Claes Bang plays Heinrich Himmler’s personal physical therapist in Locarno premiere “I Is Another.”
Directed by Felix Randau, it focuses on the true story of Felix Kersten. Kersten, who passed away in 1960, claimed to have saved numerous lives during the war due to his influence over the Nazi leader. However, many have disputed his claims.
“It’s quite a wild story and for some reason it’s never been told,” Bang tells Variety.
“One of the worst characters I have embodied is probably John Paul in ‘Bad Sisters’ [the Apple TV+ series created by Sharon Horgan]. But I will always try to find something in there that I can relate to. With John Paul, it was his desire to protect his family and his belief that the other sisters were out to get him.”
With Kersten, it’s his search for validation.
“He was trying to get the Nobel Peace Prize! He wanted people to say: ‘You were a good guy.’ It’s something I recognize, because I want people to like my work. I want people to go: ‘Wow, Claes, what you did in that play or that movie was really great.’ To some degree, we all want that. But it became his downfall.”
In the film – sold by Beta Cinema and produced by Ostlicht Filmproduktion – an ambitious journalist (Valerie Pachner) wants to expose his lies. But she’s also hiding a few secrets of her own.
“There were definitely people who were alive at the end of the war that would not have been alive had it not been for him. The problem is, he thought he hadn’t received enough credit for his actions, so he exaggerated them.”
“I like it when a character’s actions don’t match what they present to the world. ‘The Square’ was a perfect example of that.”
In Ruben Östlund Palme d’Or winner – and his breakout role – Bang played a respected curator whose perfect life starts to unravel after his phone is stolen.
“He saw himself as a really good guy. He’s trying to put on this exhibition that’s supposed to say something about humanity, and then he goes and sends threatening letters to people. It makes me wonder: Why do we need that kind of validation? Why do we want fame, or for everyone to applaud us?”
Kersten’s story and his ties to the Nazis made him a complicated historical figure. But Bang calls for compassion, not judgement.
“I don’t think anyone can understand the terror you felt when you got a call to show up at the SS headquarters,” he notes.
“If you didn’t obey, your whole family would be dragged out into the street and executed. He didn’t ask for this. Up until this point, he wasn’t a member of the Nazi party or had anything to do with the Nazis when he was summoned to meet Himmler.”
Kersten became valuable when he was able to help Himmler with the severe stomach pains that had plagued him all his life.
“What goes through your heart and your mind when you get a call to go and be part of it? In [another Apple series] ‘The New Look,’ I played a man who was the intermediary between the Nazi party and Coco Chanel. It’s a dark chapter in her story,” he adds.
“Chanel is a French icon and Juliette Binoche [who played her] wanted to do her justice – she didn’t want to just hang her out to dry. That was one of the things we talked about: What did people know about the Nazi party’s atrocities when they were also keeping them a secret? People were just trying to survive while their country was at war.”
He says: “It’s easy to say: ‘When Himmler offered him the job of being his masseur, why didn’t he just say no?’ But we can’t possibly fathom being in that situation.”
“There’s evidence that Kersten helped people escape, but he was unhappy that, for example, he wasn’t mentioned in Count Bernadotte’s book [about the war]. He wanted to correct it and that got him into trouble.”
It also confirmed his official affiliation to the SS.
“It’s quite interesting when in the film, he realizes he’s now a part of it. O.K, I’m Heinrich Himmler’s masseur. Can I make something out of this that will actually do some good? I like when he asks: ‘How many human lives is a membership of the SS worth?’ Even though it’s impossible to answer.”
