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
The Promise (1995)
6.1/10
Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Starring: Corinna Harfouch, Meret Becker, Anian Zollner
A pointed account of star-crossed German lovers, covering a 30 year timespan, beginning with their separation while trying to escape from East to West... Read more
The High Crusade (1994)
5.1/10
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: John Rhys-Davies, Rick Overton
Roland Emmerich (Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla) brings you John Rhys-Davies in a Monty Pythonesque tale of a band of Crusaders who find the... Read more
71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994)
7.3/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Udo Samel, Anne Bennent, Branko Samarovski, Otto Grunmandl, Gabriel Cosmin Urdes
Inspired by a shocking true life shooting spree in Vienna in 1993, Michael Haneke's challenging film weaves together fragments of the story in an atte... 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
Benny's Video (1992)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Angela Winkler, Ulrich Muhe, Arno Frisch, Ingrid Stassner
Benny is a disaffected teen whose life has begun to revolve around the violent films he watches, but his obsession soon crosses the line between voyeu... Read more
Leben fur Leben ( Life for Life ) (1991)
Director: Krzysztof Zanussi
In 1941, a young Silesian, Jan, manages to escape from Auschwitz. In retaliation, the camp commandant condemns 10 prisoners to the 'starvation bunker... Read more
The Nasty Girl (1990)
7.4/10
Director: Michael Verhoeven
Starring: Lena Stolze, Monica Baumgartner, Michael Gahr
Lena Stolze stars as Sonja, a young Bavarian woman whose submission to an essay contest explores her hometown's affiliation with the Third Reich. As s... Read more
The Sissi Collection (1990)
Director: Ernst Marischka
Starring: Romy Schneider
The beautiful Romy Schneider stars in three captivating films (plus a prequel) based on the tumultuous life of the beloved Austrian Empress, Sissi. Th... 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