Best German Movies
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- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.M is Fritz Langs masterpiece. It was in fact so influential that it founded a whole new genre. Mood, sarcasm, the psychological driven characters are borrowed by Hollywoods film noirs.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsAdam BousdoukosMoritz BleibtreuPheline RogganIn Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.Adorable characters and a compelling plot make this a great movie you should watch. This movie has what most german movies lag, a good pace which never leaves you bored. Fatih Akin is a second gerneration immigrant from Turkey.
- StarsKlaus LöwitschBarbara ValentinMascha RabbenIn the future, Simulacron, a computer project simulating reality, encounters strange occurrences after its leader's death. Dr. Stiller questions the sudden disappearance of a friend and wonders if Simulacron holds the answers.Fassbinders TV movie is strongly inspired by french philosopher Baudrillard. The film deals with the extensive potential of simulation making it the ancestor to Matrix and the alike. It is long but worth it.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsYôko TaniOldrich LukesIgnacy MachowskiWhen an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.Kurt Maetzig is considered the most important director of former GDR. His utopian vision is warning what the Cold War might turn into. Beeing expensive as hell this is one of the most well produced Sci-Fi movies ever. There is an American version out there. Avoid it it's a travestie. Heavily censored it cuts the films best moments.
- DirectorVeit HelmerStarsDenis LavantChulpan KhamatovaPhilippe ClayIn a desolate and colorless landscape stands a dilapidated bathhouse run by a puffed-up blind man, his long-suffering wife, and their son Anton, who does all the work. He's lonely and unsophisticated, and he falls in love with the beautiful Eva, who comes to bathe with her father. When Eva and her father lose their home, they come to the bathhouse to stay, but bits of the ceiling fall on the old man and he dies. Eva blames Anton, and she seems to seek the arms of the brute Gregor. Can Anton win back her heart, get the bathhouse through a rigorous government inspection, and help keep his parents employed? Waiting out there somewhere is the paradise isle of Tuvalu.My personal favourite. Though a low budget film this one is just amazing. It has nothing to do with the pacific island state. Instead it is a dream of a desolate world which has but one spot of pleasure, a bath house.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.Krumbiegel tells the story of the last days of former Nazi Führer Hitler. It's a disturbingly intimate view in his mind and his end. The production value is outstanding for a continental film. It is the third most expensive German film ever made.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.Probably the most well known German movie. It's a classic. Considered Fritz Langs masterpiece this film was a big flop at the box office. There is a restored version discovered recently. Make sure to watch this one.
- DirectorTom ToelleStarsJörg PlevaSuzanne RoquetteDieter Thomas HeckA candidate in a game show is hunted by three men. He will get a Million DMark, if he survives for a week; the hunters will get the money, if they can kill the candidate. The audience of the show is watching the transmissions of twenty camera teams filming the hunt. The showmaster appeals to the TV-viewers to help either the candidate or the hunters, whomever they want.Another TV movie made it in this list by being far ahead of its time. German television being solely publicly organized was torn apart by having to be of high quality and matching popular taste. The movie reflects on that dilemma and argues for not giving in too much to popular taste. At the same time it is in itself a successful combination of both.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.This is another German movie with great production value. It also won an Oscar for best foreign language film. Wiesler, captain of the GDR intelligence, intrudes in the lives of East German intellectuals. Gradually he becomes absorbed in their lives and questions his course.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?Haneke who is Austrian but was born in Germany deals with pre war Germany. He shows how overcome tradition and pietistic cruelty had to lead to war.
- DirectorMichael BraunTheo MezgerStarsHeinz BeckGünter BeckerFriedrich G. BeckhausCliff Allister McLane, commander of the fast space cruiser 'Orion', is a celebrated war hero who is considered difficult in the eyes of his superiors. When the non-conformist daredevil once again disobeys an order, he and his crew are transferred to the space patrol for three years. Colonel Villa, head of the galactic security service, also assigns Tamara Jagellovsk to the rebellious commander: the uncompromising "watchdog" only has paragraphs and regulations in her head and is supposed to prevent McLane from exceeding his authority in future. When he tries to shoot down a faulty radio satellite on his first patrol flight without authorization, McLane learns for the first time how uncomfortable Tamara can become. Things become even more uncomfortable when the "Orion" is suddenly attacked by enemy spaceships without a galactic serial number (so-called 'Frogs'). McLane and his crew, consisting of Mario de Monti, Hasso Sigbjörnsen, Atan Shubashi and Helga Legrelle, only just manage to escape by "crashing back to Earth". But the next wave of alien attacks is already underway. A guided supernova flies towards Earth and threatens to destroy humanity. While the bureaucratic world government gets bogged down in wrangling over competences, McLane sets the "Orion" on a collision course and blows up the Death Star at the last minute. Humanity breathes a sigh of relief, but McLane now has the tiresome duty of signing documents in multiples until he is entrusted with a new spaceship: The next 'Mission Impossible' awaits the "Orion 8" ... "Raumpatrouille Orion" is literally one of the great moments in German television history. The excitingly narrated and - not least thanks to the famous flat iron in the instrument panel - originally designed "space opera" now enjoys cult status. For the feature film version, the highlights from seven one-hour original episodes were skilfully edited together and supplemented with five minutes of newly filmed material: Elke Heidenreich as a news officer and presenter of the "Sternenschau" show entertains with tongue-in-cheek breaking news from the Orion universe. The edited soundtrack naturally also contains the world-famous music by Peter Thomas, remixed in a contemporary style.This is a film montage of the famous german Sci-Fi series. The Series is one of the view trials in producing something alike in Germany and was a huge domestic and international success.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnnie GirardotBenoît MagimelA young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.The second film from Haneke on this list is the Piano Teacher. It is a film adaption of Jelineks feminist novel of the same name. It is a love story between a piano teacher and her student which is dominated by her masochistic role model.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.Another film adaption this time directed by Tom Tykwer. Grenouille born on Paris fish market lives in poor conditions. Having no smell but being able to smell exaggeratedly well he is despised by others. He sets out to create the perfect parfum which will fill this gap and thus render him beloved.
- DirectorSebastian SchipperStarsLaia CostaFrederick LauFranz RogowskiA young Spanish woman who has recently moved to Berlin finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals a dangerous secret.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsNuman AcarAdam BousdoukosDiane KrugerKatja's life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge.