German films

[Prince Rhyus]

Can anyone recommend any German language films?

I've got through 'Goodbye Lenin, Downfall and Miracle of Bern' and other than Sophie Scholl, I've come to an impass.

 

[Dhimmi]

Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel)
M
Das Boot (although on the DVD this has an English dub option and very good it is too.)
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Münchhausen (If you find this on DVD please tell me where from)
Triumph Des Willens (more of historical interest than entertainment)
Europa (Not German but set there and with a good feel for the subject)

 

[Dhimmi]

Double post - apologies.

 

[flangelina]

Officially, this is a TV series, but Heimat was absolutely amazing. Each of the episodes were feature length, and the story unfolded from WWI to the late 20th century. It's beautifully shot (balck & white and colour) and completely engaging. Don't know if it's likely to get repeated, but perhaps BBC4 may run it at some point. Well worth a watch!

I second Dhimmi's Triumph des Willes as well. Sure it's all pre-WW2 Nazi propaganda, but it's absolutely stunning to watch. The woman behind it, Leni Riefenstahl, was a photographer and she lent that eye to the film with fantastic effect.

 

[Reno]

Good list by Dhimmi, to which I'd add:

Fear Eats the Soul (Fassbinder is my favourite German director of the last 40 years and this is my favourite film of his. A remake of Douglas Sirks)

The Nasty Girl (based on a real case about a student discovering a few skeletons in the closet when she starts investigating her towns involvement in the Third Reich for a term paper. Poignant and surprisingly funny)

Pandora's Box (my favourite German silent movie starring the luminous Louise brooks)

Heimat (a TV series, though released in cinemas here and available on DVD, this is a great epic about German History in the 20th century seen through the eyes of several generations of one family)

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (Great documentary on the controversial director and a good idea to watch this before any of her films to put them into context)

M (Fritz Lang's best German film)

People on Sunday (wonderful silent docu-drama about how a group of friends spend a weekend in Weimar-era Berlin. It's like taking a time machine and was the start of several important directing careers, Billy Wilder's and Fred Zinneman's amongst them.)

Maidens in Uniform (unfortunately not out on DVD, but very much worth searching out)

Aguirre, Wrath of God (It put Herzog on the map who is worth a mention)

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (great film about 70's German terrorism and the hysteria the tabloid press whipped up over it)

Wings of Desire (I find this somewhat precious and overrated like all of Wim Wender's work, but it is worth seeing for the first half before it disappears up it's own bum)

The White Hell of Pitz Palu (the most famous example of the uniquely German genre of the Mountain Film is a gripping adventure and stars Leni Riefenstahl before she became a director)

 

[Dubversion]

As well as several of the above, i'd add the Enigma of Caspar Hauser, The Edukators and Head On (which really blew me away)

 

[red rose]

Probably not what you're looking for but it was the first thing I thought of

 

[laptop]

And next time you have 15.5 hours to spare, I'd recommend Berlin Alexanderplatz too.

Das Böse Mädchen seconded (so much better in German )

 

[Reno]

Probably not what you're looking for but it was the first thing I thought of

Yes, it's great.

 

[Dhimmi]

Good list by Dhimmi, to which I'd add:

Thanks!

M (Fritz Lang's best German film)

This is reviewed on Urban's very own film review blog;
http://urbanfilmreview.blogspot.com/

 

[phildwyer]

Fassbinder's the man. In particular:

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Veronika Voss
The Marriage of Maria Braun

 

[gsv]

Lola Rennt or it you're being english about it Run Lola Run

GS(v)

 

[nadia]

Das Experiment is quite good too

 

[goldenecitrone]

Schtonk, about the forged Hitler diaries is pretty funny. And anything with Klaus Kinski in it or by Werner Herzog.

 

[Maltin]

Others that are meant to be good include:

The Blue Angel (1930) (Der Blaue Engel)
The 3 Penny Opera (1930) (Die 3groschenoper)
The Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933)
Olympia (1938)
The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972)

Unfortunately, I have not seen any of these to personally recommend them but I would like to watch them one day.

 

[treelover]

i would recommend the canon of films by Margarethe von Trotta, part of the german new wave which included hertzog, fassbinder, Schlöndorff. etc. Her ouvre spans the history of post war germany.

