Bernd Eichinger Movies
- 2008
- R
Director Uli Edel teams with screenwriter Bernd Eichinger to explore a dark period in German history with this drama detailing the rise and fall of the Red Army Faction, a left-wing terrorist organization that became increasingly active following World War II. Also known as the Baader-Meinhof Group, the Red Army Faction was formed by the radicalized children of the Nazi generation with the intended goal of battling Western imperialism and the West German establishment. Adapted from author Stefan Aust's definitive account of the group that resorted to killing innocent civilians in the name of democracy and justice, The Baader Meinhof Complex stars Moritz Bleibtreu as Andreas Baader and Martina Gedeck as Ulrike Meinhof. Bruno Ganz co-stars as Horst Herold, the head of the German police force faced with the task of bringing the Red Army Faction to justice. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, (more)
Director Russell Mulcahy takes over for the third chapter in the Resident Evil film franchise, which finds genetically altered Alice (Milla Jovovich) joining forces with Carlos (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps) to take down the Umbrella Corporation once and for all. Upon emerging from her hideout in the Nevada desert, Alice is quickly joined by old friends Carlos and L.J., as well as survivors Claire (Ali Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke), and Nurse Betty (Ashanti). Now instilled with super-human strength, senses, and dexterity as a result of the biogenetic experimentation conducted on her by the Umbrella Corporation, Alice and the rest of the survivors set out to eliminate a virus that threatens to turn every living human undead, and ensure that the mysterious organization pays the price for their horrific crimes against humanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, (more)
- 2007
- PG
- Add Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to QueueAdd Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to top of Queue
The world's most famous team of astronauts-cum-superheroes returns in the effects-heavy sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. As the story opens, Sue Storm (aka The Invisible Girl [Jessica Alba]) and Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic [Ioan Gruffudd]) prepare for their upcoming, superhero-studded wedding celebration. But Reed cannot stay focused on the nuptials -- he's distracted by wire reports of a bizarre, comet-like object hurtling toward the Earth with tremendous force, triggering brownouts, blackouts, tropical storms, and various other climatological disasters. When the said object hits the island of Manhattan, destroying much of the city in its wake, its identity becomes resoundingly clear. "It" is actually a "he" -- a psychotic villain known as The Silver Surfer (voice of Larry Fishburne) who intends, for some unascertainable reason, to destroy much of the Earth, just as he obliterated dozens of planets before it. Feeling compelled to rally their old gang and save the day, Sue and Reed summon Ben Grimm (aka The Thing [Michael Chiklis]) and Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch [Chris Evans]) to take on the Surfer -- and end up battling not only him, but an obnoxious Army general (Andre Braugher) and the cantankerous Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon), who has broken out of his icy prison that held him captive at the end of the first movie. Tim Story returns to direct this sequel. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, (more)
Legendary Hong Kong action director and choreographer Corey Yuen brings Tecmo's best-selling video-game franchise to the big screen in a martial arts extravaganza featuring an impressive quartet of female fighters including Devon Aoki, Sarah Carter, Jaime Pressly, and Holly Valance. Tina (Pressly), Christie (Valance), Kasumi (Aoki), and Helena (Carter) are four skilled martial artists whose outwardly sexy appearances betray their true lethal natures. When the fearsome females each receive an invitation to take part in an illegal martial arts competition to be staged on a remote Asian island, the prospect of a ten-million-dollar top prize is only sweetened by the fact that they will be facing off against some of the toughest fighters on the planet. Now, in order to defend their honor and search for the answers to life's greatest mysteries, Tina, Christie, Kasumi, and Helena will check their inhibitions at the beach and prepare for a series of fights that will test not only their strength, stamina, and endurance, but the very foundation of their dedication to the martial arts as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jaime Pressly, Holly Valance, (more)
- 2006
- R
- Add Perfume: The Story of a Murderer to QueueAdd Perfume: The Story of a Murderer to top of Queue
An obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his unrepentant quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe in director Tom Tykwer's adaptation of author Patrick Suskind's best-selling 1985 novel. Born in a fetid fish market and raised in a dilapidated orphanage, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) toiled his childhood away in a rank tannery run by the thuggish Grimal (Sam Douglas). Subsequently obsessed by smell, Grenouille's keen olfactory sense becomes so finely tuned that it eventually overpowers such human qualities as love and compassion. Though he has indeed discovered the unmistakable scent of a woman, Grenouille finds it impossible to connect with the fairer sex on any sort of meaningful level. Roaming the streets of Paris late one night, Grenouille catches the scent of a young girl selling plums and impulsively strangles her, later sniffing her nude corpse in a twisted attempt to preserve the distinctive scent in his memory. After persuading legendary perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) to take him on as an apprentice, Grenouille travels to the town of Grasse in Southern France in order to learn the art of enfleurage at a firm run by the highly respected Mme. Arnulfi (Corinna Harfouch). It is there that Grenouille becomes dangerously drawn to the vestal aroma of the young and beautiful Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood), the daughter of widower merchant Antione Richis (Alan Rickman). Soon driven to madness by such a pure scent, the spellbound Grenouille continues to claim the lives of the numerous young girls in a tragic attempt to bottle the impossibly elusive smell of virginal womanhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, (more)
- 2006
With his bittersweet, German-language tragicomedy The Elementary Particles, writer-director Oskar Roehler brings to the screen Michel Houellebecq's popular seriocomic novel of two ill-adjusted siblings. Christian Ullmen and Moritz Bleibtreu portray, respectively, Michael and Bruno, half brothers who have each adjusted poorly to adult life, thanks in no small part to a cracked upbringing by their eccentric, social dropout mother. As the story opens, each brother experiences a personal crisis. Geneticist Michael returns to his work in cloning after an extended period away from his Irish laboratory, but suffers in quiet desperation from his intense inner loneliness; he must soon leave the lab once again and head back to his hometown, where his grandmother's corpse is being disinterred from a cemetery. Upon arrival, he reencounters Annabelle (Franka Potente of Run Lola Run), an adolescent crush to whom he was never before able to express his romantic yearnings; they consummate an intense erotic affair, and remain together, but a troubled pregnancy renders her infertile and makes family conception an utter impossibility. Meanwhile, high school teacher Bruno (a married husband and father) is driven completely around the bend by sexual yearnings for his female students, and consequently suffers from a nervous breakdown; he checks himself into a sanitarium, then heads off on a bender at a swingers' retreat with a new lover, Christiane (Martina Gedeck - but their pleasure is all too short-lived. Nina Hoss and Uwe Ochsenknecht co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Ulmen, (more)
A handful of heroes become superheroes under unlikely circumstances in this action drama adapted from the long-running Marvel comic book series. Four astronauts are on a mission aboard a new experimental spacecraft when they are unexpectedly exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays. The accident causes strange and unexpected transformations in all four. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), top scientist and leader of the mission, can now stretch his body like elastic and is dubbed Mr. Fantastic. His partner and sweetheart, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), develops the ability to become invisible at will, and becomes known as The Invisible Girl. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), is renamed The Human Torch for his new talent of being able to summon up fire from his body when he chooses. And Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), pilot for the journey, mutates into a monstrous creature with super-human strength and muscles like stone, known as The Thing. Together, the travelers become known as the Fantastic Four, and they set out to use their unusual skills to fight crime, quickly gaining a nemesis in another altered hero who uses his talents for evil, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). A long-gestating project that had been talked about by a number of filmmakers since the early '90s, Fantastic Four was previously the basis for a pair of animated television serials, and was made into a feature film in 1994 by producer Roger Corman, though that film was never officially released. (Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee has said the 1994 film was made only so that the producers could hold on to the rights to the characters, and that it was never intended to be distributed to the public.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, (more)
The last ten days of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime are seen through the eyes of a young woman in his employ in this historical drama from Germany. Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) was 22 years old when, in the fall of 1942, she was hired to be personal secretary to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz). In April of 1945, Junge was still working for Hitler as forces were bearing down on Germany and the leader retreated to a secret bunker in Berlin for what would prove to be the last ten days of his life, as well as that of the Third Reich. As Hitler's mistress Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) attempts to throw a cheerful birthday party for her man, Hitler's closest associates, including Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen), Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes), and Albert Speer (Heino Ferch), urge him to flee the city with only Goebbels maintaining any illusions that the Third Reich has any hope of survival. Hitler refuses to leave Berlin, and he spends his final days ranting and raving to Junge, blaming all around him as he tries to understand where his leadership went wrong. Meanwhile, Goebbels and his wife round up their six children and bring them to the bunker as Berlin begins to topple, determined to take their lives rather than face the Allies after Germany's certain defeat. Der Untergang (aka The Downfall) was based in part on the memoirs of the real-life Traudl Junge, whose experiences also formed the basis of the 2002 documentary Im Toten Winkel: Hitlers Sekretarin (aka Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruno Ganz, Juliane Köhler, (more)
One of the only survivors of a man-made plague joins forces with a team of private warriors in a bid to save what's left of the Earth in this sequel to Resident Evil, the big-screen adaptation of the popular video game. Picking up where the first film left off, Resident Evil: Apocalypse finds Alice (Milla Jovovich) still battling the living dead who are overtaking Raccoon City, inoculated with an anti-virus by the nefarious and all-powerful Umbrella Corporation (in addition to the virus itself). Alice encounters Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a former member of Umbrella's internal defense team. Forming an alliance with mercenary-for-hire Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and his cohorts, this tiny band of survivors seeks out Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris), Umbrella's top scientist and one of the only men with the know-how to find a solution to the zombie menace; however, they discover that Ashford's cooperation comes with a price -- the scientist's daughter Angie (Sophie Vavasseur) is missing, and he'll help Alice and her partners only if Angie is returned to him safe and sound. Resident Evil: Apocalypse was the first solo directorial credit for Alexander Witt, who previously distinguished himself as a cinematographer and second-unit director. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, (more)
The director of Mortal Kombat (1995) adapts another popular video game for the big screen with this gory action thriller. Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez star as Alice and Rain, two members of a commando team assigned to infiltrate the Hive, an underground research laboratory owned by the faceless conglomerate known as the Umbrella Corporation. A bio-engineered virus has been released into the maze-like Hive, turning the facility's employees into mindless, flesh-eating zombies. A single scratch or bite from one of these rampaging ghouls dooms its victim, so the commandos have their work cut out for them as they attempt to reach the Red Queen, the lab's supercomputer -- and their sole hope of halting the spread of the contagion. Before they can complete their mission, however, the soldiers must overcome a variety of deadly obstacles, including mutant dogs, lasers, and a genetically altered beast known as The Licker, whose strength increases with every victim it slays. Alice and Rain also discover that the release of the virus may not have been an accident, and that a cure may exist somewhere in the deadly Hive. Resident Evil co-stars Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, and Colin Salmon. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milla Jovovich, Oscar Pearce, (more)
