Robert van Ackeren Movies

The West German Die Venusfalle stars alluring actress Evelyn Rille as...alluring actress Evelyn Rille. The English-language title of this erotic drama is The Venus Trap, which should give one a good idea of its content. No mere sexploitationer, Die Venusfalle is given Tiffany treatment by director Robert Van Ackeren. The film proved quite popular in its native country, and matched that popularity abroad. At present, Die Venusfalle is one of the few German soft-core sex films available on laserdisc. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A sailor learns to take, and give, it like a man in this surrealistic adaptation of writer and thief Jean Genet's novel Querelle de Brest by avant-garde German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In a colorful brothel in the port of Brest, proprietor Nono (Gunther Kaufmann) is known for wagering with his customers. Win a throw of the dice, and they get to make love with his wife, Lysiane (Jeanne Moreau); lose, and they must take it from behind by Nono himself. One day, Lysiane reads the tarot for her lover, Robert (Hanno Poschl), and learns in the cards of his intense passion for his brother, Querelle (Brad Davis). Querelle himself soon arrives, and the brothers enact a bizarre greeting halfway between a hug and a wrestling match. Querelle, it seems, is looking for partners in a drug deal; Robert points him in the right direction. An argument about the merits of sex between men soon leads Querelle to murder his fellow smuggler, Vic (Dieter Schidor). Back at the whorehouse, Querelle loses on purpose to Nono and finds he has a taste for passive gay sex. Meanwhile, fellow sailor Gil, who looks exactly like Querelle's brother (and is played by the same actor), murders one of his compatriots after the brute publicly impugns his manhood. Wanted by the police for both his own crime and Querelle's, Gil goes on the lam. Querelle soon crashes his hideout, and an intense bond develops between the two murderers -- a friendship that will lead Querelle to the greatest love, and the greatest treachery, of his life. Director Fassbinder was in the process of editing Querelle when he died of a drug overdose in June 1982. Gunther Kaufmann, who plays Nono, was Fassbinder's ex-lover; the film is dedicated to another former lover, El Hedi Ben Salem, the news of whose suicide had just reached the director. Critically derided even by many of Fassbinder's admirers, Querelle earned a Golden Raspberry award for Worst "Original" Song for "Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves," an Oscar Wilde poem set to music by Peer Raben and sung repeatedly by Jeanne Moreau. Moreau had previously starred in Mademoiselle, a Tony Richardson effort co-scripted by Genet. Look for Frank Ripploh, another pioneering German director, in a cameo. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Robert Van Ackeren's documentary is actually a sequence of 44 spliced-together home videos, each with an introductory title such as "Friends, the Art Film," and accompanied by voiceover commentary, or music. Rather than displaying the family content of an American television program like "America's Funniest Home Videos," the "Private" lives of at least some of the citizens of Deutschland are for adults only, and only certain adults. Comedic commentary adds hilarity to the scenes, when it is provided. When not provided, the clips simply take a voyeuristic foray into the now not-so-private lives of consenting men and women. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Ironies abound in this witty romance which tells a tale of greed and love. Edward is a lawyer who works for a women's underwear factory. He is ambitious, and wants to take the factory over. He hits on the scheme of wooing both the wife of the factory owner and her daughter. Several things go wrong with his plan. For one thing, he has begun to fall in love with the daughter. For another, her mother, who has a heart condition, dies during a peak moment while making love. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This German melodrama intentionally crosses the line into self-parody at times. The story's theme is sexual and relational ambiguity. Raymond has a girlfriend, Ria, and an unusually affectionate (and jealous) brother. When he stumbles into a lesbian strip joint, he falls in love with its star, Harlis. Despite her apparent sexual orientation, Harlis is surprisingly responsive to Raymond's advances. However, she is also in love with her fellow stripper, Pera. Complicated and gory mayhem results from Raymond's pursuit of Harlis. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This routine western adventure finds two gunmen separating after a successful bank heist. The younger man takes off with the money and plans to meet his accomplice in a ghost town. The arrival is observed by a shadowy outcast, a nymphomaniac, and a beautiful girl who is unable to speak. The man meets his partner and a violent fight over the money ensues. Rocks, guns, and knives are employed as the money changes hands several times. The younger man emerges the survivor out of five who fought for the suitcase of loot, but the girl he became attached to has left with the money. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This comedy finds actors and actresses lip-syncing to opera, classical music and modern pop. Hilarious mimicry accompanies the music in this expertly filmed feature. The film took the top prize for most original picture at the 1969 Mannheim Film Festival, the Josef von Sternberg award. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this German drama, a dock worker must wander the streets of Hamburg after he is locked out of his shelter. In the poorer part of town, he encounters a young woman. He wants to begin an affair with her, but it is not meant to be. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi