Professor David Peimer
Satire vs. Evil, Part 2: Kurt Weil/Brecht, Cabaret, and Others
Summary
Can you ridicule or satirise Hitler and his evil? Can you ridicule peoples’ fascination with him and nazis as well?
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre in the UK. He has worked for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, New York University (Global Division) and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing in New York, UK, Berlin, EU Parliament (Brussels), Athens, Budapest, Zululand and more. He has most recently directed Dame Janet Suzman in his own play, Joanna’s Story, at London Jewish Book Week. He has published widely with books including: Armed Response: Plays from South Africa, the digital book, Theatre in the Camps. He is on the board of the Pinter Centre (London), and has been involved with the Mandela Foundation, Vaclav Havel Foundation and directed a range of plays at Mr Havel’s Prague theatre.
Well, what they show in the film is the kindness to the dog, kindness to the secretaries and some others and to children. So there is that side, which is a performance I think. I don’t think it’s genuinely felt. And I think I would go along with Bruno Ganz, that this is, to act a character who is completely without heart. Hitler called Hydrick the Man With the Iron Heart. And I was going to show a little stamp that the Nazis made in 1942 to Hydrick after he was assassinated in Prague. And it’s, for me, he called Hydrick the Man With the Iron Heart, but he himself knows that Hydrick is merely an example of himself, that his heart is iron. Whether turned to iron or always was is a debate for another time. But if there is iron there, there is no compassion, no empathy, no pity. And that’s an entirely different kind of individual.
Well, I mean, why is it also going to make money? Otherwise they wouldn’t do it. So therefore they know there’s going to be a massive audience. So, great question. I would flip the question to why there’s not so many people in the entertainment world will make it, they’re making it because they know they’re going to make money because there’s a huge audience out there in satirizing Hitler. And I think it’s far better than glorifying or romanticizing that individual.