''Meschugge'' (English title: ''The Giraffe'') is a 1998 German thriller film directed by

Dani Levy Dani Levy (born 17 November 1957) is a Swiss filmmaker, theatrical director, screenwriter and actor. Biography Levy was born to a Jewish family in Switzerland in 1957.

and set during World War II. The German title roughly translates as "

crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

". The English title refers to the nickname of a character who was once in charge of the

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...

. The film features mainly English dialogue, though it features German dialogue as well.

Cast

* Maria Schrader as Lena Katz *

Lukas Ammann Lukas Ammann (29 September 1912 – 3 May 2017) was a Swiss actor who appeared mainly in German and Swiss films and television shows. He continued to work steadily for over 60 years. He is best known for his title role in the German televi ...

as Eliah Goldberg *

Lynn Cohen Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was especially known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which she ...

as Mrs. Fish *Dani Levy as David Fish *

David Strathairn David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Do ...

as Charles Kaminski * Nicole Heesters as Lena's mother

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave a mixed review, calling the film "slickly shot" though criticising the plot and dialogue as "ordinary". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' was much more critical, stating the English dialogue seemed like "badly translated German" and the plots "breathless incoherence asmatched only by its wild implausibility."

References

External links

* * 1998 films German thriller films 1990s German-language films 1990s English-language films English-language German films Films set in the United States Films directed by Dani Levy 1990s thriller films 1998 multilingual films German multilingual films 1990s German films {{1990s-thriller-film-stub