Hanussen

Hanussen is a 1988 Hungarian film about Erik Jan Hanussen by István Szabó. It was nominated for the 1988 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The German language film starred Klaus Maria Brandauer. The film was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Austrian Klaus Schneider, who later comes to be known as Erik Jan Hanussen is wounded during World War I. While recovering in the care of Dr. Emil Bettelheim (Erland Josephson), the Doctor discovers that Schneider possesses empathic powers. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name and goes to Berlin to perform in halls and theaters as a hypnotist and mind reader. His purported powers bring him to the attention of the Nazis which cause his fame and power – as well as his own troubles – to grow. Cast Klaus Maria Brandauer – Klaus Schneider / Erik Jan Hanussen Erland Josephson – Dr. Bettelheim Ildikó Bánsági – Sister Betty Walter Schmidinger – Propaganda chief Károly Eperjes – Captain Tibor Nowotny Grażyna Szapołowska – Valery de la Meer Colette Pilz-Warren – Dagma Adrianna Biedrzyńska – Wally György Cserhalmi – Count Trantow-Waldbach Michał Bajor Jiří Adamíra Róbert Rátonyi Kalina Jędrusik – Baroness Stadler Gabriela Kownacka – Propaganda chief's wife Ewa Błaszczyk – Henni Stahl Awards