The Wars focuses on rebellious Robert Ross, who battles against the uptight, upper-crust Rosedale society he was born into; when war is declared in 1914, he enlists in the Canadian army to escape from personal tragedy. Though it recreates the horrors of WWI trench warfare with harrowing realism, the film is more interested in how war replicates, and even amplifies, the class divisions of the homefront; in one of many telling details, Robert is the only man in his unit with a handgun because he is the only man wealthy enough to afford one.
Tag: WEST GERMANY
The film deals with the fate of the Roman merchant Piacchi, who lost his eleven-year-old son in a plague and now takes in a foundling of the same age, raises him and bequeaths all his possessions to the young man. Nicolo, as the adopted son is called, however, uses his power to deceive and destroy Piacchi and his young wife.
The life story of the famed rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun, one of the most brilliant and controversial figures of the space age. Dr. von Braun helped pioneer man’s adventure into space through his rocket experiments; his was the brain behind the V-2 rockets which blasted London in World War II; his was also the brain which led America into the development and the launching of space satellites.
A must-see for all Rainer Werner Fassbinder fans. Radu Gabrea’s campy 1984 biopic about the late director stars the very talented Eva Mattes in drag in the title role, manipulating his Munich stock company in a variety of perverse ways while coming on as a slob enfant terrible. Funny, insightful, and packed with inside references that enthusiasts of the director and his myth will particularly enjoy, this is good, decadent fun even for spectators with only a casual acquaintance with Fassbinder; Mattes’s hallucinatory performance has a fascination all its own.
Period piece about a Brazil that is no more. This movie is the sequel to “Black God, White Devil”, and takes place 29 years after Antonio das Mortes killed Corisco (the “Blond Devil”), last of the Cangaceiros. In “the old days”, Antonio’s function in life was to exterminate these bandits, on account of his personal grudges against them. His life had been meaningless for the last 29 years, but now, a new challenge awaits him. When a Cangaceiro appears the local Land Baron, an old man, does what seems obvious to him: he calls Antonio das Mortes, killer of Cangaceiros. At first, Antonio is ecstatic. His life has gained new meaning. But soon it becomes obvious that this new Cangaceiro (named Coirana) is no Corisco, but an idealist.
An early film by American film director George Moorse. Kuckucksjahre portrays a clique of “dropouts” in the 1960s. There is Hans, who lives aimlessly into the day until he finds someone he can admire in the successful guy Ardy. Because he suddenly wants to stop doing nothing, however, he is abandoned by his girlfriend Petra. Then there is Sybille, who loves both Hans and Ardy. Ardy, however, falls in love with Astrid, with whom he eventually leaves.
Film adaptation of the short Büchner story of the same name, which tells of the stay of the psychotic Sturm und Drang poet Lenz in the home of the Alsatian priest and philanthropist Oberlin. The poet, whose pathological hallucinations are becoming increasingly unbearable, hopes for help from the gentle clergyman. But Oberlin, too, knows no advice; he regards his friend’s illness as God-given.