Actor who lives Hitler in film is said shocked with good reception of German

Oliver Masucci lives a Hitler nowadays the adaptation of "Look Who's Back"

A German actor who dressed as Adolf Hitler and toured the country for four weeks, smiling citizens and stroking their pets for a film which opens this week, said he was shocked by the warm reception he received.

The movie "Look Who's Back" ("Look Who Is Back" in free translation) is an adaptation of a novel by Timur Vermes which sold over 1 million copies. In it, Hitler wakes up in modern times, it becomes a celebrity and returns to politics.

Vermes said he wrote the book to criticize what he calls the complacency of German in relation to the Nazis and highlight his belief that Hitler would have chances of becoming successful today, even though the contemporary German state is structured to prevent the return of Nazi tyranny.

The film's director and the lead actor said that the time spent on tour in Germany in footage that were incorporated into the long, opened his eyes to witness a change of position on the right.

"How is it that so many people react positively to Hitler and accept?" Said director David Wnendt on German TV ARD.

The film features the actor Oliver Masucci, fully dressed with the distinctive mustache of Hitler, mingling among crowds of people smiling, shaking hands, posing for pictures with firefighters and even stroking dogs and pet goats.

"People quickly forgot the cameras were rolling and began to talk to the man, to open up for him," Masucci said.