Category Archives: German Cinema

A Master’s début: “Liebe ist kälter als der Tod” [1969 W.Germany]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder made his feature-film début through the crime drama “Liebe ist kälter als der Tod” [Eng. Title: Love is Colder Than Death]. It’s an endearing ode to the French New Wave, Hollywood Film Noire, and Italian Spaghetti Westerns. … Continue reading

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Conspiracies, whispers, and romance – “Das Flüstern des Mondes” [2006 Austria]

Austrian director Michael Satzinger has attempted a genre-bending gay-themed mystery-romance with his “Das Flüstern des Mondes” [Eng. Title: Whispering Moon]. And he pretty much pulls it off! The complex storyline involves a heady romance between two young men – Jannis … Continue reading

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When honour is your only possession – “Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum” [W.Germany 1975]

. – It’s Neuer Deutscher Film time..! And I’ll start the filmography of Volker Schlöndorff – one of the important directors of New German Cinema, not with his Oscar-winning Die Blechtrommel (that comes later), but a slightly lesser known, but … Continue reading

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Why words, when the cinema is magical – Tuvalu [1999 Germany]

Veit Helmer made quite a splash with his directorial debut “Tuvalu” – because he was actually delivering a love letter to cinema itself. Storyline: Set in a crumbling grand old bathhouse on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, youngest son Anton … Continue reading

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Exploiting the exploiter, and the viewer, in “Paradies: Liebe” [2012 Austria]

There’s something about Austrian directors and their fetishistic delight in dissecting human nature – to tear open layers of our civilised behaviour and scoop out the primeval muck. I’m clearly referring to Ulrich Seidl and his more celebrated compatriot Michael … Continue reading

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