The German Sisters, 1981 (Badder Meinhof backgound)

Rosenstrasse (2003 ( women with jewish husbands resistance in berlin to the nazis)

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, 1975). The latter is a story about a young woman who has a casual affair with a man she's just met – a man she later discovers is a terrorist.

Rosa Luxemburg (1986)

The Promise (Das Versprechen, 1994)

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/von_trotta.html

other german films worth seeing

Germany pale mother

the tin drum(first 'art movie' i ever saw)

Europa Europa(1990) true story of sSolomon Perel,a young jew who inadvertently ends up in the SS!

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Couple of disturbing ones:

Christiane F (Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo)
Funny Games

 

[Reno]

i would recommend the canon of films by Margarethe von Trotta, part of the german new wave which included hertzog, fassbinder, Schlöndorff. etc. Her ouvre spans the history of post war germany.

The German Sisters, 1981 (Badder Meinhof backgound)

Rosenstrasse (2003 ( women with jewish husbands resistance in berlin to the nazis)

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, 1975). The latter is a story about a young woman who has a casual affair with a man she's just met – a man she later discovers is a terrorist.

Rosa Luxemburg (1986)

The Promise (Das Versprechen, 1994)

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/von_trotta.html

other german films worth seeing

Germany pale mother

the tin drum(first 'art movie' i ever saw)

Europa Europa(1990) true story of sSolomon Perel,a young jew who inadvertently ends up in the SS!

Europe, Europa is great and quite daring in that it is almost a sex comedy about evading the Holocaust.

I'm afraid I always found Margarete von Trotta a terrible director. Superficially worthy, her historical films are crassly manipulative, riddled with inaccuracies, deadly dull and only ever score easy points politically. The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum the first and only good film she was involved with was co-directed by her then partner, Volker Schloendorff.

 

[Leica]

...

 

[belboid]

Werner Herzog is the man. The best two (Aguirre - the greatest 'foreign' language movie ever - & Kasper Hauser) have been mentined but nearly all his German work is worth looking at (he went abit shit after a few years in the US) - especially Woyzeck & Fittcaraldo. My Best Fiend is well well worth looking out too.

Wim Wenders' The American Friend is well worth a look, quite odd. Kings of the Road is....long. But worth it. Alice in the Cities is also ace.

And lots of very early stuff like Mabuse, M & Nosferatu - and (unmentioned) The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, fuckng great stuff that is.

oh, and 'technically' I think Name of the Rose is actually German, but it still doesnt really count...

 

[isvicthere?]

Can anyone recommend any German language films?

I've got through 'Goodbye Lenin, Downfall and Miracle of Bern' and other than Sophie Scholl, I've come to an impass.

"The lost honour of Katharina Blum" ("Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum").

 

[Maltin]

And lots of very early stuff like Mabuse, M & Nosferatu - and (unmentioned) The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, fuckng great stuff that is.

The German version of Cabinet of Dr Caligari is silent, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned as a German language film, although Nosferatu was mentioned earlier despite being silent.

 

[belboid]

I noticed that (belatedly) with reference to Name of the Rose, but not that one!

 

[treelover]

don't hold back on your criticisms!

I'm afraid I always found Margarete von Trotta a terrible director. Superficially worthy, her historical films are crassly manipulative, riddled with inaccuracies, deadly dull and only ever score easy points politically.

 

[Reno]

don't hold back on your criticisms!

Don't you worry, I won't

Sorry for steamrolling over you recommendation.

 

[Imagine]

Münchhausen (If you find this on DVD please tell me where from)

If it's the 1943 version you're after:

http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/EKA40063.htm

 

[wiskey]

Lola Rennt or it you're being english about it Run Lola Run

GS(v)

my first thought too

 

[Ms Ordinary]

'Zuckerbaby' by Percy Adlon - lonely fat woman develops obsession with tube driver - actually has beenyears since I saw it so can't really remember whether it was that good.

'Head On' (Gegen die Wand) by Fatih Akin - not sure if its on dvd yet cos was only out last year, but lovely film (good music too)

 

[Leica]

I've just seen a very good and funny film, Halbe Treppe (Grill Point). It is about two married couples of friends dealing with an affair between them and got the Silver Bear in Berlin 2002.

 

[Khardran]

I would definitely recommend Stalingrad.

It was produced by the same team that did Das Boot and won awards in Germany and Russia.

It's also the only (relatively) big budget film i can think of dealing with the eastern front during world war two.

There's a trailer on the imdb link above.