Herbert Knaup Movies

The English title of Wallers Letzter Gang is Wallers Last Trip. Accordingly, the film's story is centered around a Bavarian railroad-track inspector named Waller (Rolf Illig). In the manner of Wild Strawberries, the aging Waller muses on his past. He recalls his loved ones, his occasional indiscretions, and his disturbing experiences during WW II. Wallers Letzter Gang is based on Die Strecke, a novel by Gerhard Kopf. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The literal translation of the film's title is "To Err is Manly," the meaning of which soon becomes apparent. A lively comedy of sex and relationships, it centers on Thomas, a prominent Munich lawyer who wonders about the origins of his children after a doctor informs him that he has been sterile all his life. Comparing his two kids to pictures of friends, he narrows down the suspects to two possible candidates, both of whom he calls up and invites for a little visit. Needing to talk to someone, he confides in his closest friend Johannes, a priest. A reformed playboy himself, Johannes goes to Bettina, Thomas's beloved wife, and tells him about the scheme. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this satire on office intrigue and middle-class status seeking, Albert (Herbert Knaup) is a ordinary middle-aged finance executive with a wife, Sabine (Andrea Sawitzki), a teenage daughter, Sandra (Alexandra Maria Lara), and a fine home in an upscale suburb of Munich. Just before Albert is about to take his family on a vacation in the South Pacific, his company is put under investigation for fraud, and suddenly a hold is put on his credit card, leaving him stranded at home. However, neither Albert nor his family want the neighbors to know what happened, so they leave their house as if going to the airport anyway, and then sneak back home to hide in the basement for the next two weeks. Able to sneak out only under cover of darkness, Albert discovers his neighbor, Helmut (Ben Becker), is after his job, which will give him plenty to think about when he's not busy trying to drain out the basement after it floods. Suedsee, Eigene Insel was the first theatrical feature from director Thomas Bahmann, who was previously noted for his televsion work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This TNT miniseries stars Alec Baldwin as Robert Jackson, the Supreme Court justice who served as the head prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal that took place in Nuremberg after the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust. The film follows Jackson from his preparations for the trial to the outcome of the trial itself, paying particular attention to the interplay between Jackson and the Nazi thugs he is trying to prosecute. Brian Cox co-stars a Hermann Goering, Hitler's right-hand man, while Christopher Plummer plays British prosecutor Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, and Jill Hennessey portrays Elise Douglas, Jackson's invaluable secretary and sometime lover. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

A family on the run for their lives finds themselves in a beautiful but utterly unfamiliar world in this drama based on the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig. Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze) is a successful Jewish lawyer living in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich. Aware of the increasing dangers of remaining in Germany, Walter seeks exile on a farm in Kenya, while his socially prominent wife, Jettel (Juliane Koehler), and his young daughter, Regina (Lea Kurka), stay behind, as does his father, Max (Gerd Heinz), and Jettel's sister, Kaethe (Regine Zimmermann). In time, as the pogroms against the Jews increase in Germany, Jettel and Regina join Walter in Kenya, but the transition is not easy for Walter, who is still learning the nuts and bolts of running the farm (and discovers that Germans are not welcomed by the British settlers in Kenya), or Jettel, who is not accustomed to physical labor and resents having to help with the farming. While Regina at first finds her new surroundings alienating and unfamiliar, she soon becomes fascinated with the rugged beauty of Kenya and becomes fast friends with Owuor (Sidede Onyulo), who serves as the family's cook. In time, Germany invades Africa, and Walter finds himself in a British internment camp; Jettel and Regina also are captured, but Jettel uses her sexual allure to persuade a British officer to arrange for Walter to be put in charge of another farm, and Regina is sent to a boarding school for girls. After the war, the Redlichs must decide whether to remain in Kenya or to return to the country that would have persecuted them. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

German director Hans-Christian Schmid teams up again with writing partner Michael Gutmann for the ensemble film Lichter (Distant Lights). The film takes place during a few days around the Oder River, which acts as a border between Poland and Germany. Several different interrelated stories involve young adults who smuggle cigarettes, a businessman who sells black-market mattresses, and a cab driver trying to get his daughter a communion dress. While trying to cross the river at night, Ukranian Kolya (Ivan Shvedov) is arrested while two other Ukranians (Sergei Frolov and Anna Yanovskaya) are helped by the cab driver. Lichter premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Oskar Roehler's drama Der Alte Affe Angst (Angst) is about the dissolution of a couple. Robert (Andre Hennicke) and Marie (Marie Baumer) have little in common other than their sex life. Since Robert is going through a bout with impotency, they are having a very rocky time. Robert learns that his father, whom he is estranged from, has died. This disturbs Robert so much that he visits a prostitute, and is able to engage in sex with her. Marie discovers the infidelity, and the prostitute has a surprise of her own. Angst was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A man who has devoted his life to ferreting out "dangerous" characters is thrown into a quandary when he investigates a man who poses no threat in this drama, the first feature from German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It's 1984, and Capt. Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is an agent of the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Weisler carefully and dispassionately investigates people who might be deemed some sort of threat to the state. Shortly after Weisler's former classmate, Lt. Col. Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), invites him to a theatrical piece by celebrated East German playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme) informs Weisler that he suspects Dreyman of political dissidence, and wonders if this renowned patriot is all that he seems to be. As it turns out, Hempf has something of an ulterior motive for trying to pin something on Dreyman: a deep-seated infatuation with Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), Dreyman's girlfriend. Nevertheless, Grubitz, who is anxious to further his career, appoints Weisler to spy on the gentleman with his help. Weisler plants listening devices in Dreyman's apartment and begins shadowing the writer. As Weisler monitors Dreyman's daily life, however (from a secret surveillance station in the gentleman's attic), he discovers the writer is one of the few East Germans who genuinely believes in his leaders. This changes over time, however, as Dreyman discovers that Christa-Maria is being blackmailed into a sexual relationship with Hempf, and one of Dreyman's friends, stage director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert), is driven to suicide after himself being blackballed by the government. Dreyman's loyalty thus shifts away from the East German government, and he anonymously posts an anti-establishment piece in a major newspaper which rouses the fury of government officials. Meanwhile, Weisler becomes deeply emotionally drawn into the lives of Dreyman and Sieland, and becomes something of an anti-establishment figure himself, embracing freedom of thought and expression. A major box-office success in Germany, Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Franz-Xaver Kroatz stars in this wacky German fantasy comedy as Brandner Kaspar, an elderly German smith rapidly careening toward the end of his life, but in no hurry to leave. He's soon visited by Death, who attempts to whisk him off to the afterlife; instead, Brandner slips Death a few too many drinks, gets him wildly intoxicated, and convinces him to bequeath 18 more years of life as a reward for a win at a card game. When tragedy strikes Brandner, however, it stirs up some serious misgivings in the old man about the prospect of remaining on Earth for another two decades. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide