Peter Zadek Movies

Three criminals - Fatty, Trinity-Moses and Mrs. Begbick -- on the lam from the police found the city of Mahagonny in a desolate area in America. Erecting the "Here-You-May-Do-Anything Inn," they dedicate the city to the hedonistic ideal of doing anything you want (as long as you have the means to pay for it). A group of prostitutes, which includes the young Jenny, quickly sets up shop in Mahagonny, and a quartet of lumberjacks come to sample their wares. One of these men, Jim, falls in love with Jenny. Mahagonny is soon threatened by a hurricane, which unleashes even more anarchy among its residents. Spared when the hurricane changes course, the citizens fall even deeper into debauchery. One lumberjack eats himself to death, and in a prize fight, another is killed by Trinity-Moses. Unfortunately, Jim had placed all his money on the loser in this fight; when it comes out that he cannot pay for the drinks he has imbibed, he is put on trial and condemned to death. After his execution, catastrophes of all kinds befall Mahagonny, and the citizenry marches forward, crying that we "cannot help ourselves or you or anyone" as the curtain falls. Kurt Weill's eclectic scores includes the popular "Alabama Song" ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

This film is a superficial extravaganza on the "roaring 1950s" in West Germany and West Berlin, when the rich, according to director Peter Zadek, were partying through the decade with little else on their minds than hedonistic pleasures, and the poor were struggling to become richer. Documentary clips bring in the realities of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, and their honesty stands in sharp contrast to the exaggerated lifestyles that permeate the screen. The story focuses on the super-rich Jakob Formann (Juraj Kurkura) and his exploits and friends in high and low places. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Based on a very successful play of the same name by Tankred Dorst, this film tells a story about Norwegian author Knut Hamsun (here played by O.E. Hasse), a Nobel prizewinner for literature who was notorious for having collaborated with the Nazi regime. After the war, rather than hand him over for prosecution, he was sent to a retirement home. A young man, bitter about the war, tracks him down and begins to harass him in various ways. The author handles everything that comes to him with remarkable dignity, which eventually removes some of the taint from his actions. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Rull (Wolfgang Schneider) is in his last year at a classical German state school. Believing all authority figures are repugnant, he engages in a series of bizarre behaviors. He literally acts like a bull in a china shop, alienates his friends, loses his girlfriend and infuriates his teachers. When he paints a swastika on a wall of the Parliament building, he really gets in trouble. This film is based on the novel The Unadvised by Thomas Valentin. In the novel, the principle character was a hero, but he turns into an alienating buffoon in the celluloid version. Neither authority figures nor the counterculture is spared in this satire. Music is provided by Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi