Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Manuel-Hoerth The acting by Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hanussen is top notch. He carries this movie. And all in all I really enjoyed it. Only the title is a little misleading. Because I never got the feeling it portrays the historic Hanussen. But then again movies seldom stay true to history. But at least they got all the major events right and even Hanussen's stage performance and probably his charisma... But his character... well, I just feel that he wasn't the kind of person that is being portrayed in this movie - AT ALL! This movie portrays him as an opponent of the Nazis, when in reality he was more of a supporter who fell out of favor due to factional infighting and some miscalculated movies on Hanussen's part.A lot of people have noticed this and many have asked why he is being portrayed in a purely positive light and as an opponent of the Nazis when in reality he was more like one of Hitler's most important supporters at the time. Personally I think they intentionally altered this aspect. Consider it German censorship. As you can clearly see by watching this movie, German censorship works very different than U.S. censorship. Germans have no problems with displaying tons of unnecessary nudity, sex, alcohol, drug use and swearing - sometimes even in children's movies. But having the protagonist of a movie be a leading Nazi? And on top of that a Jewish Nazi? No way! People in Germany of 1988 weren't ready for that kinda stuff. In 2007 the Germans made a movie called "My Führer" which also seems to be VERY loosely based on Hanussen. Only this time they finally included scenes of him actually teaching Hitler - something they obviously weren't yet ready for in 1988.So I actually kinda liked Klaus Maria Brandauer's "fictional" Hanussen more than the historic one - he is definitely more sympathetic. So as long as you separate the Hanussen portrayed in "Hanussen" from the historic Hanussen, then it is a very enjoyable and touching story.Oh and I feel I have to note that the English subtitles I had aren't exactly the most accurate. A lot of times the subtitles seem to say something completely different than what is being said in German. And while the acting of Klaus Maria Brandauer is awesome, the acting of some of the supporting characters is awful. Now this sounds like a lot of criticism, but actually the movie is still pretty awesome and truly deserves 9 out of 10. If you liked movies like "The Prestige" or "The Illusionist" then this is a must watch!

t_atzmueller „Hanussen" is the third and final cooperation between director Istvan Szabo and Klaus-Maria Brandauer and in my personal opinion, the most underrated of this semi-trilogy."Hanussen" tells the (partially fictionalized) story of the historic hypnotizer and clairvoyant Jan-Erik Hanussen. However, Szabo has taken the liberty to change the characters background. Here, Hanussen was born Klaus Schneider, a veteran of WW1, who has gained hypnotic power and the gift of clairvoyance after suffering a head injury on the battleground. With those powers, Schneider changes his name to Hanussen, becoming one of the most celebrated magicians in pre-Nazi Germany. As the Nazi party rises to power, so does Hanussens fame and reputation. Eventually (and inevitably) Hanussen comes to the attention of the Nazis who soon use him as a tool and finally, having outlived his usefulness, discard him.For the third time Brandauer plays a character that wishes for more than what he perceives himself as: the self-loathing officer "Oberst Redl", who's ashamed of his ethic background and sexuality; the brilliant actor in "Mephisto" who tries to camouflage his lower class background and egomania – in "Hanussen" Brandauer shows us a character who wishes he was the superior, omnipotent magician he portrays on stage but, in essence, remains a frightened, wounded victim of the battlefield. Brandauers performance is magic in the truest sense; his presence fills the screen in a way that few actors do (to mind come actors like Klaus Kinski or Al Pacino).Brandauers brilliant performance aside, Szabo wants to teach us a lesson about the fickle nature of humanity, where self-perception, make-belief and reality are often very different, even incompatible, yet inseparable. And more important than the psychological implications, how those fickle traits can be exploited by (in this case) fascism, communism, capitalism or any other ambitious political movement you could name.A powerful, important piece of work with a timeless message; well deserving, despite any technical or dramaturgical flaws, 8 points from 10.

malatzky Of the many Brandauer films I have seen, this is the best. He has a truly extraordinary face and he really acts with his expressions.As usual,Szabo throws in the Hungarian factor even though most of his films occur outside of his home country. And very little Hungarian is spoken. This character Hanussen is based on a true story, but since I don't believe in the supernatural I can't validate what happens in the film as true. Szabo makes consistently interesting films but it seems that all I have seen has been under Communist rule

xenophil This is the story of the fatal hubris of an artist who vainly tries to maintain neutrality in the face of encroaching Nazism, in order to pursue his brilliant career as a hypnotist and magician. The suspense grows unbearable as the perverse evil intrudes into every aspect of life.There are wonderful examples of the way the Hitler's propaganda machine co-opts everything in sight, and how people underestimate, over and over again, the lengths he will go to. The character of Bruno Bettelheim, with a clear, humane view of life, appears as a foil to the protagonist who is seduced by his 'art'. I really liked the irony of the man who predicts the future, coming up against his own unrolling fate, as becomes clear in the last, most sinister scene.This is my favorite of the three Istvan Szabo movies about protagonists trying to control their fate in the web of intrigue of a totalitarian state. It is exciting and provocative.