Bruno Ganz

Bruno Ganz was born on March 22, 1941 in Zurich, Switzerland, and is undoubtedly the best-known actor in that country. His acting stature is such that he is not at all surprised that he performs in the power of the Iffland-Ring. This ring with a diamond and the portrait of August Wilhelm Iffland, is owned by the best German-language actor of the moment and its owners pass it on to his theoretical successor since 1814. After Josef Meinrad died in 1996 the Iffland-Ring passed to the finger of Ganz.

Although this son of a Swiss and an Italian went to university, already in his early years it was clear to him that he wanted to be an actor. Already in 1960 he made his debut on the screens with Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone , but it was not a memorable title at all, in fact it can be said that in the beginning Ganz attracted more attention in the theater. Thus, he contributed to the constitution of the Berliner Schaubühne, and went to the prestigious Salzburg Festival to offer his stage interpretations. A German publication considered him the best theater actor in 1973. In this youth stage he got married. It was in 1965, with Sabine, from whom he had a son, Daniel, in 1972. Although husband and wife separated, they never opted for divorce, and there is no record of any subsequent sentimental relationship between Ganz.

1976 is often considered the year of Ganz’s takeoff. He did for the German Peter Stein Sommergäste , and for the French Eric Rohmer The Marchioness of O ; this second film was in German. Wim Wenders signed him for The American Friend (1977), an adaptation of the work by Patricia Highsmith , where he was accompanied by Dennis Hopper . He would repeat with Wenders in his two angelic films The sky over Berlin (1987) and So far, so close! (1993); and the friend and collaborator of Wenders Peter Handke counted on him for The Left-Handed Woman (1978) and The Absence(1993). Other prestigious directors of the new German cinema who claimed him were Werner Herzog for Nosferatu (1979) and Volker Schlöndorf for Circle of Deceptions (1981) .

The first time that Ganz was in a Hollywood film shot in English was in The Children of Brazil ( Franklin J. Schaffner , 1978), a disturbing plot of Nazi experiments and war criminal hunters, where he coincided with Laurence Olivier , Gregory Peck and James mason . But for now he was the exception in a career that did not take him away from old Europe, even traveling to exotic countries like Poland to do Hands Up! (1981). With his compatriot Alain Tanner would do the leaden In the White City (1983), and he even filmed El río de oro in Spain under the orders of Jaime Chávarri (1986), together with Ángela Molina . Ganz’s film career is extensive, although many titles did not have international repercussions worthy of the name. Until “Wenders’ angels” arrived. His work would arouse the attention of the Greek Theo Angelopoulos , who gave him the leading role in Eternity and a Day (1998). Of a more popular cut, he would shoot Bread and Tulips (2000).

His television work in two installments Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust (2001), where he was precisely Faust, is a role that he also represented with incredible passion on stage, enjoys great prestige. At that point, Ganz was an indisputable actor, and although his roles were small, as in the cases of Luther (2003) and The Messenger of Fear (2004), the scenes where he was undoubtedly gained in intensity.

Then came the role that has remained in the popular imagination. That of Adolf Hitler in The Downfall ( Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004), which recounted the last days in the Führer’s bunker. It was quite a challenge because it was about humanizing the character, and at the same time not failing to reflect a sick mind, close to paranoia, and at the same time with charisma; It was also the first time that a historical figure had an undeniable physical resemblance to the guard. The most surprising thing is that Ganz gets into Hitler and imitates him in an incredible way, in a calm way, without falling into stereotypes. The actor had the advantage of not being German, which allowed her a distance that perhaps other German-speaking actors would not have had. Curiously, this role did not bring him awards alone, in fact film awards resist him, perhaps the most outstanding award is that of the European awards for his entire career, awarded in 2010.

Ganz does not stop working, but always in and around Europe and using German. There are Vitus (2006), where he was the grandfather of a virtuoso child on the piano; Youth Without Youth (2007), a rare work by Francis Ford Coppola , who was back behind the camera after years of absence; RAF Faction of the Red Army (2008), about this terrorist group. If I went to films in English, they were somehow rooted in their culture, like The Reader (Stephan Daldry, 2008), a new look at Nazism, and Sin identidad (2010), the thriller by Jaume Collet-Serra that takes place in Berlin.

His last great composition is undoubtedly that of the journalist Tiziano Terzani in The End Is My Beginning (2010), a look at the last days of this Italian character with a German wife, where the prodigious actor is unrecognizable and conveys Terzani’s worldview and his peace. facing death in a really exciting way.