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 ) (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
The Young Karl Marx (aka Der Junge Karl Marx) (2017)
6.6/10
Director: Raoul Peck
Starring: August Diehl, Vicky Krieps
The early years of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Jenny Marx, between Paris, Brussels and London. Read more
The Eagle Hunter's Son (2009)
Director: Rene Bo Hansen
Starring: Bazarbai Matei, Mardan Matei, Asilbek Badelkhan, Serikbai Khulan
Twelve-year-old nomad Bazarbai lives in the Altai mountains on the border between Mongolia and Kazakhstan. He is reluctant to follow the family line o... Read more
Radical Digital Cinema Volume 2: Summer Moon (2002) / Fools (2003)
Director: Hanno Hackfort, Tom Schreiber
Starring: Oliver Mommsen, Laura Tonke, Christoph Bach
Two more films from Wim Wenders' digital cinema project. 'Summer Moon' (AKA 'Juminond') features a young couple who, only though they've just met, wi... 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
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010)
7.7/10
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Werner Herzog
A documentary depicting the life and work of the trappers of Bakhtia, a village in the heart of the Siberian Taiga, where daily life has changed littl... Read more
Pharos of Chaos (Leuchtturm des Chaos) (Blu-ray) (1983)
7.2/10
Director: Wolf-Eckart Bühler
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Burkhard Driest, Hannes Wader, Hanns Zischler
Pharos of Chaos (a.k.a Leuchtturm des Chaos) is a 1983 documentary profile of the American actor Sterling Hayden (1916 – 1986). The film features d... Read more
Nowhere in Africa (2001)
7.6/10
Director: Caroline Link
Starring: Juliane Kohler, Merab Ninidze, Matthias Habich, Sidede Onyulo, Lea Kurka
Extraordinary true story of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. Abandoning their once comfortable existence... Read more
Atomised (2006)
6.6/10
Director: Oskar Roehler
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Franka Potente
Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, this movie focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different half-brothers and their disturbed sexua... Read more