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Schtonk! (1992)

6.9 | Mar 12, 1992 (DE) | Comedy, History | 01:55

One of the first funny german look at its past.

Schtonk! is a farce of the actual events of 1983, when Germany's Stern magazine published, with great fanfare, 60 volumes of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler – which two weeks later turned out to be entirely fake. Fritz Knobel (based on real-life forger Konrad Kujau) supports himself by faking and selling Nazi memorabilia. When Knobel writes and sells a volume of Hitler's (nonexistent) diaries, he thinks it's just another job. When sleazy journalist Hermann Willié learns of the diaries, however, he quickly realizes their potential value... and Knobel is quickly in over his head. As the pressure builds and Knobel is forced to deliver more and more volumes of the fake diaries, he finds himself acting increasingly like the man whose life he is rewriting. The film is a romping and hilarious satire, poking fun not only at the events and characters involved in the hoax (who are only thinly disguised in the film), but at the discomfort Germany has with its difficult past.

Featured Crew

Director, Screenplay, Producer
Producer
Director of Photography
Screenplay
Original Music Composer

Cast

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Götz George
Hermann Willié
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Uwe Ochsenknecht
Fritz Knobel
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Christiane Hörbiger
Freya von Hepp
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Harald Juhnke
Pit Kummer
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Ulrich Mühe
Dr. Wieland
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Rolf Hoppe
Karl Lentz
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Hermann Lause
Kurt Glück
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Martin Benrath
Uwe Esser