Armin Rohde Movies

Set in Germany in 1946, Taking Sides tells the story of the investigation of Wilhelm Furtwängler (Stellan Skarsgård), the renowned conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, by the American occupying army. Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel) has been told by his superiors that they want Furtwängler convicted of being a willing participant in the crimes of the Hitler regime, by virtue of his supposed support for and support from the Hitler government. They haven't got the time or resources to go after every ex-Nazi, so they want Furtwängler, as the biggest cultural target they can hit. Arnold does his loud, boorish best to first humiliate and then attack the conductor over the supposed favoritism that he was shown by Hitler, Goering, Himmler, et al. and his conducting of a concert at the 1934 Nuremberg rally and at Hitler's 53rd birthday. Arnold finds, to his eventual distress but not dissuasion, that nothing is as simple as he would like to make it. His civilian secretary, Emmi Straube (Birgit Minichmayr), a concentration camp survivor whose father was part of the German Army plot to kill Hitler, and Lt. David Wills (Moritz Bleibtreu), a German-born Jew representing the War Crimes Tribunal, keep trying to remind Arnold that life and politics in Germany only deteriorated gradually after 1933, and in ways that couldn't always be anticipated by those who were there. Germans who chose not to leave weren't necessarily casting their lot with Hitler, but with protecting what was decent or even great about Germany, including her orchestras and music. Arnold knows nothing about music and even less about Germany and her people, and won't be deterred from his goal. Wills and Straube wish to resign from working with him, until they realize that they're facing the same choice that Furtwängler faced -- to leave a horrendous situation and have no way of affecting its conduct or outcome, or remain and do their best to stand up for decency and truth. In the process of doing that, they find out that Furtwängler is not only a great artist -- which they knew already -- but a great and brave man, who also has his flaws. The latter include an outsized ego that may have caused him to participate a little too willingly at times in the dangerous game he played of maintaining the excellence of Germany's musical institutions while protecting them (and also many musicians) from the worst ravages of the Nazi regime, at the same time also keeping lesser, more compliant figures from usurping his control. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed German director Soenke Wortmann spins this cleverly constructed, sumptuously shot crime drama set in St. Pauli, Hamburg's notorious red light district. The film opens with a gang of thugs dumping someone's ashes in the harbor. One of the group, brash punk Johnny (Benno Fuermann) crosses town in a cab driven by Robby (Ill-young Kim). As the film jumps from one story to the next, Robby and his taxi emerge as the central thread that holds the film together. Later, a naked man with a gun terrorizes a crowded street and accidentally kills Johnny. The film immediately dives into the naked man's history before moving on to the movie's sundry other outcasts and miscreants such as brassy transvestite Roberta, disaffected punk Sven, and sleazy club owner Billi. With a cool, almost clinical eye, Wortmann artfully cuts back and forth through both space and time as his characters are systematically picked off. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

The political and social upheaval of the reunification of Germany provides the backdrop for this romantic comedy-drama. Jan Nebel (Jurgen Vogel), a young slaughterhouse worker who doesn't like to work much more than is necessary in order to keep his job, is walking home through Berlin one evening when he finds himself strolling into the middle of a riot. He sees a woman named Vera (Christiane Paul) trying to get away from a pair of cops; Jan trips the police officers, which earns him Vera's gratitude and a night behind bars. Jan's unexpected detainment causes him to lose his job, which doesn't bother him very much except that he'll be short on money. Jan decides to pay his father a visit only to discover that the old man has died; Jan takes over his apartment, and his friend Buddy (Ricky Tomlinson) joins him as a flatmate and pays him rent. Death pays a visit of its own to Jan when he learns that one of his former girlfriends has tested positive for the HIV virus; while Jan is understandably upset, he's too frightened of the possible results to be tested himself. While Jan is dealing with his many anxieties, he runs into Vera for the first time since the riot; they get to know each other better, and they are soon engaged in a passionate romance, though they take many twists down the bumpy road of love. Das Leben Ist Eine Baustelle was a prize winner at several major festivals in its native Germany, including a special award at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival for writer and director Wolfgang Becker "for the humorous and ironic portrayal of the changes taking place in present-day Berlin." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Much of the dialog in this very funny German film was taken directly from the two gay comic books by underground cartoonist Ralf Koenig on which the movie was based. Though the comics were written from a gay perspective, the film is slanted towards heterosexual couples. It tells the story of Axel, a handsome hunk with a taste for cheating on his girl friend Doro. When she throws him out, he ends up staying with his gay friend Norbert who is terribly attracted to Axel. Norbert is too shy to act upon his desire, and so, suffers in silence. Doro, upon visiting the two, becomes suspicious and wonders if Axel is also gay. Her suspicions about the naive Axel do not abate, even after her "shot-gun" wedding to him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide