Beste German Films (allisoncm's list)
by allisonalmodovar | created - 08 May 2014 | updated - 06 Jun 2014 | PublicBest German films of all time.
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1. Fear of Fear (1975 TV Movie)
91 min | Drama
Margot, who lives in a comfortable middle-class apartment, fears that she is losing her mind after having her second child. Her husband Kurt, who is busy studying for an exam, does not ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Margit Carstensen, Ulrich Faulhaber, Brigitte Mira, Irm Hermann
Votes: 1,997
Fear of Fear
2. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,386 | Gross: $0.03M
by Fritz Lang
3. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, Romance
A lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann
Votes: 23,844
4. The White Ribbon (2009)
R | 144 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Strange 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?
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Christian Friedel, Ernst Jacobi, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 77,613 | Gross: $2.22M
5. Barbara (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama
A doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital.
Director: Christian Petzold | Stars: Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock, Christina Hecke
Votes: 15,957
6. The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Not Rated | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
Directors: Lotte Reiniger, Carl Koch
Votes: 6,887
7. Run Lola Run (1998)
R | 80 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
After a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.
Director: Tom Tykwer | Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri
Votes: 206,936 | Gross: $7.27M
8. Hannah Arendt (2012)
Not Rated | 113 min | Biography, Drama
A look at the life of philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt, who reported for 'The New Yorker' on the trial of the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.
Director: Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Axel Milberg, Janet McTeer, Julia Jentsch
Votes: 12,019 | Gross: $0.71M
9. The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
R | 150 min | Action, Biography, Crime
A look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz
Votes: 40,111 | Gross: $0.48M
10. Beyond Silence (1996)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Music
Since the earliest days in her childhood Lara has had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice... See full summary »
Director: Caroline Link | Stars: Sylvie Testud, Tatjana Trieb, Howie Seago, Emmanuelle Laborit
Votes: 4,585 | Gross: $0.17M
11. I Don't Want to Be a Man (1918)
Not Rated | 45 min | Comedy, Romance
A teenaged tomboy, tired of being bossed around by her strict guardian, impersonates a man so she can have more fun, but discovers that being the opposite sex isn't as easy as she had hoped.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Ossi Oswalda, Curt Goetz, Ferry Sikla, Margarete Kupfer
Votes: 1,637
12. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 152,610 | Gross: $4.06M
13. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
Not Rated | 124 min | Drama, Romance
A troubled fashion designer starts a relationship with a much younger woman.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake, Eva Mattes
Votes: 11,033
14. Angst (I) (1983)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
Director: Gerald Kargl | Stars: Erwin Leder, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Silvia Ryder, Karin Springer
Votes: 13,450
15. Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama
With slicked-down hair and three-piece suits, dependable Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. He gets along with his colleagues although his boss wants him to go beyond technical cleanliness... See full summary »
Directors: Michael Fengler, Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Lilith Ungerer, Kurt Raab, Amadeus Fengler, Lilo Pempeit
Votes: 2,923
16. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975)
108 min | Drama
Frau Kusters is preparing dinner late one seemingly-ordinary afternoon in her seemingly-ordinary kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany. She wants to add canned sausages to the stew; her annoying ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Böhm
Votes: 2,198
17. The City Tramp (1966)
10 min | Short, Drama
A tramp finds a gun lying in the street.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Christoph Roser, Susanne Schimkus, Michael Fengler, Thomas Fengler
Votes: 850
18. The Little Chaos (1967)
9 min | Short, Comedy, Crime
Theo, Marite, and Franz cannot make any money selling magazines door to door, so they try a little robbery.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Christoph Roser, Marite Greiselis, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Greta Rehfeld
Votes: 1,106
19. Papageno (1935)
11 min | Animation, Short, Fantasy
Film shows the story of Papageno (the one from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute"), who wants a mate, yet has difficulties getting one.
