THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS.
by Jarrod Jones. Freaks Vs. The Reich is what it sounds like, a sideshow spectacle that pits a quartet of circus oddballs against the jackbooted thugs of Hitler’s Third Reich. The twist — as though a premise like that would need one — is that these strange folk also have special abilities. Or, if you prefer, superpowers. Freaks Vs. The Reich is a superhero war movie.
Marvel theatrics set in a dead-serious World War II film; that’s certainly ambitious. Captain America: The First Avenger used the comic-sourced Hydra organization as its Nazi shorthand. This is closer to what we saw in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, though that was set during The Great War. Freaks’ director, Gabriele Mainetti, doesn’t take any outs with his vision of WWII; whenever a Nazi enters the frame, Mainetti makes sure we see him doing awful things. Between these bursts of grim historical accuracy, the Italian filmmaker manages to work in a boisterous bit of fun.
Folks who can handle this brazen tonal back-and-forth will find Mainetti’s adventure film knows how to have a good time. Freaks Vs. The Reich opens with magical Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi) barking at a captive audience — and soon breaks the fourth wall to entice us to join in, too — selling sights both mysterious and fantastic. “Meet extraordinary creatures capable of memorable and stupefying feats!” he says. Like the film around him, Israel is not without a sense of showmanship.
And he isn’t the only one who can liven up a room. His circus attraction boasts a boy who can control bugs (Pietro Castellitto) and a jovial clown with, um, magnetic charm (Giancarlo Martini). More prominently, there’s Fulvio, a tragic Chewbacca wolf-man (Claudio Santamaria), and Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo), a dancer whose touch can ignite light bulbs and, later, people.
Their act is a serene excursion from the horrors of Hitler’s growing war until it suddenly isn’t; a frightful transition from a lovely performance to a full-on German invasion is one of Mainetti’s more impressive set pieces. Soon Israel is pitching a peaceful — and lucrative — life for his troupe in New York City. His surrogate family isn’t convinced booking a passage is the wisest move for them.
Fulvio has another option: joining up with the famed German pianist Franz (Franz Rogowski), a twelve-fingered performer for the Nazi effort who is actively recruiting special folks with unique talents. What Fulvio doesn’t know, and we soon discover, is that Franz has an incredible ability of his own. He sketches future-shocked images pulled from visions, which prove alarmingly accurate, like his renderings of the moon landing and — oh, no! — an iPhone. He also dreams that he will one day assemble a superpowered army to fight for his leader. “It will be my gift for the Führer,” he says.
Franz also brings other things to the war from his future dreams: he entertains the captive audience of the Zirkus Berlin with piano renditions of Radiohead’s “Creep.” Other anachronisms give Mainetti’s story (co-written by Nicola Guaglianone) inventive, if distracting, flourishes. Guns N’ Roses make their influences known at one point. More distressing are visions of the Nuremberg trials and the suicide of his Führer. These premonitions give Franz a violent desperation that aids the film’s harrowing wartime ambitions.
Freaks Vs. The Reich aims to woo superhero movie fans with confident special effects, warm-heartedness, and epic length. When the film sticks to a lane, it’s effectively done. Less so when Mainetti veers wildly from humor and heart to viciousness and cruelty. He shoots his action sequences with an awareness of what wasp stings, bullets, bludgeoning, and electricity can do to the human body, which saps some of his film’s spirit even if it does give it unnerving stakes. Mainetti knows he needs to keep Freaks steadily moving ahead; otherwise, his captive audience might stop having a ball and begin feeling pangs of wartime distress.
I said the wolf-man reminded me of Chewbacca but that’s not all Freaks Vs. The Reich got me thinking about. Matilde is referred to as “Dorothy” at one point, and suddenly the whole show clicked together. A metal-minded goof? A gangly, earthy fool? A beast fumbling his protection of a beauty? Mainetti’s marvelous Fantasy Four is at the mercy of a cruel and dangerous Oz. Maybe its sequel will favor them with a fairy godmother, and a wicked witch to thwart them.
6.5 out of 10
Freaks Vs. The Reich is in theaters and is available on VOD & Digital now.
Directed by Gabriele Mainetti.
Written by Nicola Guaglianone and Gabriele Mainetti.
Starring Claudio Santamaria, Aurora Giovinazzo, Pietro Castellitto, Giancarlo Martini, Giorgio Tirabassi.
Not Rated, but contains vivid wartime mayhem and one rowdy sex scene. Languages: Italian and German.
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