Jean-Marie Straub Movies
Filmmaker Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet, his wife and co-director, have become leading figures in New German cinema. Their films are not for passive viewers seeking light entertainment; films such as Not Reconciled or Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules (1965) are intellectually demanding, and yet are among the most haunting films of German cinema. Prior to teaming up with Huillet, the French born Straub worked as an assistant to French directors such as Abel Gance, Jean Renoir, and Robert Bresson. He met and teamed up with Huillet in 1954. To avoid the draft, he fled to Munich, Germany in 1958 where they got involved with radical theater groups. By the early sixties he and his wife had become a prominent directors. They made their debut with the short Machorka-Muff in 1963. In 1968, their long-time friend Fassbinder appeared in The Bridegroom, the Comedienne and the Pimp. Straub and Huillet's most famous film is Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968). By the late '60s, Straub had moved more into producing their films while Huillet continued to direct. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
A feature length follow-up to Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet's short film Introduction to Arnold Schoenberg's Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene, this largely static adaptation of Schoenberg's Biblical opera balances philosophy and drama while detailing Moses and his older brother's attempt to help lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gunther Reich, Louis Devos, (more)
- 1972
In this very intellectual German film, a young man drives around Rome. When he is not driving around, he sits on a park bench and is lectured by toga-wearing notables about the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1969
This plodding, pretentious feature is based on the story Othon by Pierre Corneille. The expressionless actors deliver their lines dressed in ancient Roman costumes while the traffic of modern-day Rome roars by in the background. Director Jean-Marie Straub's fascination with the Gallic poet is admirable, but people left en mass at the Venice Film Festival well before the picture was done being shown. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adriano Apra, Ennio Lauricella, (more)
- 1968
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The widow of Bach reminisces in this biography. Her life with the great composer was not easy. He seldom spoke to her. When he did, it was only to read letters of complaint. Included are performances of Bach's works including the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, Prelude 6 from the "Little Clavier Book for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Minuet 2 of the Suite in D Minor from the "Little Clavier Book for Anna Magdalena Bach, Sonata No. 2 in D Major for Viola and Harpsichord, Partita in E Minor from the "Little Clavier Book for Anna Magdalena Bach, Trio-sonata No. 2 in C Minor, Magnificat in D Major, "St. Matthew Passion, Prelude in B Minor for Organ, Mass in B Minor, Ascension Oratorio, Clavier-Uebung Italian Concerto, Goldberg Variations, Musical Offering, Art of the Fugue Corale for Organ, and Cantatas No. 205, 198, 244, 42, 215, 140, 82. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1965
Husband-and-wife filmmakers Straub and Huillet are best known for their avant-garde films, but they did make a few dramas, though the complexity of this one may turn off some viewers. It is the chronicle of the difficult lives of three generations of relatives from a German family who hold a reunion in 1956 Cologne. There they look back on their troubled history that began when their children were killed during WW I. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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