Agnes Fink Movies
- 1991
In 1922, a weather observer and his wife (Mathias Gnädinger and Susanne Lothar) lived in a remote cabin high in the Swiss Alps. As this drama begins, they are being joined by a third person, an Austrian (Peter Simonischek) who coveted the job the Swiss man had won in this bleak location. Not only that, but he also has his eyes on the Swiss man's lovely wife. The Austrian has charm, so he wins some hospitality from the couple. The three live together for a little while, but the rivalry between the two men soon erupts with tragic consequences. This drama is based on a true story. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susanne Lothar, Mathias Gnädinger, (more)
- 1988
In this mystery, Julien Lerner (Helmut Berger) is haunted by his nightmare of a woman being strangled to death at an aquarium. While traveling to work one morning, he sees the woman he dreamed about and follows her into a bar. He loses track of her but sees the man who murdered her in the dream. Julien becomes obsessed with the characters, quits his job and moves into a fleabag hotel to be near the prostitute Bichette (Sylvie Orcier). He goes from being a respectable businessman to becoming another one of the strange and mysterious characters in the seedy waterfront dive. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Sylvie Orcier, (more)
- 1983
The death of an influential community leader usually does not set off large problems. Then again, they don't usually die in a house of prostitution. In German. ~ All Movie Guide
Hanna Schygulla and Angela Winkler are the stars of the German psychological drama Friends and Husbands. Having both been burned by unhappy relationships with men, Schygulla and Winkler become more and more reliant upon each other. The men in their lives can't come to grips with their strong friendship, and begin writing off Schygulla and Winkler as "oddballs." As in most of her films, writer/director Margarethe von Trotta probes the unspoken human complexities that draw people together. Von Trotta also weaves a political subtext into the proceedings: it isn't immediately obvious, but it's there all the same. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hanna Schygulla, Angela Winkler, (more)
- 1979
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This West German film is a contemporary tale with gloomy overtones of the 19th Century August Strindberg one-act play The Stronger The sisters of the title are an executive secretary and her younger biology-student sibling. The secretary supports the student, exercising virtually total control over the younger girl's life. But as the film unfolds, it becomes clear that both women are utterly dependent upon one another. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jutta Lampe, Gudrun Gabriel, (more)
- 1977
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The West German The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (Das Zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages) stars Tina Engel in the title role. Unable to pay the rent on the day care center that she operates, Christa steals the money from a bank, then tries to cover up her crime by passing the money off as a church donation. When the priest will have none of this, Christa and her accomplice, Werner (Marius Muller-Westerhagen), go into hiding. Werner is killed in a police ambush, whereupon Christa moves to Lisbon in a vain effort to start her life anew. Broke and dispirited, Christa returns to Germany, where she is promptly arrested, but that is far from the end of her story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tina Engel, Sylvia Reize, (more)
- 1976
The lovely Leni (Katja Rupe) lives in a cottage on the slopes of the hill owned by the wealthy Sternstein farming family. She has had her eye on Toni, the son of that family, for some time and hopes to wed him and occupy the glorious Sternstein manor. Toni, too, has been longing to marry her. Instead, each is forced to marry others. When both their spouses die, the two are finally able to wed, but by then the war intervenes, and the mansion goes unoccupied. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katja Rupé, Tilo Prückner, (more)
- 1971
In this German tragedy, a generally humane bureaucrat ruins his life by too rigorously enforcing the rules concerning honest weight. Taking place in the years just prior to World War I, the film is set in a colorful village in Galicia, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Because of his efforts to enforce strict weights and measures, our bureaucrat has become the most-hated man in his region. His wife cuckolds him and has a child by another man, his gypsy girlfriend abuses him mercilessly and he is hunted down by those he has mortally offended. He slowly comes to realize that almost everything people do is short-weighted in some way. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Beginning with the declassé premise of this ostensible, unconvincing slice-of-life comedy -- that the heroine's overriding objective in life is to find THE man for her -- French director Julien Duvivier already has problems. Doris (Giulietta Masina) is a woman not prone to deep thinking, whose quest for the perfect mate leads her to break apart friends' relationships while trying out "their" men. She also goes in and out of dependent relationships with men in which she essentially lives off their largesse. Neither of these types of sexual-romantic adventures are very commendable, and that among other factors, takes away much of the comic sheen meant to liven these exploits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giulietta Masina, Agnes Fink, (more)
