Woyzeck

1979 Director Werner Herzog

This film is based on the haunting stage play by Georg Buchner. Klaus Kinski delivers a wild and stunning performance in a role only he could play.  Werner Herzog helmed this cinematization of an anti-military tale of depersonalisation run amok. Utilising the more grotesque elements of German expressionism, combined with his own sense of the outrageous, Herzog plunges us directly into the middle of his story of a soldier who is conditioned to be an unthinking machine. His one vestige of humanity is his love for the beautiful wife, but even this is corrupted.

Franz Woyzeck is a hapless, hopeless soldier, alone and powerless in society, assaulted from all sides by forces he cannot control.  Abused both physically and psychologically by commanding officers, doctors and his unfaithful wife, Woyzeck struggles to hold on to his humanity and his fragile sanity.  In the film's shattering climax, he is finally driven over the brink into madness and murder.

Filmed in the stunningly atmospheric town of Telc, in the Czech republic, its 16th century architecture makes for a visual feast of a backdrop for this rather depressing tale. Kinski's manic energy carries the film and although the ending is at odds with the rest it is still a good example of Herzog at the peak of his career.

Hell

2011 Director Tim Fehlbaum

This is Tim Fehlbaum filming debut and is a  tightly crafted post-apocalyptic survival tale. The story of a quartet battling marauders while searching for water on a parched Earth of the near-future pays tribute to "Planet of the Apes," "The Hills have Eyes," and "Deliverance".

It's 2016, and the world is a wasteland following a massive spike in global warming. Those who survive are either resourceful or violent, and sometimes both. A motley crew come together in a sun-shielded car heading to the mountains in hopes of finding water.

Fehlbaum shot some scenes in a burned-out forest in Corsica and others in a Bavarian woodland devastated by infestation, and apart from turning the sky a blinding white, he needed very little effects to achieve the right look. Tension is always in the air and the anticipation will appeal to those primed for this sort of material. The actors give their roles the right amount of conviction. A slightly nervous camera maintains the appropriate sense of apprehension, together with rapid editing in climactic moments. Visuals are stripped of color, suitably ashen for a sun-bleached world.

The Edukators

2004 Director Hans Weingartner

This film is full of surprises not least the ending. It will keep you guessing as to the outcome all the way. This is one of a very few films where it is well worth waiting to the very end of the credits.

Three Berlin idealistic wannabe revolutionaries embark upon a series of burglaries where instead of theft they rearrange the victim's furniture and belongings and leave behind warnings to create unease. Things go badly awry when an owner returns unexpectedly.

Reminiscent of Goddard's La Chinoise, youthful idealism collides with the starker realities of revolution. The long conversations with their victim, when they discover that he was part of the 1960s revolutionary movement in Germany, is delightfully insightful of the change in perspective over time. I am sure this film will become a cult classic.

The American Friend

1977 Director Win Wenders

Wim Wenders' mines Dennis Hopper's real-life experience as a painter and collector in this existential take on the American gangster film based on a Patricia Highsmith novel featuring the notoriously sociopathic Tom Ripley.

Hopper stars as the eponymous American, currently a middleman selling the work of American painter who has feigned his own death to increase the value of his paintings. While auctioning this work in Berlin, he meets art restorer, Jonathan, who he learns is suffering from an incurable blood disease. When a shady friend requires Ripley to find a "clean" non-professional to do a contract hit in order to pay off a debt, even he is reluctant. But he quickly realizes that the physically vulnerable Jonathan would be perfect for the job, and tries to get him to accept by employing various subterfuges to persuade him that his condition is even worse than it is. For his part he guarantees the restorer that his family will be financially secure for life, and a deal is struck. As usual, nothing works out quite as expected.

This is a forgotten little gem. Dennis Hopper is really at his very best here. There is a touching reference to his earlier "Easy Rider" film but his persona is as different as can be. A dark gripping tale where the unpredictable ending does not disappoint. Although filmed in the 70's this film does not have all the tacky style that hallmarks that era. Filmed largely in an area of Hamburg harbour that no longer exists it is quite a trip down memory lane. Hard to find but well worth the hunt.

Metropolis

1927 Director Fritz Lang

This is the biggest budgeted movie ever produced at Germany's UFA. Fritz Lang's gargantuan Metropolis consumed resources that would have yielded upwards of 20 conventional features, more than half the studio's entire annual production budget. And if it didn't make a profit at the time, indeed, it nearly bankrupted the studio, the film added an indelible array of images and ideas to cinema, and has endured across the many decades since its release.

