Dusseldorf Helge Achenbach stands in the narrow entrance of the Düsseldorf art film cinema “Cinema” and is completely in his element: he greets friends, acquaintances and strangers jovially and generously hands out free tickets, the employee with the guest list can hardly keep up with the ticking: “One or two? We want the store to be full!” he trumpets to the crowd and lets himself be photographed in a winning pose in front of the film poster.
There is no doubt that Achenbach is in the best of spirits. The 71-year-old looks almost unchanged and enjoys the attention, the bath in the crowd. In fact, the cinema is almost full when the lights go out.
The preview of the documentary film “The Illusionist” in Düsseldorf’s old town is a home game for Achenbach: in Düsseldorf he built his empire as an art consultant; Here he opened the legendary Rheinstrand club “Monkey’s Island” in 2001 and his sophisticated “Monkey’s” restaurant trio in 2007; Here he once networked at every important art event and held court at the hip society events of this fashion-conscious and fun-loving city.
From Achenbach’s once huge circle, the film premiere in the cinema is now mainly attended by representatives from a certain segment of the Düsseldorf kissing society, restaurateurs and their environment, party-goers and very loyal, very old friends. Most of the artists who once worked closely with Achenbach and who also liked to show themselves with him, such as Andreas Gursky or Günther Uecker, are missing.
The gallery owners and museum people who did not shy away from his dazzling reputation are missing; the important collectors and the moneyed nobility of Düsseldorf are missing. And his divorced wife Dorothee, with whom he shared his glamorous life for many years, is missing.
So those who remained after Helge Achenbach was arrested for fraud and his empire dissolved into nothing have come. And apparently those who still feel glee that Achenbach ripped off the particularly rich and – in his interpretation, the stingy – also came. As if his “collages,” which he has dubbed his retouched bills, were nothing more than a petty offense by an otherwise upright man. Is that just Rhenish “laissez faire” and a penchant for half-silk, which Düsseldorf is also said to have?
Like much of the public, his fellow inmates viewed him as a Robin Hood.
(Photo: RFF – Real Fiction film distribution eK)
As a reminder: Achenbach was sentenced to six years in prison in 2015 for fraud in 18 cases after he began custody in 2014. He had forged bills to a number of customers, including Aldi heir Berthold Albrecht and his wife Babette. Achenbach has to pay 16.1 million euros in damages. He was released on parole in 2018 after serving most of his sentence in Essen.
The film begins with a thunderstorm in the otherwise quiet Lower Rhine landscape: Hurricane “Ela” caused devastation in the Rhineland in 2014, Dorothee Achenbach’s voice from the off can be heard to the roaring storm, which reports on the arrest of her then husband at the airport on that Pentecost weekend, when “Ela” raged and heralded her personal apocalypse.
Achenbach’s ex-wife often has a say in the film, in different moods, but always perfectly styled, she tells her version of her ex-husband’s case, sometimes she suddenly bursts out laughing when she learns of a new ethical change in her ex; sometimes she fights back tears when she admits that all she wants for the future is peace.
Director and producer Birgit Schulz explained in the audience discussion that she didn’t want to make the film without Dorothee Achenbach; “I didn’t want to be fooled by anyone and also wanted to show the victim side.”
Few remaining artist friends tell
Otherwise, many other companions have their say, such as his childhood friend Hans-Georg Fiederling, who tells of carefree youth days and attests his buddy “lightness in nature”, but also “little depth”.
One of the few remaining artist friends, the Austrian sculptor Heinz Baumüller, also strikes a critical but benevolent tone when he claims that Achenbach was primarily concerned with money and that he might have done it with artificial fertilizer if it had yielded more than they did Art.
The film starts this week. Produced by Bildersturm Filmproduktion and ZDF/3sat.
(Photo: RFF – Real Fiction film distribution eK)
The gallerist Rudolf Zwirner, on the other hand, was more implacable, declaring in a harsh tone that Achenbach actually had no idea about art, but then had to concede: “And now we’re sitting here again and talking about him again.”
Zwirner thus draws attention to a mysterious ambivalence that characterizes the Achenbach phenomenon, namely the seductive ability to inspire people for everything, yes, the enthusiasm to “sell” yourself and also to network and attract people who knew what was actually behind all the media hype and that there have always been doubts about Achenbach’s business practices.
Anne Berlit, the art teacher at the Essen prison, gives a voice in the film to this ability to inspire people even when they fall. She tells of his fears and temporary humility with noticeable fascination. Achenbach painted with her and quickly achieved the image of a hero in prison and was considered a kind of Robin Hood.
This is a point in the film when happy laughter and scene applause erupt in the cinema. The majority applauds Achenbach, also because he shows remorse and insight in his interview sections. Later, however, he complained again about the stinginess of the Albrechts, who only wanted to pay him a ridiculous five percent commission, like they would any of their “Aldi suppliers”. He wanted to correct that. That was wrong; at that time he had “lost his inner compass”, he admits.
In the audience discussion, Achenbach is again in the best of moods and confirms his success again: “The gallery owners were jealous of us. We were customer-oriented and not elitist.” Conclusion: The film offers interesting insights, great archive material and revealing quotes, but remains far too benevolent. Still worth seeing.
“The Illusionist”: starts this week. Produced by Bildersturm Filmproduktion and ZDF/3sat.
More: Aldi fraudster Helge Achenbach: A hypocrite among hypocrites