Moritz Bleibtreu

  • Oskar Roehler – Agnes und seine Brüder AKA Agnes and His Brothers (2004)

    2001-2010ComedyDramaGermanyOskar RoehlerQueer Cinema(s)

    Quote:
    Agnes and his brothers have little in common, except an eccentric old father, relationship problems that are totally screwing up their lives, and the distinct possibility those two things are connected. Hans-Jörg conceals his sexual frustration behind his meek librarian appearance. Sex addict meetings don’t seem to be stopping his incessant masturbation and awkwardness with women. But his life changes drastically when he finds outlets for his anger and lusty libido. Werner is much more successful at political combat than family diplomacy. He’s caught up in an upperclass suburban nightmare and bickering is the only heat left in his marriage.Read More »

  • Oskar Roehler – Jud Süss – Film ohne Gewissen AKA Jew Suss: Rise and Fall (2010)

    2001-2010DramaGermanyOskar RoehlerThriller

    Quote:
    Rise and fall of actor Ferdinand Marian, who takes the chance and stars in the anti-semitic movie Jud Süß.Read More »

  • István Szabó – Taking Sides (2001)

    2001-2010DramaFranceIstván SzabóPolitics

    Plot
    A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era. One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 30s, Furtwangler’s reputation rivaled that of Toscanini’s. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies’ de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order–and justice–to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing. Orchestra members vouch for Furtwangler’s morality–he did what he could to protect Jewish players from his orchestra. To the Germans, deeply respectful of their musical heritage, Furtwangler was a demigod; to Major Arnold, he is just a lying, weak-willed Nazi.Read More »

  • Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani – La Masseria Delle Allodole AKA The Lark Farm (2007)

    2001-2010DramaItalyPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiWar

    As adapted from the roman by Antonia Arslan and co-directed by legendary Italian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, The Lark Farm marks one of the few international features to tackle the Armenian genocide head-on. The story (with its thematic parallels, in the early scenes, to De Sica’s 1970 Garden of the Finzi-Continis) concerns the Avakian clan. An Armenian family living an affluent lifestyle and periodically shuttling back and forth between their two comfortable homes, the Avakians feel convinced that the rising tide of Turkish hostility on the horizon means little to them and will scarcely affect their day to day. Read More »

  • Tom Tykwer – Lola rennt AKA Run Lola Run (1999)

    1991-2000ActionBelgiumRomanceTom Tykwer

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    Pieces of the Action

    A low-budget no-brainer, Run Lola Run is a lot more fun than Speed, a big-budget no-brainer from five years ago. It’s just as fast moving, the music is better, and though the characters are almost as hackneyed and predictable, the conceptual side has a lot more punch. If Run Lola Run had opened as widely as Speed and it too had been allowed to function as everyday mall fodder, its release could have been read as an indication that Americans were finally catching up with people in other countries when it comes to the pursuit of mindless pleasures. Instead it’s opening at the Music Box as an art movie.

    Why try to sell an edgy youth thriller with nothing but kicks on its mind as an art movie? After all, it’s only a movie–a rationale that was trotted out for Speed more times than I care to remember. The dialogue of Run Lola Run is certainly simple and cursory, but it happens to be in subtitled German–which in business terms means that it has to be marketed as a film, not a movie. And of course nobody ever says “It’s only a film,” just as no one ever thinks of saying “It’s only a concert,” “It’s only a novel,” “It’s only a play,” or “It’s only a painting.” Because they’re omnipresent, movies almost oblige us to cut them down a peg or two just so we can breathe around them.Read More »

  • Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov – Luna Papa (1999)

    1991-2000Bakhtyar KhudojnazarovComedyDramaRussia

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    Synopsis

    “Mix some Monty Python with the violent black humour of Yugoslavian director Emir Kusturica, add a little South American magic realism, and you might have some idea of what goes on in the thoroughly strange and enjoyable Luna Papa, a movie set in the contemporary world of Central Asia. Within the context of its comic, fantastic narrative, about a pregnant teenager and her search for the father of her child whom she has never seen, there`s a darker impression of life revealed in this journey through the outlying former Soviet republic of Tajikistan where gangsterism, military brutality and violent surprises are a normal part of existence.” (Globe and Mail, February 2001)Read More »

  • Uli Edel – Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)

    2001-2010DramaGermanyPoliticsUli Edel

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    Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation lead by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and Gudrun Ensslin are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he’s only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. Written by Constantin FilmRead More »

  • Oskar Roehler – Elementarteilchen aka Elementary Particles (2006)

    Drama2001-2010GermanyOskar RoehlerRomance

    http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2913/elementarteilchenze0.jpg

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    Quote:
    If you are moved by the death of a parakeet at the beginning of The Elementary Particles (Elementarteilchen), you are in for a bumpy ride, as all of humanity as we know it will be wiped out by the film’s end in a brief written epilogue. Of course, those who have read the novel (Les particules élémentaires in its original French, Atomised in its UK version) saw this coming, but for those who are unfamiliar with Michel Houellebecq’s cult hit that explosively mixes sex, death and science to annihilate mankind – and blames the flower power generation for it in the process – this might come as something of a shock.Read More »

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