Sandra Borgmann Movies
- 2006
When the willful son of a bourgeois German couple commits a horrifying act of murder, the desperate attempts made by his mother to cover-up the crime soon finds the family unit crumbling beneath the weight of the child's undeniable psychosis in director Aelrun Goette's visually arresting psychological thriller. Jenny (Bibiana Beglau) and Michael (Dirk Borchardt) have all the amenities of a happy modern couple - including a beautiful house in an affluent suburb of Berlin and a seemingly-angelic six-year-old boy named Timmy (Adrian Wahlen) - but a closer inspection reveals that things aren't quite as perfect as surface appearances would suggest. With a promotion within his grasp, policeman Michael spends long hours on the job as wife Jenny tends to raising young Timmy. But Timmy seems to possess something of a sadistic streak, and when the unstable boy kills his young playmate Luzi and mother does her best to protect her son despite the horrific nature of his crime, simmering secrets gradually begin to erupt into a violent boil. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bibiana Beglau, Sandra Borgmann, (more)
The Belgian cult filmmaker Dominique Deruddere, best known for the 1987 Bukowski opus Love is a Dog From Hell, helms the jet-black German-language comedy The Wedding Party. The film concerns a wedding at a luxurious, picturesque country inn, that turns utterly nasty thanks to a feud between the groom's obnoxious father, Hermann Walzer (Armin Rohde) and the establishment's resident chef, Franz Berger (Uwe Ochsenknect). Conflict first erupts when Hermann refuses to pay Franz for the banquet; in retaliation, Chef Franz locks up the bride and Hermann's wife as a guaranty. This, in turn, ignites a bloody battle that finds the men ultimately brandishing guns and hand-grenades, and leaving many an unfortunate victim in their wake. Arne Lenk and Lisa Maria Potthoff co-star; DeRuddere co-authored the original script with Jean vanHamme. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Armin Rohde, Uwe Ochsenknecht, (more)
A man who has never been lucky in love thinks his fortune may have changed, only to find his life becoming all the more complicated in this nomadic romantic comedy. Daniel (Moritz Blebitreu) is a shy schoolteacher who is often unsure around women, but when he meets Melek (Idil Under), a beautiful Turkish woman, he falls head over heels in love and agrees to meet up with her in Istanbul. However, while en route from Hamburg, Daniel spots Juli (Christiane Paul), a woman he knows, trying to hitch a ride. Daniel picks her up, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she's long carried a torch for him; when Juli discovers why Daniel is making a long trip through Central Europe, she figures this could be her last chance to win him over. Her attempts to win his affections lead to a number of arguments, reconciliations, unintended turns, and brushes with the wrong side of the law. Im Juli was written and directed by Fatih Akin, who previously won acclaim for the drama Kurz und Schmerzlos. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Moritz Bleibtreu, Christiane Paul, (more)
- 1999
A man struggling with his sexual identity becomes obsessed with a member of a skinhead gang in this drama. Koma (Simon Goerts) is a German skinhead who is friends with Janosch (Sascha Backhaus), who seems to take more than a casual interest in his muscular and clean-shaven pal. If Koma notices Janosch's interests, however, he isn't letting on. Koma and his wife Sandra (Sandra Borgmann) are expecting twins soon, but Koma invites Janosch, who needs a place to live, to stay in their nursery for the time being. Before long, Janosch has cut off his hair and immersed himself in skinhead culture, but he finds little outlet for his homoerotic desires. Sandra decides to fix him up with a girlfriend, Blanca (Britta Dirks), but, while she takes a strong interest in settling down with him, he is not particularly attracted to her. Janosch becomes aware of a group of self-styled "modern primitives" who modify their bodies with tattoos and piercings and encourage free sexual expression; he gets to know a few of them and becomes physically involved with Zottel (Jens Veith). However, the skins regard the primitives as their enemies, and Koma is not at all happy with Janosch's new friends or the open acknowledgement of his homosexuality. Oi! Warning received its American premiere at the 1999 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and also played at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sascha Backhaus, Simon Goerts, (more)
