Plots(1)
This is not merely another film about cinema history; it is a film about the love of cinema, a journey of discovery through over a century of German film history. Ten people working in film today remember their favourite films of yesteryear: Tom Tykwer talks about Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's NOSFERATU, Wolfgang Kohlhaase about MENSCHEN AM SONNTAG by Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer; Wim Wenders about M by Fritz Lang; Christian Petzold about Helmut Käutner's UNTER DEN BRÜCKEN, Hanns Zischler about Alexander Kluge's ABSCHIED VON GESTERN, Andreas Dresen about SOLO SUNNY by Konrad Wolf, Michael Ballhaus about Rainer Werner Fassbinder's EHE DER MARIA BRAUN, Dominik Graf about ROCKER by Klaus Lemke, Doris Dörrie about ALICE IN DEN STÄDTEN by Wim Wenders and Caroline Link about Edgar Reitz' first HEIMAT cycle. Their personal memories are interspersed with film excerpts.
These ten declarations of love are complemented by five cinematic essays: the city of Berlin as seen in film, cinema under National Socialism, the cinema of the GDR, a cinematic journey through Germany, and the question: what makes German cinema German? Finally, six different kinds of images are shown – men's eyes, women's gazes, kisses, screams, smoking, making a phone call – all taken from different films and different eras in the history of German cinema. In fact, this film could be interpreted as a kind of cinematic guessing game – since it includes references to around 250 German films. And those who find their own memories triggered by this documentary will hopefully feel inclined to watch these old films again themselves. (Production notes)
(Berlinale)
Cast
Doris Dörrie
West Germany
Best movies:
Men... (1985)
Andreas Dresen
East Germany
Best movies:
Heil (2015)
Dominik Graf
West Germany
Caroline Link
West Germany
Christian Petzold
West Germany
Tom Tykwer
West Germany
Best movies:
Soul Boy (2010)
Wim Wenders
Best movies:
Kings of the Road (1976)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Summer in the City (1971)
Hanns Zischler
Germany
Best movies:
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
Europa Europa (1990)
Anna's Meetings (1978)
Michael Ballhaus
German Empire
Best movies:
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Michael Althen
West Germany