By Roger Costa
Set in 1945, Frankfurt and centered on the tricks and desperation of thousands of Jews waiting at former concentration camps for an opportunity to migrate to America, BYE BYE GERMANY is a smart comedy about investments. One of the refugees is our protagonist, the popular, smart business man and persuasive Mr. Bermann. A man who imposes an elegant life-style, despite the destruction around him, he’s doing everything he can to get a license to kick off a linen business, while also constantly being denied a Visa to America. When he meets a comrade who’s saving up for a future trip to the land of dreams, he convinces him to invest his money on the business, gathering a few other men from the camps with the same ambition and set off to close deals with lonely, abandoned housewives.
Director Sam Garbarski’s take on the post-war Jews issue feels fresh and inventive, as he depicts the material with an authentic, sophisticated humor that resembles directly to the great classics of the 40’s. Its sharp observation on hopelessness, both from the business men and the women clients, makes this story different from most recent films involving such circumstances. The narrative centers on Bermann’s leadership motivation, the instigator of everyone’s affection and talent, how he shines a light, shaping these men into great salespersons. Once everyone is determined to achieve their sales and save up in order to escape and find freedom oversea, the story gets interconnected with an investigation where Bermann is accused of Nazi collaboration. Known as an influential person among the refugees, he was considered the greatest joker while under Nazi imprisonment, and eventually assigned by a General to go and teach Hitler some of his sense of humor. The situation itself is already a total debauchery, though Bermann turns it even more fantastical with his impressive talent of convincing storytelling. He’s set in front of a gorgeous agent who questions him, while he tells through flashbacks how he made out his way off the concentration camp to become a popular figure among the Nazis. An incredibly shameless seducer and bon-vivant, Bermann won’t waste any time and discreetly flirts with the agent, despite she could send him to lifetime jail, mentioning details that make her uncomfortably vulnerable.
German actor Moritz Bleibtreu (the accomplished and handsome player who previously appeared in “Run Lola Run”, “Soul Kitchen” and Spielberg’s “Munich”) personifies the confusions of his dominating role with extravagant elegance and precise humor, a hilarious and irresistible kind of a crook. But the film doesn’t belong totally to him. The other actors (and a dog) are amazingly funny and competent, including a tall, one-eye former projectionist, a talented heart-attack impostor, and a youngster responsible for bringing back memories and traumas of war, giving the film a different angle, when they recognize a war criminal. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at Norwegian International Film Festival, director Garbarski manages the narrative with contagious sarcasm and witty dialog, and brilliantly presents the dramatic tone of the final part as an unexpected twist, creating a top-notch sophisticated comedy about giving hope another chance while waiting for better days to come.
(Film Movement. 4/27. Landmark 57 West.)
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