Matthias Brandt Movies
A teenage assassin raised in remote Finland is dispatched on a dangerous mission by her father, an ex-CIA operative, in this innovative action thriller from director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice). Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) may look like your typical teenage girl, but she's a trained killer who has spent her entire life preparing for one mission. Schooled in the arts of survival and killing by her mysterious father (Eric Bana), Hanna finally reaches the age when she must put her skills to the test, and sets out across Europe on a collision course with a cunning intelligence operative (Cate Blanchett) who has been awaiting her arrival for years. Later, as agents close in from all sides and Hanna finally gets her target in the crosshairs, the trained assassin uncovers some secrets from the past that stir the conscience she never knew she had, and cause her to question everything she has ever known. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, (more)
- 2007
Respected by his fellow officers for his ability to keep a cool head in tense situations and admired for his storybook marriage, a policeman finds his picture perfect façade being slowly peeled back to reveal a coarse and bitter truth in director Jan Bonny's simmering psychological drama. Policeman Georg is precisely the man you would want on your side when it all starts to go wrong; not only does he work well under pressure, but he's also fair and kind. In addition to being a respected figure on the police force, Georg also seems to have found the perfect wife in pretty schoolteacher Anne. But things aren't always what they appear to be on the surface, and when Georg receives a promotion at work the domestic conflicts that had been simmering for years quickly heat to a violent boil. When the traces of domestic violence become too obvious to cover up, what will become of the couple that had managed to hide their vicious secret for so many years? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthias Brandt, Victoria Trauttmansdorff, (more)
- 2006
A picturesque blonde beauty constructs an impenetrable emotional wall that neither her parents, her boyfriend, nor her colleague can penetrate in director Erica Von Moeller's psychologically scintillating entry into the 2007 Miami International Film Festival. Hannah (Nina Hoss) may appear perfect on the surface, but her inner demons are slowly consuming her. A photo laboratory developer who rarely ventures out of her well-fortified apartment, Hannah finds that her repressed memories are unexpectedly jogged by a series of old photographs. Though Hannah once dreamed of becoming a photographer, these days the act of taking pictures plunges her into an unstable mental state, and a customer's rush order sends her on a disturbing voyage into her troubled past. Now Hannah's memories have come flooding back in series of flashes that take the form of photographs, just as her pre-teen daughter, Maja -- who had been under the care of Hannah's parents -- receives a Polaroid camera as a birthday present. As Hannah and her daughter travel back to Maja's birthplace in Berlin, the photographs taken by the young innocent gradually help Hannah piece together her mysterious past while bringing her into contact with a man who had once meant the world to her. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nina Hoss, Isabel Bongard, (more)
Maria von Heland makes her feature-length directorial debut with the teen drama Grosse Mädchen Weinen Nicht (Big Girls Don't Cry). Set in Berlin, where traditional and poor Kati (Anna Maria Muhe) is best friends with liberal and wealthy Steffi (Karoline Herfurth). When they spot Steffi's father, Hans (Stefan Kurt), kissing another woman (Teresa Harder), the two girls plan a scheme of revenge. They make friends with the other woman's daughter, Tessa (Josefine Domes), only to set her up in a dangerous situation with a pornographer (Dieter Laser). As Steffi begins to experiment with drugs and sex, her friendship with Kati becomes increasingly strained. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Mühe, Karoline Herfurth, (more)