In the somewhat distant future the city of Metropolis, with its huge towers and vast wealth, is a playground to a ruling class living in luxury and decadence. They, and the city, are sustained by a much larger population of workers who labor as virtual slaves in the machine halls, moving from their miserable, tenement-like homes to their grim, back-breaking ten-hour shifts and back again. The hero is oblivious to the plight of the workers, or any aspect of their lives, until one day when a a beautiful subterranean dweller named Maria visits the Eternal Gardens, where he spends his time cavorting with various ladies, with a small group of children from the workers' city far below. They are sad, hungry, and wretched looking, and he is haunted by their needy eyes, something he has never seen or known among the elite of the city, and by this strange and beautiful woman who tells all who hear her, workers' children and ruler's offspring, that they are all brothers. And so she sets him onto a collision course with the rulers and controllers of this dark empire.

When it was premiered in Germany in January 1927, Metropolis ran 153 minutes. That complete version was heavily cut for release in America, removing a quarter of the movie. Only very recently has the entire uncut version been found and restored. Both Hitler and Goebbles were so impressed by the film that they invited Lang to join their publicity campaign. Lang packed his bags and left for America that day.

Cobra Verde

1987 Director Werner Herzog

In their final collaboration, Werner Herzog directs Klaus Kinski in the remarkable tale of Francisco Manoel da Silva, the flamboyant 19th century Brazilian bandit known as "Cobra Verde." Filmed on location with a cast of hundreds, Cobra Verde is a tale of adventure, greed and betrayal. It's the story of two worlds in collision, and of the man who was trapped between them.

When the owner of a sugar plantation unknowingly hires the barefoot, gun-toting thief to keep his slaves in check, he gets more than he bargained for as Cobra Verde, in short order, impregnates all of his boss's daughters. In revenge, he is sent on an impossible and deadly mission to sail to the west coast of Africa and re-open the slave trade. Not only does Cobra Verde succeed at this, he goes on to lead an unstoppable army of women in a savage war against the local king.

In this film Herzog has finally managed to reign in the mania that he unleashed in Kinski in the previous films. He shows a committed but compassionate man driven more by events than controlling them. This is a complex film, beautifully shot against the African backdrop with very unique and memorable locations.

Good Bye, Lenin!

2002 Director Wolfgang Becker

Set in Berlin where West confronts East, this is a coming-of-age adventure that blends the fall of Communism with the salient emotions of a family's love.

In 1989, Christiane Kerner has lost her husband and is completely devoted to the Socialist East German state.  A heart attack leaves her in a coma, and when she awakens eight months later, the Berlin Wall has fallen and it's a whole new world.  Knowing that the slightest shock could prove fatal upon his mother's awakening, her son strives to keep the fall of the GDR a secret for as long as possible. Keeping their apartment firmly rooted in the past, his scheme works for a while, but it's not long before his mother is feeling better and ready to get up and around again.

This is a charming feel-good film that touches gently on the subject of hard held beliefs in the context of a changed world. Well acted by Daniel Brühl who plays the son in a constant state of near panic

Fata Morgana

1971 Director Werner Herzog

The film's title, Fata Morgana, refers to mirages or optical illusions brought on by heat, and is an apt title for this storyless, hallucinatory work shot in the deserts of North Africa. It is a rhythmic, musical succession of images and short scenes.

One of the images is a pianist and drummer who play tiredly, surrounded by endless tracts of desert. This is an image that has been adapted and re-used in countless music videos and is a small piece of evidence suggesting that this is a very influential film. The narration, in English, comes from a Guatemalan creation myth, and the accompanying music ranges from Couperin to Cash, with significant contributions by Leonard Cohen.

Fata Morgana is one of Herzog's early features. His crew encountered many problems during the filming, most notably being imprisoned because cameraman Schmidt-Reitwein's name was similar to the name of a German mercenary who was hiding from the authorities and had recently been sentenced to death in absentia.

Herz aus Glas

1976 Director Werner Herzog

This is Herzog's treatise on the power and importance of art.

It is the story of an 18th-century Bavarian glassblower who by virtue of his delicate work casts a spell over his neighbours. He is the principle employer in the town and his wares are the stuff of legend. So when he dies without revealing the secret to the famous "Ruby Glass", the townsfolk will do literally anything to find the answer.

Herzog was known to put his actors through the wringer to get the results he wanted. In this film he decided that the best way to get his people to dance to the crack of his whip was to actually put them under hypnosis. The dazed, zombie-like performances certainly fit the subject matter.  The word usually used to describe Heart of Glass is "haunting". Some viewers have gone beyond haunted and into "possessed." Watch carefully and spot director Herzog in a bit as a glass carrier.

