Watch out, spoilers!
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The third film from the German trilogy of Istvan Szabo is Hanussen, 1988. The film is again based on the life and fate of a real character, however, largely modified and embellished. Eric Jan Hanussen - in the world of Hermann (Herschel) Steinschneider, in the film Klaus Schneider, after being shot in the head at the front during the First World War, gets to the hospital, where he is treated by Professor Dr. Bettelheim, who discovers some psychic and visionary abilities in the patient, they feel sympathy for each other. Soon the war ends and Schneider, who before the war performed in the circus, with his abilities takes under his wing his former captain, who organizes his performances and suggests that you should come up with a more interesting pseudonym, where Hanussen appears. With great success they perform until one day he is not prosecuted for fraud, the process, however, he wins, after which they go to conquer Berlin. There he shows his talents, is very popular, but everything changes when he predicts that the chancellor will become Hitler, and then the burning of the Reichstag. This is where his long career ends.
About Hanussen was shot several films, Feuchtwanger based on his biography wrote his novel “The Lautenzac Brothers”, I do not know what he was in other films, but Szabo decided to give his hero noble features, which the real Hanussen did not possess. In fact, he was a very successful adventurer and managed to become a wealthy man, even built the Palace of Occultism in Berlin, owned several publications. The film constantly emphasizes his political neutrality, in fact, he was personally acquainted with Hitler, supported his rise to power, openly stated that he served the bright ideals of National Socialism and predicted a great future for both them and Hitler, despite the fact that he was a Jew, which, however, did not save him. But the Hanussen depicted by Istvan Szabo is, of course, much prettier than his prototype. The film is shot in the classic manner of Szabo, the actors, as always, are selected very well, of course, Klaus-Maria Brandauer and here is flawless. I loved the film and I don’t regret revisiting this trilogy.