TITLE: Look Who’s Back
Released: 2015 (US)
Recommendation: It’s a German film, but don’t let the subtitles scare you off. This movie slips seamlessly from hilariously funny to disturbingly dark – often within the same scene. Long after the credits roll, you can continue to debate the troubling questions the film raises.
What’s it about? Adolf Hitler, AKA Der Fuhrer, wakes up in modern Germany. How and why this bit o’ time travel happens is never explained and it’s not important to the plot. Once he’s back, Hitler reorients himself to the Fatherland and realizes that the conditions are perfect for him to relaunch his political career. He meets a struggling filmmaker who, believing Hitler is a brilliant character actor in the vein of Sacha Baron Cohen, helps get Hitler on television. What could go wrong?
Special Features: a razor’s edge of hilarious comedy and sharp satire, Hitler’s unexpected role as a mentor to a wimpy millennial, frightening parallels between the 21st century and the 1930’s, eerily plausible — if not a time-traveling Hitler, than another demagogue just like him
Themes / Big Ideas: Challenges notions of leadership, the responsibility of the media, the democratic process, personal ambition, bigotry, nationalism and patriotism.
Tonio Favetta is the author of Falling From the Ground, a Y/A SciFi adventure. He also teaches high school English.
Tonio Favetta 
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