Starla Grady (Jane McGregor), the most popular girl at Splendona High School in Splendona, TX, is on top of the world. That is, at least, until foreign-exchange student Genevieve LePlouff (Piper Perabo) moves in with Starla's family. Starla's parents had hoped that Genevieve's tutoring would help raise Starla's French grade, which had dropped dangerously low. At first, like Starla's other followers, Genevieve seems in awe of her charmed existence. However, when Genevieve's story of misfortune and lost love is featured in the school newspaper, Starla feels the winds begin to change. Before she knows it, Genevieve has stolen all of her best friends, her boyfriend, her position on the cheerleading squad, and her status as the most popular girl in school. Starla, not one to go down without a fight, sets out to expose Genevieve as the lying backstabber she truly is. Slap Her...She's French is directed by veteran thirtysomething actress Melanie Mayron. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Piper Perabo, Jane McGregor, (more)
- 2002
Based on the exploits of two criminal brothers who eluded the authorities as they embarked on an ever more daring series of complex robberies, director Carlo Rola's tense crime drama follows the brothers as they steal their way through the Berlin of the 1920s. As burglars and safecrackers, Franz and Erich Sass (Ben Becker and Jürgen Vogel) embark on a series of small robberies in order to elude the all-seeing eye of the taxman. As their crimes escalate to include a bank where the Nazi's keep their substantial funds, the authorities quickly begin closing in while Franz and Erich plan their final heist and grand getaway. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Becker, Jürgen Vogel, (more)
This three-hour miniseries adapts Marion Zimmer Bradley's feminist recasting of the Arthurian mythos into a big-budget cable television event. In ancient England, Christianity is spreading and the Saxons are invading. It's up to Viviane (Anjelica Huston) -- Lady of the Lake and high priestess of the kingdom's ancient pagan religion -- to make sure that the next king will honor both the old and new faiths and thereby banish the barbarian hordes. Viviane manipulates her sister Igraine (Caroline Goodall) into marrying King Uther Pendragon (Mark Lewis Jones) and bearing a son, Arthur (Edward Atterton) -- much to the consternation of Viviane's other sister, the power-hungry Morgause (Joan Allen). Arthur grows up happily with his older half-sister, Morgaine (Julianna Margulies), until Merlin (Michael Byrne) spirits him off for training and Viviane brings Morgaine to the mystical island of Avalon to develop her magical connection to the Goddess. Years later, the siblings reunite in a masked mating ritual, unaware that their union is incestuous -- or that their son, Mordred (Hans Matheson), will fall into Morgause's clutches and destroy the delicate balance that Viviane has sought to maintain. As Arthur gathers the knights of the round table and ushers in a golden age with Queen Gwenhwyfar (Samantha Mathis) at his side, the seeds of his destruction, and Avalon's, have already been planted -- by Arthur himself. Filmed on-location in Prague, The Mists of Avalon premiered on the TNT cable network July 15 and 16, 2001. Director Uli Edel, best known for his feature adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn, had previously helmed Purgatory for TNT. The titular mists -- developed by Edel and executive producer Mark Wolper -- utilized custom fluid dynamic software designed specifically for the project. Celtic musician Loreena McKennitt added her theme music to composer Lee Holdridge's score. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Julianna Margulies, (more)
A family on the run for their lives finds themselves in a beautiful but utterly unfamiliar world in this drama based on the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig. Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze) is a successful Jewish lawyer living in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich. Aware of the increasing dangers of remaining in Germany, Walter seeks exile on a farm in Kenya, while his socially prominent wife, Jettel (Juliane Koehler), and his young daughter, Regina (Lea Kurka), stay behind, as does his father, Max (Gerd Heinz), and Jettel's sister, Kaethe (Regine Zimmermann). In time, as the pogroms against the Jews increase in Germany, Jettel and Regina join Walter in Kenya, but the transition is not easy for Walter, who is still learning the nuts and bolts of running the farm (and discovers that Germans are not welcomed by the British settlers in Kenya), or Jettel, who is not accustomed to physical labor and resents having to help with the farming. While Regina at first finds her new surroundings alienating and unfamiliar, she soon becomes fascinated with the rugged beauty of Kenya and becomes fast friends with Owuor (Sidede Onyulo), who serves as the family's cook. In time, Germany invades Africa, and Walter finds himself in a British internment camp; Jettel and Regina also are captured, but Jettel uses her sexual allure to persuade a British officer to arrange for Walter to be put in charge of another farm, and Regina is sent to a boarding school for girls. After the war, the Redlichs must decide whether to remain in Kenya or to return to the country that would have persecuted them. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliane Köhler, Merab Ninidze, (more)
