Hades

A feature film in which the absurd and farcical is combined in an almost preposterous way with the deadly serious. Herbert Achternbusch plays a leading role, as in all his films. In Hades he is the owner of the funeral company Hades. He calls himself Hades to, to make things easier. Hades the company is an original institution. The customers can have the most ridiculous wishes realised. For instance, if they want a blue elephant in their funeral procession, Hades can provide one. Hades is the son of a German soldier who was involved with the siege of Stalingrad. However his mother was a Jew and with her and his sister he Hades spent the war in the Warsaw ghetto. His mother and sister did not survive the war. After the war, he took over the firm of his unloved father. Many years after the war, when the extreme right rises again in Germany, Hades starts being troubled by his war trauma. He is pursued by the boy he was in the ghetto. Later his mother and sister appear to him in fantastic visions. Even his funeral firm doesn’t escape unscathed. As the Jewish owner, Hades is threatened with a bomb attack. The farcical feature scenes with Achternbusch are juxtaposed with shocking documentary material shot in the Warsaw ghetto. Achternbusch is of the opinion that if you don’t present something with humour, it isn’t worth presenting.