Director: Lotte Reiniger
Votes: 476
20. Kreise (1933)
3 min | Animation, Short
Early abstract colour animation
Director: Oskar Fischinger
Votes: 207
21. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Not Rated | 122 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A criminal mastermind uses hypnosis to rule the rackets after death.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Thomy Bourdelle, Gustav Diessl
Votes: 13,587
22. Pandora's Box (1929)
Not Rated | 109 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz
Votes: 11,853 | Gross: $0.01M
23. The Tin Drum (1979)
R | 142 min | Drama, War
In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: David Bennent, Mario Adorf, Angela Winkler, Katharina Thalbach
Votes: 25,747
24. World on a Wire (1973)
Not Rated | 212 min | Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Somewhere in the future there is a computer project called Simulacron one of which is able to simulate a full featured reality, when suddenly project leader Henry Vollmer dies. His ... See full summary »
Stars: Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl Heinz Vosgerau
Votes: 6,775
25. Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Not Rated | 79 min | Drama
After falling pregnant by a pharmacist and refusing to marry, a young woman is ejected from her home and sent to a strict girls' reform school.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Louise Brooks, Josef Rovenský, Fritz Rasp, Edith Meinhard
Votes: 4,820
26. The Legend of Rita (2000)
103 min | Drama, History, Romance
The riveting true story of Rita Vogt, a 1970s West German terrorist who escapes to the East with the help of the Stasi. She lives in constant fear of having her cover blown, until it unavoidably happens after the German re-unification.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: Bibiana Beglau, Richard Kropf, Martin Wuttke, Nadja Uhl
Votes: 2,469 | Gross: $0.67M
27. Marianne & Juliane (1981)
106 min | Drama
Two sisters both fight for women's rights. Juliane is a journalist and Marianne a terrorist. When Marianne is jailed, Juliane feels obligated to help her despite their differing views on how to live.
Director: Margarethe von Trotta | Stars: Jutta Lampe, Barbara Sukowa, Rüdiger Vogler, Doris Schade
Votes: 2,621
28. Fox and His Friends (1975)
Not Rated | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A suggestible working-class innocent wins the lottery but lets himself be taken advantage of by his bourgeois new boyfriend and his circle of materialistic friends.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Chatel, Karlheinz Böhm, Adrian Hoven
Votes: 6,746
29. Mary (1931)
78 min | Mystery, Thriller
A juror in a murder trial, after voting to convict, has second thoughts and begins to investigate on his own before the execution.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Alfred Abel, Olga Tschechowa, Paul Graetz, Lotte Stein
Votes: 990
30. Jail Bait (II) (1972 TV Movie)
102 min | Drama
Jailbait (Wildwechsel, 1973), also known as Wild Game Crossing, is a bleak story of teenage angst, set in industrial northern Germany during the 1950s. Like in many other of his films, ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Eva Mattes, Ruth Drexel, Harry Baer, Jörg von Liebenfelß
Votes: 495
31. Asphalt (1929)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Joe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to ... See full summary »
Director: Joe May | Stars: Albert Steinrück, Else Heller, Gustav Fröhlich, Betty Amann
Votes: 1,687
32. Woman in the Moon (1929)
Not Rated | 95 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Willy Fritsch, Gerda Maurus, Klaus Pohl, Fritz Rasp
Votes: 3,857
33. The Inextinguishable Fire (1969)
25 min | War, Short
Short film which explores the origins of napalm, it's use in the Vietnam war, and it's evil effects on society.
Director: Harun Farocki | Stars: Gerd Volker Bussäus, Harun Farocki, Caroline Gremm, Hanspeter Krüger
Votes: 338
34. Oskar Langenfeld. 12 Mal (1966)
13 min | Documentary, Short
The movie confronts the viewer with 12 short scenes in the life of Oskar Langenfeld, a poor rag-picker.
Director: Holger Meins | Star: Oskar Langenfeld
Votes: 100
35. Alice in the Cities (1974)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
A German journalist is saddled with a nine-year-old girl after encountering her mother at a New York airport.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Yella Rottländer, Rüdiger Vogler, Lisa Kreuzer, Edda Köchl
Votes: 13,225
36. The Seventh Continent (1989)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A European family who plan on escaping to Australia seem caught up in their daily routine, only troubled by minor incidents. However, behind their apparent calm and repetitive existence, they are actually planning something sinister.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Birgit Doll, Dieter Berner, Leni Tanzer, Udo Samel
Votes: 16,973
37. Chinese Roulette (1976)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, Thriller
Both parents of a young teen who walks with crutches secretly meet their lovers, who both surprise each other at the family's country home. The daughter arrives and initiates a guessing game of "Chinese roulette."
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Anna Karina, Margit Carstensen, Brigitte Mira, Ulli Lommel
Votes: 4,720
38. Germany Year Zero (1948)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama
A young German boy faces the problems of the tough life in the immediate post-WWII Berlin.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Krüger
Votes: 13,706
39. The Oyster Princess (1919)
Not Rated | 60 min | Comedy
An American heiress seeks the hand of an impoverished German prince.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Victor Janson, Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke, Julius Falkenstein
Votes: 2,162
40. Ghosts Before Breakfast (1928)
6 min | Short
Hans Richter, noted for his abstract shorts, has everyday objects rebelling against their daily routine.
Director: Hans Richter | Stars: Werner Graeff, Walter Gronostay, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud
Votes: 1,977
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