Schtonk! is a farce of the actual events of 1983, when Germany's Stern magazine published, with great fanfare, 60 volumes of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler – which two weeks later turned out to be entirely fake. Fritz Knobel (based on real-life forger Konrad Kujau) supports himself by faking and selling Nazi memorabilia. When Knobel writes and sells a volume of Hitler's (nonexistent) diaries, he thinks it's just another job. When sleazy journalist Hermann Willié learns of the diaries, however, he quickly realizes their potential value... and Knobel is quickly in over his head. As the pressure builds and Knobel is forced to deliver more and more volumes of the fake diaries, he finds himself acting increasingly like the man whose life he is rewriting. The film is a romping and hilarious satire, poking fun not only at the events and characters involved in the hoax (who are only thinly disguised in the film), but at the discomfort Germany has with its difficult past.
as Hermann Willié
as Fritz Knobel
as Freya von Hepp
as Pit Kummer
as Dr. Wieland
as Karl Lentz
as Biggi
as Martha
as Kurt Glück
as Uwe Esser
as Von Klantz
as August Strasser
as Karl Lentz's Wife
as German Graphologist
as Priest
as Bavarian Border Official
as Cornelius
as Schuback
as Obersturmbandführer
as East German Police Officer
as SS Man
as SS Man
as SS Man
