Saskia Vester Movies

A battle for gay rights is fought on a small-time football field in this comedy drama from Germany. Ecki (Maximilian Brückner) is a talented soccer goalie who plays with a semi-pro team in a small German town, but he finds himself on the outs with his teammates when he fails to block a kick that costs the team the league championship. Ecki's relationship with the team goes from bad to worse when they discover he's gay, and they give him his walking papers. Furious, Ecki challenges his former team to a special match in which they'll face off against an all-gay team he'll assemble for the occasion. The homophobic team agrees to the match, but Ecki soon discovers finding ten capable gay footballers is no easy task, and making them into a competitive team is even harder. Making matters a bit easier for Ecki is his sister Susanne (Lisa Maria Potthoff), who introduces him to one of her co-workers, Sven (David Rott), a good-looking male nurse who can play soccer...and happens to find Ecki attractive. Männer Wie Wir (aka Guys and Balls) was written for the screen by Benedikt Gollhardt; it was his first theatrical film after establishing himself in television. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rosi (Gisela Schneeberger) is a bookish middle-aged woman working for an insurance company who becomes smitten with Rainer (August Zirner), a good-looking German novelist, when she sees him read from his works. Rosi happens to be nearby when Rainer kills his obsessively jealous girl friend in self-defense. Rosi's more than happy to help Rainer cover up the incident, but she sees this as a chance to work her way into his inner circle, and before long she gets the notion that the easiest way to eliminate competition for his attentions is to simply kill a few people who stand in her way. Though produced for European television, Die Hahn Ist Tot received a screening at the 1999 Munich Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi