"Er ist wieder da" by Timur Vermes was an huge success when it came out in 2011 and sold about 2.3 million copies. The film's admissions matched that number - but initial expectations were way higher, given that "Fack ju Göhte 2", the sequel to a highly successful high school comedy, had 7.7m admissions. Maybe that's because the film takes quite a few liberties with the book's story and style.
The book never clarifies whether Hitler is the real deal or not. The film introduces pseudo-documentary snippets of Hitler's encounters with non-actors - that's not in the book, and in fact either a reminiscence or a rip-off of the similarly themed "Muxmäuschenstill" (2004). There's less drama in the book - the film makers feel obliged to put it into the context of the rise of the political right in the wake of the refugee crisis, which feels a bit off at times, even though it may make sense in a broader context.
Most importantly, the book is mainly Hitler's assumed views of today's world, which make for the best parts of the film. But it tries hard to be more than that, a broader social critique of Germany today, which lets the plot drift too much between secondary characters who do not advance the story.
When the film takes a moral stance, it becomes kind of overbearing - especially at the end, when a collage of refugee-crisis-induced violence and barter is included to scare the audience into thinking that the next Hitler may be just around the corner. That defeats the purpose of satire. It's a good example for the German expression "der erhobene Zeigefinder", the "risen index finger", which means by trying to educate people at all cost, you end up alienating them. The book allows the readers to come to their own conclusions, which is probably the secret to its success.
The aforementioned "Muxmäuschenstill" AKA "Quiet as a Mouse" is a much better critique of "Germanism", because it maintains a steady, unflinching approach on the subject of a secret lust for leaders and order.
The book never clarifies whether Hitler is the real deal or not. The film introduces pseudo-documentary snippets of Hitler's encounters with non-actors - that's not in the book, and in fact either a reminiscence or a rip-off of the similarly themed "Muxmäuschenstill" (2004). There's less drama in the book - the film makers feel obliged to put it into the context of the rise of the political right in the wake of the refugee crisis, which feels a bit off at times, even though it may make sense in a broader context.
Most importantly, the book is mainly Hitler's assumed views of today's world, which make for the best parts of the film. But it tries hard to be more than that, a broader social critique of Germany today, which lets the plot drift too much between secondary characters who do not advance the story.
When the film takes a moral stance, it becomes kind of overbearing - especially at the end, when a collage of refugee-crisis-induced violence and barter is included to scare the audience into thinking that the next Hitler may be just around the corner. That defeats the purpose of satire. It's a good example for the German expression "der erhobene Zeigefinder", the "risen index finger", which means by trying to educate people at all cost, you end up alienating them. The book allows the readers to come to their own conclusions, which is probably the secret to its success.
The aforementioned "Muxmäuschenstill" AKA "Quiet as a Mouse" is a much better critique of "Germanism", because it maintains a steady, unflinching approach on the subject of a secret lust for leaders and order.