Herz aus Glas
This 1976 Werner Herzog film is centered in a small village (and as such, some dialect and heavier accents are used), where the secret of the ruby glass dies with the maker. While many of…
Der Himmel über Berlin
Known in the U.S. by the name Wings of Desire, this 1987 film follows an angel watching over Berlin and its citizens and visitors. It is in both German and English, as Peter Falk plays…
Woyzeck
This 1979 Werner Herzog film starring Klaus Kinski is just one of the film versions of the Georg Büchner play, first performed in 1913. More on Klaus Kinski can be found in the post on…
Vortex
This short (45 minute) sci-fi film was released in 2001. It focuses on a futuristic criminal system, where criminals are sent to the Vortex. As such, there is violence from the beginning of the film…
Die Drei ??? Das verfluchte Schloß
Die Drei ??? (Fragezeichnen) is a long-standing program. It exists in audiobook form, young readers novels, of course in movies, and even in video games and has been in Germany since 1968. It was originally…
Türkisch für Anfänger
Using the same cast and characters as the show of the same name, this 2012 film is not a continuation of the story, but rather a reinventing of it. It begins as sort of a…
Falco: verdammt, wir leben noch
This 2008 film is based on the life of Austrian Falco (AKA Johann Hölzel). The film begins in English, in the Dominican Republic, where Falco lost his life. We then see little Hansi as a…
Der fast perfekte Mann
This 2013 comedy features Benno Fürmann as a man who sees his life as perfect and doesn’t like the idea of change. Of course that means his life is about to change drastically and he…
Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe
This 2005 film features Moritz Bleibtreu as our main character, Mimi Nachtigal. Mimi’s love interest is Venus Morgenstern. The names alone show us a little romantic comedy influence, though the romance quickly dies off into…
Ein Freund von mir
This 2006 film features Daniel Brühl and Jürgen Vogel, two actors we’ve heard a lot about already. We start with a melancholy mood during a large celebration, which gives us an idea of the type…
Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei
This 2004 film is known in America by it’s English title, The Edukators. Young activists come together and perform interesting crimes against rich businessmen… Daniel Brühl, Julie Jentsch, and Stipe Erceg play our main characters.…
Lautlos
This 2004 film is a thriller. It’s about an assassin, played by Joachim Król. We see his life and the investigation of his work. Joachim Król is not only a busy actor, but also a…
One Way
Although this 2006 film was produced in Germany, it was originally in English and French. Til Schweiger is not only the main character, he is also the producer. We know him from many films, both…
Berlin 36
This 2009 film is marketed as a true story of the Olympics, 1936. Gretel Bergmann was the best high jumper of her time, but as a Jew, she did not want to return to Germany…
Buddenbrooks
This 2008 film is an adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel by the same name. Wikipedia actually has a good article on this book, even in the English article. It’s a story not unlike Pride and…
Kammerflimmern
Released in 2004, this film with Matthias Schweighöfer and Jessica Schwarz is marketed as a drama-romance. Another interesting cast member to take note of is Florian Lukas, who plays Richie. He was also in Good…
Der Steppenwolf
This film adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf was released in 1974. It was originally done in English. Before the movie begins, there is a note stating that this version includes scenes not available in the…
Keinohrhasen / Zweiohrküken
Keinohrhasen (2007) and Zweiohrküken (2009) are one continuous story, so I’ll include them both here. Both are co-written by, directed by, and star Til Schweiger. Zweiohrküken makes more sense if you have seen Keinohrhasen –…
Echte Kerle
This 1996 film follows a macho cop who is having problems with his fiancé and ends up living with a gay man named Edgar. He is questioning his sexuality. Random situations and conversations take place…
Die Weiße Rose
This 1982 film is the same story as the more modern Sophie Scholl – the story of the student resistance group, the White Rose, and specifically Sophie Scholl. This film, while based on the true…
Die abhandene Welt
This 2015 film with Katja Riemann is one of Margarethe von Trotta’s masterpieces, combining the past with the hearts of today. Tom Beck plays the small role of Sophie’s (Katja Riemann) significant other. The role…
Die Apothekerin
This 1997 film with German-film-fan favorites Katja Riemann and Jürgen Vogel follows a 30 year old woman looking for love, but has – shall we say “interesting” – tastes for a successful woman. This film…
Irre sind männlich
This 2014 film features Fahri Yardim (whom we know from Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland) as Daniel – a young man with relationship troubles, a mother who is a famous therapist, and a best friend…
Oh Boy!
