Adolf und Marlene

This extraordinary film feels like an homage to Ernst Lubitsch, great German director who immigrated to the United States to escape Nazi Germany. Lubitsch made the unforgettable TO BE OR NOT TO BE, also a dark rendition on the Nazi theme and Adolf Hitler. In ADOLF AND MARLENE, the superb Kurt Raab plays Hitler (without a mustache!). Just last week I saw Kurt Raab in another Ulli Lommel film, TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES, also a real treat. Both movies were produced by the late genius Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a guarantor for top quality and a mentor of Lommel, who worked with Fassbinder on over twenty productions in Germany during the 60s and 70s. ADOLF AND MARLENE is fairly unknown, but looks like one of the best films ever dealing with such a dark and disturbing subject matter. The camera work is astonishing (Michael Ballhaus, also a Fassbinder collaborator who went to Hollywood and made a huge career) if not brilliant. The screenplay by Lommel is hilarious and highly subversive and funny as hell. A clear ten!