Premiering in Locarno's Piazza Grande section, this is a stylish psychological thriller that explores the truth behind a narcissistic man’s claims to have saved thousands from German concentration camps.
By Alissa Simon
Plus IconAlissa Simon
Film Critic
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Courtesy of Anke Neugebauer, Ostlicht Filmproduktion, Wega Filmproduktion A handsomely upholstered psychological thriller with more than a little contemporary resonance, the period drama “I Is Another” should spark heated debate about what constitutes a historical fact as well as the increasingly malleable nature of truth today. German writer-director Felix Randau’s fourth feature centers on the fascinating but now mostly forgotten figure of Felix Kersten (1898–1960), a Baltic German massage therapist to SS Reich leader Heinrich Himmler. Played with unctuous authority by the multilingual Danish performer Claes Bang, Kersten claims to have used his influence to obtain the freedom of thousands of concentration camp prisoners, and is obsessed with winning a Nobel Prize. While trying to further propagate his version of history, Kersten meets his match in the fictional journalist Hedda Wohmann (excellent Austrian thesp Valerie Pachner), who questions his self-proclaimed heroism.
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