German films

How'd that one go again?

 

I have a confession to make -- I can't get my act together on German movies. After I finish a post, another one bubbles to the top of my decrepit memory. So you have been warned . . . multiple posts from me is par for the course on this thread.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
This a a brilliant, bone-chilling movie based on a true story of an anti-Nazi activist during World War 2. The Gestapo interrogation scenes are brilliantly written and skillfully illustrate how they cross examine and entrap their subjects. The courage of this woman was extraordinary. There was no sympathy for anti-Nazi activists in Germany at the time.

Watch the trailer at at this IMDB link: Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) - IMDb
I just rewatched it before I finished this post. This movie was based upon unpublished original interrogations during the actual events.

The bravery of this woman -- to stand up against a fascist regime. It emotionally moves me . . .

 

For years I was obsessed with Nazi era entertainment films, and it seems I'm not the only one. Many of them are on YouTube, and available as DVD-Rs. In Germany today, DIE FEUERZANGENBOWLE(1943-44) QUAX DER BRUCHPILOT(1941), and MUNCHHAUSEN(1943)are still considered classics(but a lot of people from Germany I've spoken to didn't even know these films were made during the War, let alone the Nazi period).

 

Downfall

A brilliant movie about the last days in Hitler's bunker. A must see, whether your into German films or not.

 

The acting is excellent, especially Bruno Ganz who is outstanding as Hitler.
The film has a claustrophobic feel to it similar to Das Boot.

 

Films on my must see list:

The Experiment (2001) Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Nosferatu (1922) Dir. D.W Murnau
Wings Of Desire (1987) Dir. Wim Wenders

 

Eight Miles High, Uschi Obermaier biopic

 

Paris, Texas trailer

Everyone will get something different out of the film.
It is a film that will make you think. To look within yourself.

 

Faust (Murnau)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Weine)
The Last Laugh (Murnau)
Metropolis (FriLang)
Dr.Mabuse, The Gambler (Fritz Lang)
M (Fritz Lang)
Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang)
Pandora's Box (Pabst)
Waxworks (Leni)
Asphsult (Joe may)

Jus films off the top of my head...



Cat

 

An absolute masterpiece. I love Wenders' earlier films, particularly Im Lauf der Zeit (Kings of the Road), but I readily admit that they generally don't have the broad-based appeal of his later films like Wings of Desire or Paris, Texas.

 

There are only two German films I've ever wanted to see & own. I
already have Metropolis (1927) & after the holidays my plans are to
add Titanic (1943). Old movies are awesome & more people should
watch them!

 

That’s a shame.

I don’t consider myself to be an expert on German cinema, yet, over the years, I’ve still managed to acquire most of the films mentioned in this thread. There are so many great films to discover; certainly more than two.

There are two main periods that deserve your attention: the Weimar period, when the expressionist movement led the world in aesthetic development; and the period of the New German Cinema, when the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, and Volker Schlöndorff made their mark.

There’s a very informative documentary called From Caligari to Hitler that covers German cinema between the two world wars. It is available on BD from Eureka in the U.K., and comes highly recommended as a starting point for anyone interested in this period:

Hitler's Hollywood Blu-ray

Yep. See more of them!

 

Run Lola Run

 

I'll have to throw in some movies from my native austria as well:

Revanche (Götz Spielmann, 2008)
Caché (Michael Haneke, 2004)
Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997)
The Counterfeiters (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007)
Im Keller (Ulrich Seidl, 2014)
Silentium (Wolfgang Murnberger, 2004)
In 3 Tagen bist du tot (Andreas Prochaska, 2006)
Das Fest des Huhnes (Walter Wippersberg, 1992)

 

Difficult for me - Wings of Desire never did much for me, to be honest. I'm ready to admit that, at 16, I probably was too young for that kind of film. I've seen many things during the last two years, maybe I should re-evaluate Wings of Desire.

Of the Wenders films I've seen, "Paris, Texas" made the biggest impression on me, as I've already stated.

 

Oh, I definitely plan to see more now. "The two movies I ever wanted to see" was during my childhood. As I've gotten older, I've acquired a taste & hunger for old movies & really love them. I actually consider myself very lucky because of the catalog of classics available to me.

 

Wow that trailer alone floored me. I can't imagine with that takent it being a bad film. I think I will blind buy it and report back eventually.

 

Schultze Gets the Blues (2003)

 

Can't argue wuith that selection.
M
Aguirre, Wrath of God
Nosferatu (both versions)
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Last Laugh
Mephisto
Fitzcarraldo
Run, Lola, Run
The Lives of Others
The Counterfeiters
If we count Paris, Texas, can we count Sunrise?
The Edukators
Good Bye Lenin
The American Friend
Barbara
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
Stroszeck
Wings of Desire
Bagdad Cafe

 

@smilin ed

M (1931) Dir. Fritz Lang and Stroszek (1977) Dir. Werner Herzog are great films.

 

An impressive movie indeed. And Julia Jentsch is one of the greats of her generation of actors.

 

Talking about Julia Jentsch...

 

People just don't want to think about it. "Die Feuerzangenbowle" for example is still extremely popular in Germany. It's on TV at least once a year (usually around some holiday) and no one wants to think about it as a film being made during the Nazi era.

 

M
The Blue Angel
The Reader
The Lives Of Others
The Last Laugh
Nosferatu
Metropolis
Das Boot

Many films in this thread I have not seen.