For me, Zishe Breitbard is a very likeable and charming character, even though he betrays Hanussen (who was an evil man, after all). He seems to have a really good heart. A real angel on Earth.
That makes the movie really precious to me, because it shows that in the Third Reich not everyone was a monster or a weak victim who let anything done to him.
Whoever thinks everyone in the Third Reich was a monster or a weak victim?!
(OK, there might be such people - especially here, the online metropolis of ignorance...)
BTW, you do know, I hope, that Breitbart's character was entirely fictionalised?
(He died in October 1925 and most likely never even met Hanussen.)
Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed it. :)
Well, for me the movie "The Tin Drum" shows the Third Reich this way.
Fictionalised or not- I find him likeable.
Oh yes, no doubt there are many, MANY films that show the people in the Third Reich in such a black & white way.
But I like to think people are somewhat more balanced in their view. :)
And of course the character IS likeable, no question about that.
I was just saying it's not a (literally) "true" story. That's all.
BTW, you do know, I hope, that Breitbart's character was entirely fictionalised?According to the German Wikipedia Hanussen copied Breitbart's show early in his career by hypnotizing his lovely assistant so she could perform the same strong man's acts. Hanussen's performance was só successfull that he and Breitbart were invited to New York. It's not unlikely they met, but not the way as portrayed by Herzog.
(He died in October 1925 and most likely never even met Hanussen.)
Später kopierte er die Show des als stärkster Mann der Welt gefeierten Kraftartisten Siegmund Breitbart, wobei es Steinschneiders zarter Assistentin „unter Hypnose“ gelang, gleichfalls Ketten zu zerreißen u. ä., da beide die gleichen Tricks anwendeten. Der in der Presse ausgetragene Konkurrenzkampf der beiden Rivalen erregte soviel Aufsehen, dass beide nach New York engagiert wurden.
I liked Zishe's character as well particularly the close bond he had with his younger brother which was very touching. The movie as a whole was a little slow but I did enjoy it especially for Ahola's portrayal of Zishe's kindness and loyalty.
'Cause I'm Black you think I did it?