Peter Chatel Movies

In three separate, amateurish stories set in an indeterminate future when television rules the roost and humans are increasingly robot-like, the focus is on the first-prize winners in a TV contest. The first winner is a professor who lectures on mythology via closed-circuit television from his apartment. Worried about his ratings, he goes for consultation and consolation to an attractive female friend. But after a lecture on centaurs, tragedy strikes, and the young professor never learns he is a winner after all. In the next story, the winner is a loner who hates the robotic society and falls in love with a woman he only knows by her voice. In the last story, the winner turns out to be a canine, who couldn't care less about his good luck -- or even understand it.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

As the discovery of an ancient map leads to the archaeological search for a long-lost sculptor's studio, the outcome hardly seems as though it will be victorious for anyone, right from the beginning. Two Italian art forgers are in competition with an American dealer to lay claim to the ancient site and its treasures, yet the sparse dialogue, sensitive cinematography, and interest in human nature tend to undermine the impact of any action or drama in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Looping is an obscure German melodrama bearing traces of the silent classic Variety. Shelley Winters and Hans-Christian Blech star as Carmen and Johnny, two carnival performers. Business is bad, and their act is going nowhere. To lure in new audiences, Johnny hires a stripteaser named Tanja (Sydne Rome). From this point, it's only a matter of time before sex and jealousy leads to violence and general chaos. Filmed in 1981, Looping was first seen in America in 1982, when it was picked up for telecast by the Showtime cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In a nursing home, an elderly woman (Johanna Konig) fantasizes at length about being the wife of Tarzan. Beneath her raincoat, she wears a leopard-skin outfit, and carries around a photo album of her years with her "husband." This humorous film includes many scenes enacting the fantasies of this doddering old lady in the company of a young (but very puzzled) Tarzan. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This fast-paced black comedy by wunderkind director Rainer Werner Fassbinder follows the frantic efforts of a starving and confused writer, Walter Kranz (Kurt Raab) to beg, borrow or steal enough money to survive on, and at the same time make some sense of his confusing life. Unable to write enough to keep his publisher's royalty advances coming, he seeks out a woman he imagines is a prostitute and interviews her for material. He is also inspired to utter some poetry, which his brassy, outspoken wife identifies as coming from the famous homosexuality-advocating mystical German poet, Stefan George. This inspires Walter to take a closer look at the "gay scene," and he quickly becomes a sort of celebrity there. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Mother Kusters (Brigette Kira) is the wife of a factory worker who goes beserk one day, killing himself and the boss' son. Mother finds herself a media celebrity, which only serves to make herself and her late husband look like idiots. Later, Mother is "adopted" by a Communist couple who wish to exploit her husband's "act of defiance" for their own purposes. Finally left alone, Mother Kusters decides to stop living off her husband's notoriety and turn into a human being again. Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder used the 1929 film Mother Krausen's Journey to Happiness as a springboard for his own mysoginistic slant on opportunism. The film hit a bit too close to home in his own country, where it was banned from entering the Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A scientist in charge of a project that could usher in a bold new era of technology begins experiencing signs of mental illness that may indicate the onset of schizophrenia, but could be the bold first step in merging man and machine in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's mind-bending sci-fi classic. The "Simulacron 1" project was designed by The Institute for Cybernetics and Futurology to predict the events of the future with uncanny accuracy. Though the benevolent scientists in charge of the project envision the "Simulacron 1" being used to improve living conditions for all the people of planet Earth, other, less altruistic people see it as a source of unparalleled power. The future of the project comes into question, however, when its mastermind, Professor Vollmer, dies unexpectedly. Attributing his death to suicide due to his strange behavior in recent weeks, institute head Herbert Siskins quickly places the capable Dr. Fred Stiller in charge of the project. But it isn't long before Dr. Stiller, too, begins to display signs of mental instability that seem to indicate the early stages of schizophrenia. Now, the deeper Dr. Stiller immerses himself in the project, the more he begins to see signs of life in the electronic 'identity units' of the "Simulacron 1." As the "identity units" begin to take on the appearance of someone he knows, the line between technology and humanity becomes indistinguishable. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This Swiss film, Tonight or Never, bears no relationship to the 1931 Melvyn Douglas/Gloria Swanson film of the same name. Instead, ballet, pantomime, tableaux, slow motion and other exaggerated techniques are effectively used to recount events during a European festival in which servants and masters briefly changes places. The soundtrack tellingly uses popular music of all sorts from the '30s. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (The Merchant of Four Seasons) is about the deterioration of a man's soul. Fruit vendor Hans (Hans Hirschmüller) cannot please his family. His mother harps on his failures. His wife is openly discontent. He must peddle produce to his beloved ex-girlfriend, and he is mocked by his customers for being shorter and fatter than his wife. He is withdrawn, crushed, and humiliated. He turns to drinking and violence, but his rage causes his wife and daughter to leave him. While desperately begging for their return, Hans suffers a debilitating heart attack. His family comes back, but Hans is unable to work and must hire help for his fruit stand. Hans' first employee is his wife's ex-lover, whom he fires for embezzling. He then hires a friend and hero from his legionnaire days, Harry (Klaus Löwitsch), out of pity. Harry is hardworking, diligent, and clever. He turns Hans' business around and enlivens his home life. Harry's success also begins to displace Hans -- with his fruit stand, with his wife, and even with his child. Hans becomes useless, a nothing -- exactly what his mother, his wife, and those around him set him up to be. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

This story from Alexander Dumas is updated to modern times and tinged with graphic nudity and eroticism. Marguerite (Daniele Gaubert) is the tart who sleeps her way up the social ladder to help Armand Duval (Nino Castelnuevo), a commoner who happens to be her boyfriend. The original story has Camille dying from tuberculosis, but in this version she suffers from an unknown ailment. She takes a variety of drugs and becomes a walking zombie (when she can stand up) in this expertly photographed sexploitation feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi