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'
The Transformation of the World into Music (1996)
7.1/10
Director: Werner Herzog
This elegant and adroitly executed Werner Herzog documentary captures the annual excitement surrounding the Bayreuth Festival. Celebrating the operati... Read more
Soul Kitchen (2009)
7.3/10
Director: Fatih Akin
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Adam Bousdoukos, Birol Unel
Hoping to revamp his shabby Hamburg diner, owner Zinos Kazantsakis (Adam Bousdoukos) hires a gourmet chef, only to drive away his regular patrons. To... Read more
Querelle (1982)
6.9/10
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Starring: Brad Davis, Franco Nero, Jeanne Moreau
The final film by Fassbinder was this searing adaptation of the controversial Jean Genet novel starring Brad Davis as a ruggedly handsome, narcissisti... Read more
The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant (1973)
7.8/10
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Starring: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Irm Hermann
A lurid and stylized account of the mangled web of domination, sado-masochism and jealousy among three lesbians. One of Fassbinder's most controversia... Read more
Return to Montauk (2017)
5.8/10
Director: Volker Schlondorff
Starring: Niels Arestrup, Stellan Skarsgard, Nina Hoss
It is winter in Montauk, at the far end of Long Island. There are two deck chairs on the windswept beach. The chairs are waiting for two people who ha... Read more
Shadows of Time (2004)
7.7/10
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Starring: Prashant Narayanan, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Irfan Khan, Tilotama Shome
German filmmaker Florian Gallenberger makes her feature debut with this epic Indian love story spanning 60 years. In the early 1940s Riva and Masha a... Read more
Transit (2018)
7/10
Director: Christian Petzold
Starring: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer
In an attempt to flee Nazi-occupied France, Georg assumes the identity of a dead author but soon finds himself stuck in Marseilles, where he falls in... Read more
Vincent Wants to Sea (2010)
7.1/10
Director: Ralf Huettner
Starring: Heino Ferch, Florian David Fitz, Karoline Herfurth, Katharina Muller-Elmau, Joha...
An Italian boy with Tourette's syndrome flees the clinic where he was sent by his father in order to fulfill his mother's dying wish in this tender co... Read more
Three (2010)
4.6/10
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Devid Striesow, Sebastian Schipper, Sophie Rois
Writer/director Tom Twyker's ("Run Lola Run") bold indie drama follows a Berlin couple preparing to celebrate their 20th anniversary, eager to mark th... Read more
Yella (2007)
6.7/10
Director: Christian Petzold
Starring: Nina Hoss, David Striesow
Narrowly escaping her volatile ex-husband, Yella flees her small hometown in former East Germany for a new life in the West. She finds a promising job... Read more