The Baader Meinhof Complex

2008 Director Uli Edel

This is Uli Edel's brave exploration of an often forgotten part of German history, the rise and fall of the Red Army Faction, a left-wing terrorist organization that became increasingly active in the 60's and 70's.

Also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, after its founders Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof, the Red Army Faction was formed by the radicalized children of the Nazi generation. Their aim is to create a more human society but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lost their own humanity. The man who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst Herold. And while he succeeds in his relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the iceberg

The film is adapted from author Stefan Aust's definitive account of this revolutionary group. The action is interspersed with media footage and is gritty and fast paced. Moritz Bleitreu plays Andreas superbly. Many of the original locations were used in this film including the court where their final destiny was to play out. If you want to feel the winds of change that swept through Europe in the late 1960's and 1970's then this is a must-see film.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

1997 Director Thomas Jahn

This is a road/buddy movie with a difference. Both parties are terminally ill. This film deals with the tragedy of their circumstances in a hilarious but sympathetic manner.

Martin, arrogant and impatient, suffering from a terminal brain tumour meets Rudi, mild mannered and introverted, suffering from leukaemia in a hospital. They decide to drown their sorrows and end up driving in a stolen car across Germany into Holland in order to see the sea once before they die. The car belongs to a bunch of bungling crooks and what follows is both funny and touching.

If you make allowances for some German slapstick this film is very enjoyable with a lot of genuinely funny moments. Moritz Bleibtreu plays a Turkish immigrant who’s grasp of German leaves a lot to be desired. Unfortunately these language gags don’t translate too well into subtitles, so an understanding of the language helps. This is a good example of German humour at its best. Watch out for the surprise cameo of Rutger Hauer in the only English speaking part.

Stroszek

1977 Director Werner Herzog

This is Herzog's most poignant film, and sadly, Bruno Schleinstein's last film. Written specially for Bruno because of Herzog's preference of Kinski in the lead role of Woyzeck, this is a wry vision of the "B" side of the American dream.

Bruno Schleinstein plays a dysfunctional street busker who, having just been released from prison, finds it difficult to pick up a life outside. Having been attacked and humiliated by his girlfriend's pimp they decide to throw in their lot and emigrate with their elderly neighbour to Wyoming, USA. The great American dream soon turns to disillusionment and despair.

This is a keenly observed study of the American way of life with all its anachronisms and has one of the most surreal endings of any film ever made.

Fitzcarraldo

1982 Director Werner Herzog

This film is made more remarkable by the fact that the deed was actually accomplished rather than staged. It was a herculean undertaking.

This is the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man and his obsession to build an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. The highlight of the story is Fizcarraldo's mind numbing effort to haul a 300 ton steamship over the mountains.

Never known to do anything by halves Herzog tackled Fitzcarraldo by boldly embarking on the same journey.  No trickery was used in filming this grueling sequence, and stories still persist of disgruntled South American film technicians awaiting the opportunity to strangle Herzog if he ever sets foot on their land again. In the end, Herzog proved to be as driven and single minded as his protagonist, and it is the audience's knowledge of this that adds to the excitement of Fitzcarraldo. His relationship with the his leading man, Kinski, became strained beyond breaking point and Kinski's savage outbursts so shocked the reserved and mild mannered natives that it is rumoured they offered to kill him for Herzog.

Carlos the Jackal

2009 Director Olivier Assayas

This is Assayas' biographical film of the ultra-left-wing Venezuelan terrorist, mercenary or revolutionary, depending on your point of view, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, popularly known as "Carlos the Jackal."

It is broken into 3 distinct periods covering 1974 to 1993. The first deals with his Arab connections and the build up to the OPEC event. The second deals with the OPEC event and its fall out. The third takes up the story from when he obtains Syrian protection until his abduction and arrest by the French.

At six hours long, there is enough time to give this complex subject enough depth. It encapsulates the emotion of those turbulent years very accurately. The interconnections that the Palestinian cause had were truly mind boggling. This is a rare insight into a historical era that is largely untaught in the west. Once seen it is the sort of film that you can dip in and out of forever.

Even Dwarfs Started Small

1970 Director Werner Herzog

To call this film the German version of Tod Browning's Freaks without the romantic element, would be to do it an injustice. This is without doubt Herzog's most bizarre film and makes for uncomfortable viewing.

I have heard it said that the film is set in a dismal mental institution, wherein dwell several midgets, dwarfs and other "oddities", but since there is a complete absence of any traditionally shaped humans including the Head of the asylum and a passing motorist, I am inclined to think that this is set in a world of misfits. The inmates stage a coup, taking over the asylum and utterly reversing the status quo. Their newly found freedom rapidly spirals into cruel anarchy.

