Charm, smarts and post-Holocaust Jewish knavery in Sam Garbarski's BYE BYE GERMANY

In the annals of Holocaust-themed movies that go places most of their brethren would not care or dare to, BYE BYE GERMANY takes its position as one of the more daring, even if it is, after all, just a pleasant, near-mainstream rom-com-drama. Yet the subjects with which it deals -- what it took to survive the camps, post-Holocaust-Germany wheeling and dealing by Jews on the black market, as well as the question of exactly what some of those Jews did during their imprisonment ("Was he a Kapo?" one of them asks of another) -- helps make the movie a worthwhile addition to the sub-genre of post-Holocaust films.

As directed and co-written (with Swiss screenwriter, Michel Bergman, based on his novels) by Sam Garbarski (shown at left), who, a decade back, gave us the very interesting Irina Palm, the film is from its very start surprisingly sweet and sentimental, giving us a three-legged dog with whom our hero, Bermann (the wonderful and versatile Moritz Bleibtreu), has clearly bonded. We immediately bond, too. Herr Bleibtreu, below, excels at playing crooks with hearts of gold, and he it it again here -- this time with the added enjoyment of keeping us guessing as to what his real history--pre-, during and post-camp--has been.

Also kept guessing as to that history is a military investigator named Sara Simon, played well by the beauteous East German-born actress Antje Traue (below, right, with Bleibtreu ),who is determined to get to the truth of things. Truth, of course, can be difficult to pin down (if not completely non-existent, as in these days of Donald Trump).

So, as Simon investigates and Bermann prevaricates, truth (or something like it) spills out in bits and pieces. Bermann's gang of small-time and very charming shysters, who join their boss in a thriving linen business, are brought to lovely life by a group of fine supporting actors -- each one quite different from the next: by turns funny, sad, silly and surprising.

Jokes play quite a nice part in the film, too, as does a musical instrument called the Theremin. All in all, Bye Bye Germany is lots of fun, with that fun anchored securely to history, humanity and character.

From Film Movement and running 102 minutes, the movie has already opened in theaters around the country, but still seems to have a few playdates remaining. Click here and then scroll down to find a city and/or theater near you. Locally in South Florida the film will open this Friday, May 11, at the Movies of Delray, and then the following Friday, May 18, at the Movies of Lake Worth. Eventually DVD and streaming options will also be available.

Netflix streaming tip: Murnberger's Holocaust com-dram MY BEST ENEMY

Slick, fun, smartly directed (by Wolfgang Murnberger) and written (by Murnberger and Paul Hengge), and very well acted, MY BEST ENEMY deals with things we know went on during the Holocaust: the theft of great art, for instance, and the betrayal of Jews by those they considered their Aryan friends. The film is alternately exciting, moving, and funny, with the ironies often coming so thick and fast that you'll be tempted to call the film a comedy (the IMDB actually does, while positioning it as drama,  as well.).

The cast is aces: the ubiquitous and always fine Moritz Bleibtreu (above, left) plays the leading Jew, the son of a famous German art dealer; Ursula Strauss (above, right) is his affianced; and Georg Friedrich (above, center) gets maybe the juiciest role, that of the long-time Aryan friend and son of this wealthy family's housekeeper (yes, we have a class issue here). It's also great to see Marthe Keller, still quite beautiful, as Bleibtreu's mom. You'll note that the costumes above would seem indicate otherwise than what I've just stated, and this is part of the film's continuing surprise and fun.

Still, there hangs over the movie -- and this becomes more and more obvious as it moves along and is also more strongly felt perhaps than in almost any other film about the Holocaust that I can recall -- something that renders the whole thing less than important, as though the movie's real raison d'etre is simply to entertain us, however it can. Which it certainly does, and very well. Perhaps those of my generation -- older folk who remember, and/or have friends who experienced the Jewish Holocaust firsthand -- will not be quite yet ready to watch this landmark of genocide and horror, particularly in a film from Germany, used in this way.

From IFC Films and running 109 minutes, the movie is available now via Netflix streaming - and elsewhere, too, I'm sure.