- 2000
The German answer to American Pie (1999), this teen sex comedy explores the complications that arise after a young man's penis begins speaking to him. When Florian (Tobias Schenke) is paired with his gorgeous classmate Leonie (Mina Tander) for a school play, his garrulous organ wakes him up one morning with many vocal opinions on his sex life -- or lack thereof. Determined to lose his virginity, Florian solicits advice from his vulgar friends (his flummoxed parents have already proven to be of little help). As he pursues Leonie, the teen remains oblivious to the advances of tough-girl Lisa (Luise Helm), a classmate carrying a torch for him. Director Marc Rothermund's second feature after the hit Love Scenes from Planet Earth, Ants achieved similar success in its homeland, where it became one of Germany's top-grossing films of 2000. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tobias Schenke
Lots of women get the feeling that their boyfriends become different people after they've married them, but one finds herself dealing with a much bigger problem than leaving socks around the house or not taking out the trash in this supernatural thriller. Kristie (Laura Harris) is a sweet but slightly naïve young woman who is soon to marry the man she loves, Marc St. Clair (Richard Lintern), a television reporter. On the night of their wedding, Marc leads Kristie away from the wedding reception and takes her virginity near a strange stone monument in the woods. Kristie is a bit surprised by this behavior and even more startled when she discovers she's pregnant. Nine months after her wedding day, Kristie's son, Dylan, is born and the new mother is thrilled, but as the child grows older, she begins to sense that things aren't right. Marc seems to take an obsessive interest in his son, while even more surprisingly, his boss, Elizabeth (Alice Krige), is nearly as interested as Marc. In time, when Dylan begins to display telekinetic powers and Kristie discovers Elizabeth has given him a book of Satanic prophesy, Kristie begins to wonder what sort of a person Marc really is -- and whose child did she really bear? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1999
It's said that love can change a man, but one woman finds herself wondering just how powerful love might be in this comedy. Cora Dulz (Corinna Harfouch) is a psychiatrist who begins working with Stanislaus Nagy (Til Schweiger), a good looking but mysterious man who is obsessed with the late operatic diva Maria Callas -- and claims to have been her mentor during the height of her career. Not surprisingly, Nagy admits he has a hard time separating truth from fiction, but for reasons even Dulz finds hard, she finds herself fascinated with her new patient, to the extent of following Nagy after appointments and pursuing a romance with him. As things look to become more serious between Nagy and Dulz, he decides to make a little confession to her -- he wasn't really Callas' mentor. Instead, Nagy announces, he is actually Satan himself, and Callas was the result of a project in which he attempted to create the perfect woman. Nagy's relationship with Callas was a failure, however, and he's decided he wants to give up his career as the Lord of Darkness and instead live out his days as a mortal man. In order to do that, Nagy would need to find a mortal woman willing to take his hand -- would Dulz be at all interested? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Til Schweiger, Corinna Harfouch, (more)
- 1998
In this German comedy-drama, adapted from a Dietrich Schwanitz novel, Hamburg sociology professor Hanno Hackmann (Heiner Lauterbach) pleases his social-climbing wife Gabrielle (Sibylle Canonica) when he reveals he intends to compete against corrupt Schacht (Rudolf Kowalski) for position of university president. But what about his affair with drama student Babsi (Sandra Speichert)? Babsi, portraying a rape victim in a college play, is dropped from the cast, has a breakdown, and lands in a psych ward. This chain of events prompts rumors she was sexually harassed and innocent Hackmann is the suspect. Naturally, Schacht latches onto the rumor in order to crush his opponent prior to the university president election. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heiner Lauterbach, Axel Milberg, (more)
