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'
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
Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") directs this stylish and surreal tale of a withdrawn psychiatric nurse (Franka Potente) whose life becomes inextricably en... Read more
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
Baron Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighofer) is the most feared and celebrated pilot of the German air force during World War I, eventually ra... Read more
Baron Manfred von Richthofen (Matthias Schweighofer) is the most feared and celebrated pilot of the German air force during World War I, eventually ra... Read more
Set in Berlin in 1923, the film is about a Jewish-American trapeze artist (David Carradine) and his sister-in-law (Liv Ullman), who are entrapped by a... Read more
A provocative and chilling depiction of a family who have lost contact with one another. Anna and Georg live with their daughter Eva, and while every... Read more
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
In this sequel to "Dr Mabuse, The Gambler", Dr Mabuse has been in prison for ten years, plotting his master crimes of chaos and destruction, while hi... Read more
The fantastic and moving tale about the Nazi regime as seen through the eyes of a 'man-boy'. David Bennett, is the child who 'refuses to grow,' in ord... Read more