What's in a name? Matthew Ogens tries to find out with his documentary, MEET THE HITLERS

Yes, as you might suspect, there are a number of folk throughout the world who possess the last name Hitler (or Hittler, as one of these is spelled, the inclusion of which is probably due to its owner being a young woman and the only female with that name who is included in this documentary). MEET THE HITLERS is the work of  filmmaker Matthew Ogens, who, a few years back, gave us the more interesting doc, Confessions of a Superhero. The idea for the film began when the filmmaker was introduced to someone with this infamous last name and began to wonder what it might be like to go through life carrying that particular moniker. As we see throughout this only fitfully lively doc, that name does appear to change things.

Mr. Ogens, shown at left, introduces us to a half dozen or more Hitler-named people who hail from all around the world: USA to Ecuador, Austria, Britain and Germany, and he gets them to spill (some of) the beans about what it was like to grow up with that "special" name. The answers are pretty much what you'd expect: It wasn't easy, but (trying to turn that lemon into lemonade) challenges can be good you. The folk interviewed range from that young lady with the extra "t" (who tells us, Awww, it wasn't so bad)....

...to an older man in Germany who believes himself to be the only surviving blood relation of Hitler and has grown up and become a complete loner throughout his life because of this. We feel sadness for the guy, but then, when he is told by our filmmaker that there are surviving relatives in the USA, he doesn't want to hear it. Clearly, he's sees himself as special and wants to keep it that way.

We visit grave sites and homes and even follow a British journalist who wants to track down those surviving Hitler family members here in the USA. They've changed their names and, very expectedly, want nothing to do with the journalist -- who behaves in any case like a number-one asshole, spreading their new name to bar patrons in their town in hopes that someone will know them. The film's final segment has a Holocaust survivor quietly level the silly journalist with his statement about how he feels, having now learned that Hitler 's relatives live nearby him.

The oddest of these Hitlers (would-be variety) is a neo-Nazi American idiot named Heath Campbell (above) who has named his son Adolf Hitler Campbell and tries to get a birthday cake made for the boy in a local bakery. This leads to having his son taken away from both him and his wife, an ongoing lawsuit, and a whole lot more. (This section might have made an fascinating movie all on its own, but instead seems an intrusion into the story of actual people named Hitler. Still, it is more interesting than much else we see in this documentary.)

The problem with Meet the Hitlers is that we learn almost nothing we wouldn't have known or couldn't figure out before watching the movie. Consequently the film quickly begins to drag. And all the bouncing back and forth between the various characters begins to seem like mere vamping -- including the sections that go into the art and career of a guy who makes, collects and displays Hitler memorabilia (below) to call attention to the horrible career of the German dictator. (This guy does offer up a grand quotation he says comes via Voltaire.)

If you're a sucker for all things Hitler, then by all means give this doc a shot. You could do much better however, regarding this theme of "naming" by watching the glorious French comedy, What's In a Name?, which is available now via Netflix streaming.  Meanwhile, Meet the Hitlers -- from Virgil Films and running just 84 minutes -- hits the street this coming Tuesday, April 5, on DVD and Digital HD -- for rental or purchase.

Delaporte & de La Patellière's LE PRENOM: the European box-office sensation opens in the U.S.

It out-grossed The Avengers in Europe on opening weekend, yet it's actually a very intelligent movie (funny, surprising, moving and more). That's one of the differences between Europe and the U.S. -- culture-wise, at least. That a movie this smart -- LE PRENOM (which officially translates as "The First Name" but is being sold under the less good title of What's in a Name? -- could outdraw a super-hero blockbuster says some-thing about folk who go to movies over there, as opposed to those who attend over here. But as comparisons are odious, let's just stick with the film at hand.

Based upon the legitimate theater piece by Matthieu Delaporte (above, right), who co-wrote and co-directed along with Alexandre de La Patellière (above, left), the movie -- after an odd but funny start which seems, in addition to its humor, designed mostly to disguise the film's theatrical roots -- takes place in the apartment of a happily married couple with two kids who are planning a dinner party to be attended by her brother and his pregnant wife and everybody's best friend since childhood, a confirmed "bachelor" who plays trombone in the local symphony.

The dinner goes on, all right, but just prior to it, the subject of the first name of the upcoming newborn is raised. When that name (the prénom of the title) is unveiled, all hell breaks loose -- in increments that grow funnier and loonier as the evening progresses, leading to the kind of truth-telling among family and friends that so rarely happens and certainly not as hilariously and devastatingly as it does here.

Class, economics, religion, sexual preference and all kinds of other subjects taboo to polite conversation are unleashed, and the half-dozen major performers on view have a field day tearing into them. Everyone shines, but what a pleasure it is to see one of our favorite actors, Charles Berling (above), get the opportunity to be so funny.

Berling plays the self-satisfied hubby of the hostess, played by the late and award-winning Valérie Benguigui, of The Wolberg Family -- who, in a kind of untimely irony regarding that wonderful film, died from breast cancer just this year.

As the wealthy and mostly non-thinking catalyst of the evening, Patrick Bruel (below) has a role he seems born to play and he delivers every inch of it. It's a toss-up, and one of the funnier aspects of the film, which of its two alpha males is the more self-satisfied.

In the role of the the best friend is an actor new to me, though I actually had seen him years ago in films by Kieslowski and Ruiz -- Guillaume de Tonquedec, who brings a precise combination of charm and naive, open-heartedness to his role -- which is probably the best of his career so far and into which he fits like the proverbial glove.

Completing the picture are one of France's most lustrous aging stars, Françoise Fabian, below, who looks as gorgeous as ever as a senior citizen, and Judith El Zein (shown at bottom), properly annoyed and feisty, playing Ms Benguigui's late-to-dinner sister-in-law.

The filmmakers have fun with first names throughout, dropping all last names from the opening credits and giving us some delightful pictures of their cast as kids during the closing credits. Both they and their cast keep the pace moving speedily and friskily, despite a running time of 110 minutes. By film's end, you'll probably agree that this has been as smart and funny a time as you've spent at the movies in quite awhile.

The award-winning film, distributed in the USA via Under the Milky Way, opens this Friday, December 13, here in New York City at the Cinema Village. Elsewhere? Yes: word has just come in that it will play the Arthouse Cinema 502 in Ogden, Utah, from January 17-23 and at Theatre N at Nemours in Wilmington, Delaware, from December 27-29. And if you're not within driving distance of any of these theaters, you can also watch the film on VOD via iTunes. Click here to access the link.