Germany

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Zwei ungewöhnliche Frauen der Pariser Kulturszene lassen sich vom kanadischen Filmemacher Bruce LaBruce durch die nächtliche französische Metropole begleiten. Wenn es in Frankreich um aufsehenerregende Frauen in Literatur und Film geht, dann fallen schnell die Namen Béatrice Dalle – exzentrische Schauspielerin und Femme fatale des französischen Kinos (“Betty Blue – 37,2 Grad am Morgen”, “Trouble Every Day”) und Virginie Despentes – Star der feministischen Literatur in Frankreich und Regisseurin der Verfilmungen ihrer eigenen Bücher (“Baise-moi/Fick mich!” und “Bye Bye Blondie”). Die beiden Ausnahmekünstlerinnen streifen durch das winterliche Paris und führen sich gegenseitig an die Orte ihrer Inspiration. Nach einem Besuch in dem ehrwürdigen Gotteshaus Eglise Sainte Rita, das sich den “verlorenen Seelen” verschrieben hat, steht eine Musik-Performance mit bizarren Tiermasken in der Galerie Paul Toupet auf dem Programm. Bei der Visite eines DVD-Geschäfts mit echten Raritäten fachsimpeln die beiden Frauen über die besten Filme aller Zeiten und lästern über einige Kollegen.

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Somewhere in Southern Bavaria Xaver wants to marry Gretel, but her father Kohlhiesel wants his elder daughter Liesel to marry first. The problem is, nobody wants to marry her, because she’s too brutal. Seppel suggests, that he should marry Liesel first, get rid of her and then he can marry Gretel…Read More »

In Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, 108 meter fragments of Der Golem (1914) are preserved. (Original length is 1250 meter.) Among those fragments, 97 meter parts are restored in this DVD. Act 1 scene 39, and somewhere of Act 4 which includes intertitle #32 and #33, with newly created opening title.Read More »

“I was interested in whether it was possible to tell the inner life of a relationship, the things you can’t express to a third person. When Gitti and Chris come home after the holiday, and someone asks her, “How was it?” she probably wouldn’t be able to tell what happened.” Maren Ade.

Everyone Else is a subtle dissection of the truths and cracks of a relationship – a relationship that, like any other, embodies love as well as power, respect as well as moments of dissolution. Spending the first days of their vacation in Chris’ family home in Sardinia, Chris and Gitti are the ideal couple. They play, make love, talk and make love some more.Read More »

Clarke Fountain, allmovie.com wrote:
Rather than being just another exploitation documentary, designed to re-use footage from unprofitable porn films, this feature explores the social circumstances which gave rise to the legend of the “snuff” film, and the conditions present (in 1976) in the porn film industry in general. Sex performers and all the others involved in making such films are interviewed about their work and why they do it. The filmmaker, himself well-known for making “soft”-porn films, was so incensed by the snuff-film trend that he made this exposé of the hard-core pornography industry. The Evolution of Snuff includes a forward by Roman Polanski, who was experiencing legal difficulties in the U.S. at the time.Read More »

Second feature film by German-Turkish director Thomas Arslan (Ferien, Aus der Ferne), and a rough diamond of the first generation of the so-called ‘Berlin School’. Can is a young and smart upstart; he dreams of a small family but the money that fuels this dream comes from the streets. Can is a dealer, he works for Hakan who is supplying the kids in his neighbourhood with drugs. And while Can struggles to get control over his life he sees his girl friend, the mother of his kid, leaving and himself increasingly surrounded by false friends. On top of it, a cop (Birol Ünel, the male lead from Fatih Akin’s “Gegen die Wand) is on his back trying to persuade Can to work undercover for the police. The more Can attempts to free himself, the deeper he sinks into a life he never aspired to.Read More »

At an Austrian boys’ boarding school in the early 1900s, shy, intelligent Törless observes the sadistic behavior of his fellow students, doing nothing to help a victimized classmate—until the torture goes too far. Adapted from Robert Musil’s acclaimed novel, Young Törless launched the New German Cinema movement and garnered the 1966 Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Prize for first-time director Volker Schlöndorff.

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Considered a classic film as it was the first film to put the then New German Film firmly on the (international) map. Also a classic because it was Schlöndorf’s first feature and it is still thought highly of. To be sure, this is a beautiful film to watch with its superb black-and-white cinematography; Schlondörf’s direction makes it into a well paced and staged, stylish film. But I never liked the film; recent re-viewing confirmed my feelings.Read More »

“Trojan is released from jail and goes straight back to his profession as a criminal. He gets hold of a weapon and looks out for new jobs. In just a few takes, Thomas Arslan sets up the anonymous world of his gangster protagonist by falling back on motifs and characters from the genre. The backroom of a car workshop, parking lots, furnished apartments. One meets men and women who distrust each other because they are all out to line their own pockets. The setting changes constantly, with surveillance and chase scenes providing a dynamic narrative rhythm. Since crime makes up Trojan’s daily existence, the film concentrates entirely on the technical nature of a life outside the law. The reduced and clear-cut images – shot with a Red camera 
– highlight the exact sequence of events. In the Shadows (Im Schatten) is a genre film that focuses consistently on the mechanics and external process of a crime. It develops a sense of great suspense, without burdening its figures with personal stories. Each hand movement has to be right.”
(From the Berlinale Forum catalogue – by Anke Leweke)Read More »

Imdb:
Extraordinary Soap Opera
12 August 2009 | by GManfred (Ramsey, NJ)

I am not a fan of Soaps. Too often they are predictable and boring and descend into bathos -‘Womens’ Pictures’. But this picture was so spectacular in all respects that I was taken aback by its sheer accomplishment. Critic Kenneth Tynan said that one must ‘suspend one’s disbelief’ to take part in the movie experience. If that is the case, this picture became real; it was not a play on the screen performed by mere actors.

The story is familiar but the production is not. Direction is skillful and the photography is perfect. The picture moves quickly and the acting is superb. Francis Lederer was good, Brigitte Helm was even better, and Warwick Ward, who plays Col. Beranoff, spit and polish and bent on revenge, was outstanding. He was the glue that held the cast together and was a riveting presence whenever he was on screen.Read More »