Pat Proft directed this satire on The Fugitive with a plot parody of the 1993 Harrison Ford movie, which in turn was inspired by the 1963-67 ABC television series with David Janssen. Violinist Ryan Harrison (Leslie Nielsen) romances the wife (Kelly Le Brock) of his benefactor (Michael York), a man murdered by mercenaries. Naturally, Ryan gets blamed. Headed for Death Row, he's on a bus involved in a train accident and escapes in order to locate the real killer -- a one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed man. Tracking Ryan is Lt. Fergus Falls (Richard Crenna). Other movies lampooned here include Titanic, Clear and Present Danger, Chinatown, Mission Impossible, and North by Northwest. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Richard Crenna, (more)
- 1998
One of Germany's most important female directors, Doris Dörrie chose the subject of the universal quest for happiness for the film Bin ich Schön?. Set in Spain and Germany, the film interlaces individual stories of broken hearts and broken dreams with aspirations of new beginnings. On a hot afternoon in Spain, Linda is standing beside the road wearing a thin summer dress and carrying a handbag. A car stops and Werner, a robust-looking German, picks her up. She shows him a note which says, "I am deaf-mute and in need of your help." Werner is touched. As they move off together, Linda throws her handbag out of the window. In a near-by motel, Klaus is on the phone to Munich trying to convince his reluctant girlfriend Franziska to come down to Spain. Linda and Werner have checked into the next room where Werner is asking Linda to hit him with his belt. Plots and subplots intertwine until the film reaches a climax during a religious procession. In an ironic way, the film celebrates life with a message that life is here today and then it's gone. No beginning, no end and enjoy it while you can. Bin ich schön? was screened as part of the New German Films at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Senta Berger, Gottfried John, (more)
A remake of the highly-regarded 1958 film Das Maedchen Rosemarie (released as Rosemary in the U.S.), this fact-based drama follows the rise and fall of a German beauty who went from ex-convict to courtesan of some of Germany's most powerful men to the victim of an unsolved murder. The story begins in 1952 as Rosemarie sleeps her way into an early parole from a detention center. Newly freed, she is sent to a foster home where two years later, the buxom blonde runs away to Frankfurt where she starts living with Nadler, a charming small-time crook. Two years after that, Rosemarie is selling her body in a sleazy bar. One day she brings home a wealthy businessman who agrees to become her sugar daddy. As a result, Rosemarie leaves Nadler. The arrangement works out well, and she continues to entertain important clients. Her undoing comes in the form of a wealthy Frenchman who makes her an enticing, but ultimately dangerous offer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nina Hoss, Heiner Lauterbach, (more)
- 1997
Two terminal patients leave their hospital beds for the open highway in this German road movie, a popular success in Germany. When cancer victim Rudi (Jan Josef Liefers) meets Martin (Til Schweiger), who has a brain tumor, they knock back tequila one night and decide to head north to experience life at the seashore, something Rudi has hoped to do his entire life. However, the car they've stolen belongs to two thieves and contains a million marks. Soon they're being pursued by both thugs and cops. The film's soundtrack includes Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Shown at the 1997 London and AFI/Los Angeles film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Til Schweiger, Jan Josef Liefers, (more)
Julia Ormond stars as Copenhagen resident Smilla Jasperson, a reclusive, half-Inuit scientist who befriends a neglected Inuit boy who lives in her building. Arriving home from work one day, Smilla is mortified to learn that the boy has died in a fall from the building's roof. Suspicious because she knows that her young friend was afraid of heights, Smilla probes into the "accident." Her only ally is an enigmatic man known as the Mechanic (Gabriel Byrne), who also lives in the building and seems sympathetic. Smilla discovers that the boy's family is connected to a mining company conducting top-secret research in her ancestral home of Greenland. Then she spies the Mechanic and the company's president (Richard Harris) dining together. Is she a paranoid conspiracy theorist or a sleuth uncovering a bizarre murder mystery? When a retired secretary (Vanessa Redgrave) helps her make a critical discovery, Smilla sets off for Greenland, where the otherworldly, prehistoric answer to her questions awaits. Danish director Bille August's previous film Pelle the Conqueror (1987) also concerned the bond between an adult Denmark émigré and a child. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