SOUL KITCHEN, from Fatih Akin & Adam Bousdoukos, proves anarchic, feel-good fun -- plus a very short Q&A with filmmaker

Anarchy runs rampant throughout SOUL KITCHEN, the new film from German/
Turkish writer/director Fatih Akin, but fortunately, since this is Mr. Akins's first comedy in a long while (rent In July, if you want another example of the filmmaker in a lighter mood), the anarchy is somehow productive and fun. Akin’s lead character Zinos (played by Adam Bousdoukos) is the young owner of (and cook at) a restaurant called, yes, Soul Kitchen, that serves up greasy-but-faithful grub to an equally faithful clientele. He’s got a gorgeous girlfriend, Nadine (Pheline Roggan: the blond in the poster, above), who’s about to leave for China on business, with whom he fights and then fucks as though each time were the first and most fabulous (Nadine’s response to one of these sessions is particularly funny).  Also in tow are a faithful barmaid, who, on the strength of the rich performance by Anna Bederke (shown three photos down), turns a subsidiary character into someone absolutely central, and a brother Illias (the great Moritz Bleibtreu) halfway out of prison (he returns there each night) and still addicted to gambling.

In the midst of all this, a new chef enters Zinos’ life, changing Soul Kitchen’s menu from greasy to gourmet, and what had seemed previously simply crazy now goes into overdrive. Mr. Akin (shown in action at right) has never been a subtle filmmaker: Energy and event are vital in all of his work, whether dramatic or humorous. Yet he manages to rein in his lesser impulses, while allowing the life force to explode, sometime disastrously for certain characters (in his dramas), sometimes with glee and a wild delight, as here. He drags his leading man through all kinds of horror -- from a back out-of-whack to major tax problems to a beating at the hands of thugs -- and still keeps us enjoying the pain.

This is due in large part of the performance of his leading man, Adam Bousdoukos (shown above), who also co-wrote the script (which is said to be based a good deal upon his own life: He was a Hamburg restaurant owner for nearly a decade). Zinos/Adam is a genuine force of nature. So full of energy, sexuality and (most important) the kind of active/positive personality that barrels through life, he’s simply unstoppable. To find a similar performance on this side of the Atlantic, you’d have to look to some of America’s great female performers -- Bette Midler or Renée Zellweger, to name a couple. This is not to say that Bousdoukos comes off in any sense as feminine. Nah: he’s a guy all the way. We don’t seem to have male actors with this much crazy flair for life, love and work. Our crazy guys – Christopher Walken and the late Dennis Hopper, for instance -- are/were a little too scary to be crazy-guy role models. Zinos is not, and Mr. Bousdoukos is in a class by himself.

As we follow Zinos and his crew, friends and enemies on their journey, events range from far-out and funny to quite over-the-top. Fortunately Akin pulls back from that brink and allows us to mostly enjoy the nuttiness. I can’t remember another movie (not even The Answer Man) that gets so many laughs out of a bad back, with Bousdoukos expertly mining the comedy and pain. Bleibtreu makes a wonderfully charming scamp brother; despite his dreadful misdeeds, you love him. Also in the cast are Birol Ünel (real-and-then-some as the temperamental new chef; Dorka Gryllus (from Irina Palm), shown below, as a helpful masseuse/chiropractor; Wotan Wilke Möhring as an old "friend" of Zinos; and everyone’s favorite German creep Udo Kier, as an over-eager investor.

Fortunately, the movie runs only 99 minutes; even then it some-
times threatens “too-muchness.” But that spirit of positive anarchy always, if barely, wins out. By the finale, you’ll feel good, all right, but you’ll also have been put through the mill. Soul Kitchen opens Friday, Aug. 20, at the IFC Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema.

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At the press screening/party for Soul Kitchen held two weeks ago at Manhattan’s Crosby Street Hotel (what a terrific screening room that place has!), Filmmaker Fatih Akin (shown below) welcomed guests, chatting them up in friendly, easy fashion, one by one. We managed to get him outside the door of the noisy party room for a quick chat, during which we asked why a guy as good looking as he does not work in front of the camera more often (you can see him playing a border guard in In July). “The actor who was supposed to play the role didn’t show up,” he explained, “so I had to step in. But no, I really prefer to be on the other side of the camera!”

We also asked about how Fatih had managed to corral such a great cast, with everyone so right for each role? “You get to know people, and you work with them, and you understand how and where they will best fit.” We also asked how he managed to get an actor as big and important as Bleibtreu, shown below, one of Germany’s most famous. “Moritz is an old friend:  We go way back. I also worked with him on In July and on Solino, and he was just as famous in Germany back then. But now, I think, he is more famous internationally. But he’s been big in Germany for many years.” (TrustMovies had forgotten that the actor was even present In July; it’s been over a decade since he's seen that film, and at the time he didn’t know who Bleib-
treu -- who’s done terrific work in everything from The Experiment to The Walker to The Baader Meinhoff Complex -- was.)

We didn’t want to take up too much of the director’s time, as many more folk were awaiting their chance to chat. So we thanked him for his very enjoyable film and will hope to see his next one soon.