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A film by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker
92 minutes/2020/ United States of America/ English and German with English Subtitles
The Meaning of Hitler succinctly, pointedly, and soberly dissects the fascination that the man with the trimmed moustache exudes, not just "still" but "increasingly anew". Based on Sebastian Haffner's bestseller The Meaning of Hitler, the film offers effective medicine against any attempts at mystifying hyperbole – be it critical or affirmative.
On the basis of Sebastian Haffner's book The Meaning of Hitler, the filmmakers Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker undertake a cinematic attempt at a succinct, pointed and sober de-kitschification of Hitler.
The film questions the fascination and continued existence of the sometimes religious-like fervour surrounding Hitler and National Socialism in pop culture and entertainment – above all in the context of current anti-Semitism, paranoid exclusion hysteria, and xenophobia.
The Meaning of Hitler, however, explicitly foregoes the tonality of common narratives. One learns nothing "new about the unknown Hitler" or any "truths about his dogs, wives and friends". And the film likewise deliberately turns its back on making itself available for "everything you always wanted to know* (*but were afraid to ask)"!
© Play/Action Pictures
PETRA EPPERLEIN AND MICHAEL TUCKER
Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker aka pepper&bones are filmmakers currently based in New York and Berlin. In 1994, they met on the streets of New York City, where Epperlein, an East German architect, and Tucker, a cameraman from Hawaii, were both traveling. Almost immediately, they began working together and spent much of their early years on the road filming in Bosnia, Cuba, Namibia and Australia. Their first film, The Last Cowboy, used the DEFA Indianer films of Epperlein’s childhood in the GDR as a point of departure to explore the mythology of the American dream, a theme that continues today in their work.
Limited seats available at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata.
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