There are several scenes of taboo content that one almost never sees and won't forget once seen. This is a very brave voyage for Herzog considering the substantial ban that Freaks had to endure.

M

1931 Director Fritz Lang

Based on the the true story of Peter Kurten, a child killer known then as the monster of Dusseldorf this film set Peter Lorre on his remarkable acting career. It's a classic early talkie set in 1931 Berlin.

The police are anxious to capture an elusive child murderer and begin rounding up every criminal in town. The underworld leaders decide to take the heat off their activities by catching the child killer themselves. Once the killer is fingered, he is marked with the letter "M" chalked on his back. He is tracked down and captured by the combined forces of the Berlin criminal community, who put him on trial for his life in a kangaroo court. The killer pleads for mercy, whining that he can't control his homicidal instincts. The police close in and rescue the killer from the underworld so that he can stand trial again.

Some prints of the film end with a caution to the audience to watch after their children more carefully. The film is dark and menacing as befits such a subject. It serves to remind us that sadly this is not a new phenomenon in our society. M remains one of the most chilling serial killer films ever produced.

Mein Führer - Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler

2007 Director Dani Levy

In the last months of 1944 with the war as good as lost, Hitler needs to beef up his rhetoric and saves a Jewish actor from a concentration camp to help him with his public speaking.

This is German humour at its very worst. Although the concept has merit its execution is both crass and tasteless. Slapstick may have worked for Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" but fails miserably in this film. If you want to waste an evening wondering why you watched this film then this is for you. Avoid at all costs.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

1974 Director Werner Herzog

Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828. This was Herzog's "breakthrough" film. Kaspar Hauser is played by Bruno Schleinstein an equally enigmatic figure of Herzog's finding.

Hauser shows up unannounced in the middle of a village square, intriguing the people with his bizarre behavior. He cannot talk, nor is there any indication of his parentage, thus Kaspar is immediately the object of close scrutiny by the authorities. When he finally does develop the power of speech, he reveals a highly advanced state of intelligence. His child like innocence and questioning mind cause consternation to the more conservative members of the community.

This is a charming film full of irony and subtle comic wit in a tragic setting.  Bruno plays the part with insightful sympathy that marks him as an outstanding actor. Unfortunately this genius came with a tragic amount of mental illness and this was only one of two films he took part in, the other being another Herzog production, Stroszek in 1977. Kaspar Hauser was the winner of the 1975 Grand Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

1972 Director Werner Herzog

Based on the real-life journals of a priest, Brother Gaspar de Carvajal, this film is the most famed collaboration between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski. Shot entirely on location in the Peruvian mountainous jungle it presents the viewer with stunning vistas of this most hostile environment.

Exhausted and near to admitting failure in its quest for riches, the 1650-51 expedition of Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro becomes bogged down in the impenetrable jungles of Peru. As a last-ditch effort to locate treasure, Pizarro orders a party to scout ahead for signs of El Dorado, the fabled seven cities of gold. In command are a trio of nobles. Traveling by river raft, the explorers are besieged by hostile natives, disease, starvation and treacherous waters. Crazed with greed and mad with power, Aguirre takes over the enterprise, slaughtering any that oppose him. Nature and Aguirre's own unquenchable thirst for glory ultimately render him insane, in charge of nothing but a raft of corpses and chattering monkeys.

Kinski delivers an inspirational performance as the power crazed Aguirre. This coupled with the breath taking scenery that he finds himself in makes this a powerful and evocative film.

Run Lola Run

1998 Director Tom Tykwer

Reminicent of Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Blind Chance", this is a film about the differences that minute amounts of time can have on the outcome of events. Moritz Bleibtreu and Franka Potente play a couple who's fate is inextricably entwined.

Manni is given an opportunity to prove his worth by a gangland boss by delivering the cash from a diamond deal. He leaves the money on a train and now has only 20 minutes to gather 10,000 marks. He calls his girlfriend Lola and tells her that he intends to hold up a supermarket. She pleads for him to wait for her.

Here start three roller coaster runs across town, each one dependent on the time that it takes her to get down the stairs of her apartment. Each scenario is punctuated by a conversation on mortality that Manni and Lola have in bed.

Many cinematic techniques are on display here including whip pans, jump cuts, slow and fast motion, split-screen, intercut color and black and white, segment titles, and animation and all are choreographed superbly to the thumping soundtrack. An exhilarating and very watchable film.