THE SMILING MAN

by Gerhard Scheumann, Walter Heynowski
  • THE SMILING MAN

    Synopsis

    Posing as West German journalists, East German documentary filmmakers Heynowski and Scheumann pay a visit to the notorious Nazi-turned-mercenary Siegfried "Kongo" Müller, pump him with booze, and get him to talk. Müller fought in Congo's civil war in the 1960s, and the more Pernod he imbibes, the more fascinating this interview becomes. He asserts that blacks are no better than animals and shares his dream of enlisting in the U.S. Army to fight communism in Vietnam and beyond. He flaunts his military paraphernalia, including the Iron Cross he was awarded in Germany in 1945, and proceeds to deny his earlier statements about civil killings, the ethics of war, and the defense of Western libertarian values. This documentary tour de force is interspersed with pictures of Müller and his comrades proudly posing with severed skulls, and it touches on other Nazis who are active in Africa as well as American world dominance.

    Cast and Crew

    Director

    Gerhard Scheumann, Walter Heynowski

    Screenplay

    Gerhard Scheumann, Walter Heynowski

    Editor

    Traute Wischnewski

    DoP

    Horst Donth, Peter Hellmich

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