During a trip to the big city, a naive country-bumpkin has his wallet stolen. Since his personal documents are also in the wallet, this isn't just a problem of stolen money, but also of identity theft. The thief, who took his wallet, happens to be a master forger and con man, who uses the papers "in good faith" to settle some shady dealings. When a warrant is issued for his(?) arrest, both men are pursued and both of them end up in the justice system's net. The victim is dragged through a series of absurd, burocratic procedures to try and re-establish his identity. And with every new bureaucrat he meets, it only becomes more entangled and more absurd. Some thing never change, huh?
The film was banned in 1944 before its official release (I guess the Nazis took offense to bureaucratic procedures being poked fun of) and parts of it were lost by War's end. A 1947 remake adopted parts of the original film. But really: only a people that can coin the word Schadenfreude could make a comedy out of such a darkly ironic subject matter.
Während eines Ausflugs in die Großstadt wird einem naiven Provinzler die Brieftasche gestohlen. Da sich darin sämtliche persönlichen Unterlagen des Mannes befanden, ist er durch die Tat nicht nur seines Geldes, sondern auch seiner Identität beraubt. Bei dem Dieb handelt es sich um einen überaus gerissenen Urkundenfälscher und Heiratsschwindler, der die Papiere nach "bestem Wissen" missbraucht, um einige krumme Geschäfte abzuwickeln. Als ein Haftbefehl erlassen wird, gehen kurz darauf beide Männer, der Unschuldige und der Schuldige, der Justiz ins Netz. Für das Opfer wird die Suche nach seiner Identität zu einem absurden Gang durch die Instanzen des Behördenapparats, bei dem jeder neue Beamte nur noch mehr Verwirrung zu stiften scheint
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THERE IS A NEWSREEL ALONG WITH THE FILM, JUST AS GERMAN AUDIENCES MIGHT HAVE SEEN WHEN THE MOVIE WAS FIRST SHOWN (except this newsreel may not be contemporary to when the film was released).
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH NO SUBTITLES (except for the Newsreel).
QUALITY (of feature film only):
· Sharpness of picture? - soft picture, but with reaonably distinct features. Decent film quality
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 83 mins
LENGTH OF NEWSREEL: 12 mins