This 2012 film is a tragi-comedy about a university drop-out who is searching for his way in life. Tom Schilling plays the main character, Niko. He has several interesting roles in other films, but this…
Mein bester Feind
This 2011 film is a dark comedy war film, starring Moritz Bleibtreu and Georg Friedrich. It wasn’t released in the US until 2013. In this film, a Jewish man switches places with his Nazi best…
Such mich nicht
This 2004 film is a thriller about a woman (Anna) who is an assassin who would like to retire. She must complete one last hit before her boss will allow her to leave. Stipe Erceg,…
Gegen die Wand
Gegen die Wand, released in 2004, is a film that deals with cultural expectations, addictions, and other (bad) coping devices. In other words, right away one I wouldn’t recommend for the classroom, though it might…
Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
This film version of the Heinrich Böll novel, published only a year before the film was released. It is also the directorial debut of Margarethe von Trotta, who later went on to direct Rosenstraße. In…
(T)Raumschiff Surprise
Released in 2004, this Star Trek/Star Wars/ all things Sci-fi spoof is enjoyable for most Sci-fi nerds like myself. The idea for this film started as skits in the comedy show “Bullyparade” in much the…
Jetzt oder nie – Zeit ist Geld
Jetzt oder nie: Zeit ist Geld, otherwise known to my students as “old ladies robbing banks,” is a drama-comedy released in 2000. There are serious dramatic points – the senior citizens needing money to accomplish…
Die göttliche Ordnung
This 2017 film deals with the issue of women’s rights, 1971 in a village in Switzerland. We see some comparison throughout the world and in larger cities versus this small town and what it means…
Honig im Kopf
Haven’t gotten enough Til Schweiger posts yet? Good, because here’s another. And this one also features his daughter, Emma, and son Valentin (credited here as Florian) plays a bit part as well. In fact, Til…
Ebbie’s Bluff
Another one of Til Schweiger’s early films, the beginning of this 1993 film might be interesting for boxing fans. Beyond that, however, we find a man looking for a new direction in life, seeing himself…
Lili Marleen
This 1981 film, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, is a West German production, but several of the actors are speaking other languages and then are dubbed into German, which may be distracting for some viewers.…
Frau Ella
Matthias Schweighöfer plays a taxi driver in this 2013 film who has some major life issues come up as we come in. Frau Ella is played by Ruth-Maria Kubitschek, who was born before WWII in…
Kings of Kallstadt
This documentary-comedy was released in 2014 and talks about the family histories of Donald Trump and the Heinz Ketchup dynasty, and the modern-day culture of their home town, Kallstadt. We also follow Kallstadters as they…
Winterkartoffelknödel
This 2014 film is the second in so far five crime-comedies. It is set in a generic Bavarian village, and as such includes dialect. Potential issues for the educational setting: – There are some swear…
Die wilden Hühner und das Leben
Please note: there are three wilden Hühner films. This post focuses on the final one, released in 2009. This film transitions our main characters into the older teenage years, when troubles are much different than…
Bandits
This 1997 film with Katja Riemann (not to be confused by the 2001 movie of the same name but featuring Bruce Willis) had been my favorite movie for years. The rating means I don’t get…
Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer
Based on the true story of the man who brought Eichmann to justice, this 2015 film touches on the personal as well as professional life of Fritz Bauer and his assistant, Heinz Mahler. Fritz Bauer…
Metropolis
Metropolis is a movie way ahead of its time. One might even say many of the ideas are advanced today. It is a Sci-fi silent film, released in 1927, focusing on two classes: the lower…
Anatomie (1 and 2)
Anatomie is an awesome thriller dealing with medical school, secret societies, and, well, anatomy. There is nudity, though the nudity in most scenes it is in a medical view rather than sexual. Franka Potente plays…
Lola rennt
Lola rennt was originally released in 1998, which means the first time I watched it, it was newly released while I was an exchange student in Germany. It was among the first German movies I…
Wir sind die neuen
A film about adults who had been college roommates coming back together because they can’t afford their own places, and others don’t want them. They end up in a house with mostly young students, and…
Bergkristall
Released in 2004, this film began as a novella by Austrian author Adalbert Stifter in 1845. The story begins in a winter storm during the holidays. We learn the back story of two young adults,…
Allein gegen die Zeit
This is a film version, released in 2016, of a TV show that ran from 2010-2012. Interestingly, they were able to use much of the same cast. Janina Fautz is the headliner of this film.…
Rosenstraße
Released in 2003, this film is great for anyone who is interested in the history of World War II. It is the story of Christian women in Germany whose Jewish husbands were detained apart from…
Das doppelte Lottchen
This 2017 version of the Erich Kästner classic book is already a German teacher favourite. For those who don’t know the story, it’s a “Parent Trap” story, where identical twins Lotte and Luise meet at…
Auschwitz
This 2011 film, directed by Uwe Boll, shows the horror of the concentration camps, without the “special people” or “saviour” that shows up in most WWII films. He wanted to show what it was really…
Joyeux Noel
Merry Christmas takes place during World War I. The movie is done in German, French, and English (Scottish accents), allowing each of the sides to be played by actors from the actual countries. We are…