How About Adolf, based on the play by Alexandre de la Patelliere and Mathieu Delaporte - Eight out of 10

How About Adolf, based on the play by Alexandre de la Patelliere and Mathieu Delaporte

Eight out of 10

The idea of the motion picture is challenging, intriguing, provocative, fresh, thought provoking and so is the first part, but it seems that the fortissimo,  andante con brio that we can hear and admire at the beginning becomes a pianissimo, a soft, perhaps somewhat trouve, cliché that we appear to have seen in other features.

Nevertheless, it is quite captivating to see the protagonists engage in a clash About Adolf, which is announced from the title, though the German name Vorname, based on the original, adapted as a French film, What’s in a Name aka Le Prenom, sounds much less abrupt, and when Thomas announces his sister and brother in law that he will name his son Adolf, the others are aghast, terrified by the implications.

In Germany, Nazi parties are forbidden as is fascist propaganda and other such vile activities, though the Afd does entertain extremist, nationalistic, xenophobic ideals – why, the American president boasts about these on a regular basis and to use the Bernie (not a favorite of mine, with his honeymooning in Moscow, during the Soviet Union days no less) joke, this is his good side…

Apparently, to name one’s offspring using the name of the late mass murderer is not forbidden though, even if officials at the respective office have to analyze the selection and Thomas, who is known for his dark jokes, pleads for this bizarre idea, after the hosts and the family friend Rene take part in game where they try to guess the name…Alexander the Great, Artemis, though she was a goddess, Aramis and others are named…even Abraham, paradoxically.

The argument is strong against choosing Hitler as inspiration, although we are just speaking of his Christian, presumably less known name, for the others are vehemently protesting that the child would be ostracized, isolated by peers, teachers and all alike, this stupid nonsense would have ghastly, calamitous consequences for the future of the yet unborn infant and the explanations pour continuously.

Nevertheless, Thomas has some good points to make too, for he turns to other infamous butchers, such as Joseph Stalin and this strikes a particularly sensitive chord with me, given that the West forgets about the viciousness of the communists, who have killed many more millions than Hitler did and they now look in awe at the likes of Bernie, when they should all get behind Butigieg, Klobuchar or Biden and avoid the socialist madness.

There are other names that should be stricken from the list and the question of What’s in a Name – as in the French version of this motion picture, the one that had inspired the German adaptation – is placed from the start, when we travel through streets and thousands are called Goethe, many others bear the name of German composers, though the wife of Schubert – if my memory does not play tricks – is worthy of getting admiration and square names, she is almost forgotten by authorities…

The second part of the game, where the pregnant wife seems rather abrasive, and then we learn about the unexpected affair of Rene, who had been wrongfully presumed to be gay, does not appear as challenging as the first, though the movie is interesting, does a lot to make the public think of preconceived ideas, and prejudices…