Notre Nazi (Unser Nazi)
Robert Kramer, DE/FR 1984Cinematography: Robert Kramer; Editing: Shéhérazade Saadi; Music: Barre Phillips; with: Alfred Filbert, Thomas Harlan, Hertz Nativ, Ursula Langmann, Henri Alekan, Jimmy Glasberg, Roland Allard, Heike Geschonneck. DCP, color, 114 min. German/French with German subtitles
By the time he cast Alfred Filbert in the lead role, Thomas Harlan must have realised that the Wundkanal shoot was going to be extraordinary, so he hired Robert Kramer to document it. The result is a parallel film, a meta film: Notre Nazi. We see Harlan toying with Filbert, flattering him until the latter opens up and does what is asked of him, becoming ever more trusting of the son of Veit Harlan, referred to as the "great comforter." The film equally shows the reactions of the crew, whose disgust for the perpetrator in their midst grows until they discover the perpetrator within themselves. This is followed by the silence of the accomplices. What becomes visible is the fascism of justification – but where does this lead if we attach as much importance to Filbert's five ribs as we do to the thousands upon thousands of deaths for which he shares responsibility? Or is that precisely what we should be doing? (O.M.)
Courtesy Filmmuseum München
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