The White Hell of Piz Palü opens with the male protagonist, Dr. Johannes Krafft, who mountain climbs with his wife on their honeymoon. At the sight of an avalanche, he laughs arrogantly. Nature seems to retaliate, and moments later Dr. Krafft’s wife slips, plummeting down a small, deep crevice. The encounter with forces of nature initiates Dr. Krafft’s grief-driven search effort to rescue his wife.Read More »
Germany
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Arnold Fanck & Georg Wilhelm Pabst – Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü AKA The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929)
1921-1930AdventureArnold FanckGeorg Wilhelm PabstGermanySilent -
Georg Wilhelm Pabst – Geheimnisse einer Seele AKA Secrets of a Soul (1926)
1921-1930Georg Wilhelm PabstGermanySilentThrillerWerner Krauss, who had played the deranged Dr. Caligari six years earlier, stars as a scientist who is tormented by an irrational fear of knives and the irresistible compulsion to murder his wife. Driven to the brink of madness by fantastic nightmares (designed by Ernö Metzner and photographed by Guido Seeber in a brilliant mix of expressionism and surrealism), he encounters a psychoanalyst who offers to treat the perplexing malady.Read More »
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Karl Heinz Martin – Von morgens bis mitternachts AKA From Morn to Midnight (1920)
1911-1920GermanyHorrorKarl Heinz MartinSilentWeimar Republic cinemaStill shocking even today, From Morn to Midnight remains one of the boldest examples of German expressionist cinema. Based on a play by one of the era’s most respected expressionist writers, Georg Kaiser, the story centres on a bank cashier (Ernst Deutsch) who steals money after becoming enraptured by an elegant customer (Erna Morena). Driven by lust, he begs the customer to come away with him, but she laughs in his face. Distraught at having to return home to his drab family life, the cashier goes on the run, determined to seek out the pleasure and passion he has been missing. But he is continually haunted by visions of death, and his relationship with the stolen money soon sours.Read More »
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Robert Wiene – Genuine [43 Minutes Version] (1920)
1911-1920GermanyHorrorRobert WieneSilentWeimar Republic cinemaGerman suspense/horror film, not about vampires in the modern sense. A ‘Vampire’ or ‘Vamp’ in 1920 was a purely sexual woman who lured men to their deaths. (Theda Bara was probably the most famous) This is an expressionist film, make on the heals of ‘Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ by the same director, cameraman and art directors. The title Genuine, is the name of the lead character, played by Fern Andra.Read More »
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Marc Rothemund – Das merkwürdige Verhalten geschlechtsreifer Großstädter zur Paarungszeit AKA Love Scenes from Planet Earth (1998)
1991-2000ComedyGermanyMarc RothemundRomanceGerman romantic comedy set in Munich, featuring Christoph Waltz in one of his early leading roles.Read More »
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Walter Krüttner – Es muß ein Stück vom Hitler sein aka It Must Be a Piece of Hitler (1963)
1961-1970DocumentaryGermanyShort FilmWalter KrüttnerPart of DVD release Die “Oberhausener” – Provokation der Wirklichkeit (Provoking Reality)
Edition Filmmuseum 69Read More » -
Herbert Achternbusch – Der Neger Erwin AKA The Negro Erwin (1981)
1981-1990ComedyGermanyHerbert AchternbuschA man is released from prison. He is planning to pick up his old craft, filmmaking. A reporter follows him to a tavern called Der Neger Erwin (The Negro Erwin).Read More »
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Helga Fanderl – Konstellationen AKA Constellations (2013)
2011-2020ExperimentalGermanyHelga FanderlQuote:
“By editing in the camera every subject matter finds a cinematic form and rhythm of its own. Transforming fragments of real life experience in a specific moment and place, every individual film is complete in itself and reflects the process of its creation. Programming my short films in new configurations is a very important part of my artistic practice, in accord with the way the films are created. As within each individual film, time is structured and rhythms are created within each composed series of films. One could characterize each program as one possible temporary ‘montage’, exemplifying essential aspects of the whole body of work. The interplay of different films evokes all kinds of correspondences and contrasts as it evokes an intense filmic cosmos in which one can easily loose the normal notion of time and space.” (Helga Fanderl)Read More » -
Dani Levy & Maria Schrader – Meschugge (1998)
1991-2000Dani LevyGermanyMaria SchraderThrillerQuote:
Lena Katz, who is German, and David Fish, who is American, are Jews who live in New York. When Lena’s mother, who arrives from Germany, meets her at a hotel, she finds an almost-dead woman lying on the hotel floor. She accompanies the injured woman to the hospital and meets David, who is the woman’s son. After David’s mother dies from the injuries, a question remains: was she murdered? The trail leads to Germany. Apparently, Lena’s mother has some kind of relationship with David’s mother that reaches back into the dark German history of the 1940s.Read More »