Frenchman Abel Tiffauges is a naive man who lives a simple life working as a mechanic. Falsely accused of being a child abuser, he is recruited as a soldier when World War II begins, but is captured soon and taken to the heart of Nazi Germany.
Acting
Malkovich's childlike gaze that never quite meets yours
Direction
Schlöndorff turns Nazi castles into Brothers Grimm fever dreams
Cinematography
Snow-blind landscapes that feel simultaneously beautiful and wrong
Director
Volker Schlöndorff
John Malkovich
Abel
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Count von Kaltenborn
Gottfried John
Chief Forester
Marianne Sägebrecht
Frau Netta
Volker Spengler
Fieldmarshall Hermann Göring
Heino Ferch
SS Officer Raufeisen
Dieter Laser
Professor Blättchen
Agnès Soral
Rachel
Vernon Dobtcheff
Lawyer
Simon McBurney
Brigadier
Luc Florian
Prisoner of War #1
Laurent Spielvogel
Prisoner of War #2
Marc Duret
Prisoner of War #3
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Volker Schlöndorff had to rebuild the Nazi castle set three times due to weather, which somehow feels appropriate for this cursed production.
The film sparked walkouts at Cannes for its ambiguous portrayal of a possible pedophile; French critics adored it, Americans were horrified. Typical.
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