Hanussen **** (1988, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Erland Josephson, Ildikó Bánsági) – Classic Movie Review 9349

Director István Szabó’s 1988 historical drama Hanussen stars Klaus Maria Brandauer, who shines again as the Austrian soldier Klaus Schneider, who gains second sight after a bullet hits his head in World War One, in the highly impressive third part of director Szabó’s trilogy about German fascism.

In this true story, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen, goes to Berlin, performs as a hypnotist and clairvoyant, and uses his psychic powers to ingratiate himself with the Nazis.

Hanussen is imaginatively handled by Szabó, who tells the story with great clarity and zest, with quality work in the screenplay, the music score by György Vukán and cinematography by Lajos Koltai to match the acting. Erland Josephson is also notable as Dr Emil Bettleheim, who brings Schneider back to health and discovers his powers.

It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, like its predecessors Mephisto and Colonel Redl (Mephisto won).

The screenplay by István Szabó and Péter Dobai is based on the autobiography by Erik Jan Hanussen.

Also in the cast are ldikó Bánsági, Károly Eperjes, Adriana Biedrzynska, Grazyna Szapolowska and Walter Schmidinger.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9349

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