  Then again, the main reason I watched this movie was to see four beautiful female vampires.  Vampire movies end up being horror or soft porn, depending on the male-to-female ratio.

I also got it streaming, so I can forgive a few inconsistencies.  Yes, the constant partying and increasing body count do catch up with them.  I do find it odd, though, that they were so careless suddenly.  Lena is the new addition.  The others have been around long enough to start counting age in centuries.  They should have learned to better control their impulses.

Overall, it was definitely one of the better movies that Netflix has available to watch online.  If you have Netflix, I’d recommend checking it out.


We Are The Night – IFC Entertainment - IFC Films

We Are The Night - Official Trailer [HD]