''Loggerheads'', originally titled ''Zio Adolfo, in arte Führer'' (literally "Uncle Adolf, AKA Führer"), is a 1978 Italian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by the duo

Castellano & Pipolo Castellano & Pipolo is the stage name used by the pair of Italian screenwriters and film directors Franco Castellano (1925–1999) and Giuseppe Moccia (1933–2006). Together, they wrote the screenplays for about seventy films, and directed t ...

. It stars singer

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...

in the dual role of two brothers on opposite sides during the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

era. A

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of the life of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, ''Loggerheads'' is partly a

collage film Collage film is a style of film created by juxtaposing Found footage (appropriation), found footage from disparate sources (archival footage, excerpts from other films, newsreels, home movies, etc.). The term has also been applied to the physical ...

, combining dubbed of historical

archive footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

with similarly shot original footage featuring Celentano and other actors.

Plot

During the

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, twin brothers Hermann and Gustav find themselves on opposite ends of the political spectrum: Hermann is a staunch sympathizer of the emerging

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and a mediocre

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...

whose magic tricks always result in the death of his assistant; Gustav is an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

who prints and distributes anti-Nazi propaganda. With the rise of

to power, Hermann enlists in the SS and quickly becomes a colonel and a personal friend of Hitler. Gustav secretly plots and executes several extravagant, yet unsuccessful, attempts to assassinate Hitler. As Germany prepares for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, many young men enroll in the German army. In

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, newly-wed Hans is drafted and separated from his wife Irma on their wedding night. Hermann, aware of his brother's opposition to the Nazi regime but unaware of his assassination plots, visits Gustav at his hideout. Arguing that fate should decide which of the two ideologies should prevail, Hermann challenges Gustav to a game of

Russian roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

. The game continues indefinitely, as the gun never fires and the two brothers keep interrupting and resuming it day by day. After the German defeat in the war and the

death of Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide via a gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 in the in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the e ...

, Hermann returns to his activity as an illusionist. Hans returns home and is finally reunited with Irma, but as the couple embraces for the first time in years, they both step on a

landmine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, whi ...

. Four decades later, the now elderly Hermann and Gustav are still continuing their game of Russian roulette, only to realize the gun had been empty all along.

References

External links

* Collage film Films directed by Castellano & Pipolo Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Italian comedy films 1970s Italian-language films 1978 comedy films 1978 films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-comedy-film-stub