Thomas Strittmatter Movies

A quiet tale of tragedy based on the stage play by Thomas Strittmatter, this lugubrious story of a Polish woman's ill-fated stay on a German farm at the end of World War II is not a good testimonial for human values. After the timid Anna has worked for awhile on the farm, the family accepts her into their fold, much more than Nazi regulations would allow. Before long, a pregnant Anna is found murdered, her body floating in a nearby lake. The police commissioner takes advantage of the investigation to hide out at the farm in order to escape the approaching Allied forces. After it becomes clear who the murderer must be, the farm wife is left alone with the police commissioner, and the two soon start up an intimate relationship. The saga continues -- right into a very awkward future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Winckelmann is a travelling salesman in Germany. Somehow he makes a living, but only with great difficulty. Over the course of the film, one learns a great deal about his personal life. His father still dreams of the time he visited Miami in the U.S., and his current girlfriend appears to be ready to leave him and her current life behind for a job in Belgium. As for his ex-wife, Winckelmann isn't the one who initiated the break, and he misses her and the child he has helped raise. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This film takes place in 1935 in a once-tranquil valley in the Black Forest, where Jewish cattle dealer Levi goes every year to do business. This year, he also wants to propose to Lisbeth Horger. But the valley seems to have changed. Workers from the National Railway are repairing damage in the train tunnel, and their presence has changed the spirit of the closed-off valley. The town hopes for an economic upswing, but the workers also introduce Nazi ideology. Farmer Horger will no longer sell his cattle to Jews. Swastika flags appear on the tables of the local pub. Someone slashes the tires of Levi's car. Nobody will defend Levi except Lisbeth, but the era does not favor their union. People are caught in the confrontation between the old and the new order; they end up doing things they don't really want to do. Thomas Strittmatter, author of the play on which the film is based, constructed the narrative from recollections of stories told by his family and neighbors about a Jewish cattle dealer, Levi. The theme of the film has universal qualities; the outsider and his wish to integrate are applicable to many contemporary ethnic conflicts. Viehjud Levi was screened at the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi