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German Cinema

The devastation of World War One left Germany's budding film industry, like much of Europe, in tatters. But necessity being the mother of invention, German Expressionism was born. Relying heavily on symbolism and shadow rather than elaborate and costly sets, films like 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' are still studied by film students the world over. By the mid-1920s, the industry was getting back on its feet and great directors like Fritz Lang and FW Murnau were making their early masterpieces. However the onset of Nazism and the impending war led many of Germany's artists, including filmmakers, to flee to the U.S. Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Douglas Sirk, Karl Freund and many more all continued their careers in America while the German film industry virtually disappeared. It was not unitl the '60s and '70s that new talents emerged. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Viktor Schlondorff and Wim Wenders revitalised German cinema and today international hits such as 'Run Lola Run' and 'Goodbye Lenin!' assure us it is here to stay. Right: 'Run Lola Run'

Das Boot ( aka The Boat ) ( Blu-ray ) (1981)

8.4/10
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Herbert Gronemeyer, Jurgen Prochnow, Klaus Wennemann

A.k.a. 'The Boat.' Totally restored and with over an hour of never-before-seen footage, Das Boot: The Director's Cut is Wolfgang Petersen's acclaimed... Read more

Das Boot ( aka The Boat ) ( Mini-series) (1981)

7.6/10
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Jurgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer, Klaus Wennemann

A.k.a. 'The Boat. Totally restored 'Das Boot: 6-part mini series presented as one complete feature lenegth uncut version. Wolfgang Petersen's acclaim... Read more

Die Nibelungen ( Siegfried / Kriemhild's Revenge ) (1924)

6.6/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Hanna Ralph, Margarete Schon, Paul Richter, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

One of the greatest artistic and technical achievements of the German silent cinema, Fritz Lang's monumental saga is a passionate retelling of Nordic... Read more

Downfall (2005)

8.2/10
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Thomas Kretschmann, Ulrich Matthers, Heino Ferch, Ulrich Noethen, Ju...

Bruno Ganz is rivetting as the mad dictator during his final days in the Berlin Bunker. But director Hirschbiegel understands that evil does not exis... Read more

Downfall (Blu-ray) (2005)

8.2/10
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Thomas Kretschmann, Ulrich Matthers, Heino Ferch, Ulrich Noethen, Ju...

Bruno Ganz is rivetting as the mad dictator during his final days in the Berlin Bunker. But director Hirschbiegel understands that evil does not exis... Read more

Eden (2006)

7.2/10
Director: Michael Hofmann
Starring: Josef Ostendorf, Charlotte Roche, Devid Striesow, Max Rudlinger

A curious and piognant romantic drama that sensitively unfurls the relationship between Eden, a married but lonely waitress, and her hulking and socia... Read more

El Bulli: Cooking in Progress (2010)

6.4/10
Director: Gereon Wetzel

For six months of the year, renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adrià closes his restaurant El Bulli and works with his culinary team to prepare the menu for... Read more

Europa Europa (1990)

7.6/10
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Julie Delpy, Marco Hofschneider

A riveting and moving fact-based WWII Holocaust drama about a German-Jewish teenage boy who flees the Nazis and conceals his identity - only to find h... Read more

Even Dwarfs Started Small (1969)

7.1/10
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Helmut Doring, Gerd Gickel, Paul Glauer

Strange, disturbing and truly unsettling parable about dwarfs and midgets confined to a barren correctional institution who literally take over the as... Read more

Faraway, So Close! (1993)

7.3/10
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: Otto Sander, Peter Falk, Horst Buchholz, Nastassja Kinski, Bruno Ganz, Willem Da...

The angelic protagonists of 'Wings of Desire' return: Bruno Ganz, the fallen angel now owns a pizza parlour, his erstwhile partner Otto Sander becomes... Read more