Claus-Dieter Reents Movies
- 1995
In this unusual German comedy, an arrogant and ultra macho misogynist, Fred, is killed by his wife and finds himself at the gates of hell begging for mercy. He is given one more chance on the condition that he return to earth and teach three disillusioned women that love exists. He has three days. Guided by his late mother, who has been reincarnated as a plucked turkey, Fred is slowly introduced to his assignments. He is next assisted by the terminally shy and frowzy Rita, who is considered to be hopeless in the love department. When Fred explains the situation, Rita agrees to help and soon blossoms into a lovely young woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Jojo (Peter Lohmeyer) was counting on his inheritance from a rich uncle to pay off his gambling debts, but the old man played a dirty trick on him, giving him custody of an oversized dog, and leaving the real cash in the hands of one of his neices. His comfortable fantasy of future solvency has been sorely tried; to restore it, he begins to try wooing his cousin Kathrin (the woman with the loot). However, as things progress, he finds himself actually falling for her, which is perhaps the only really decent thing that he's done in his adult life. When he and a gambling buddy take Kathrin (Anica Dobra) on a jaunt to the south of France, things get pretty dicey when a corrupt cop comes onto the scene. In this romantic thriller, only one will survive. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lohmeyer, Anica Dobra, (more)
- 1986
In this well-photographed and sometimes confusing wartime drama, an Austrian village experiences the tragedy of war on several different levels. Within one family, the younger son is jealous of the praise his father gives to a Polish POW who is working for them under very difficult conditions. Within the village as a whole, the French, Polish, and Russian POWs are kept under guard by Nazi soldiers, creating a tense situation all around. But more importantly, the village has conspired to hide an Austrian deserter in a cave up in the mountains. This act of rebellion on the part of the deserter and the village hangs in a precarious balance that could be upset by a single traitorous comment to the Gestapo. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florian Pircher, Albert Paulus, (more)
- 1986
Not to be confused with the 1980 Polish film of the same title, this Va Banque is a lively drama about three ordinary and disillusioned citizens who decide to rob an armored car. Helen's (Grazyna Dylong) boutique is not doing so well, Paul's (Achim Reichel) garage is in the same shape, and the ex-lawyer Stefan (Winfried Glatzeder) has had it with making do as a taxi driver. Stefan meets an armored-car driver while playing tennis and soon has all the right info to pull off a heist. Once Helen and Paul throw in their lot with Stefan, the robbery is a done deal. What happens afterwards is not the usual moralistic ending for a cops-and-robbers tale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grazyna Dylong, Winfried Glatzeder, (more)
Like a glossy wrapping around an empty box, this film about sophisticated gamblers with nothing deeper than their gambling addiction involves a story no deeper than the tracks along its plot line: win at the casinos alone, win with a woman companion, and then cheat to win some more. Elric (Jacques Dutronc) is a professional gambler successfully working the roulette wheel at the casino in Portuguese Madeira when he meets Suzie (Bulle Ogier) at 7:07 p.m. wearing a T-shirt with the number "7" on it. Convinced she will bring him luck if she stays with him at the games for 7 days, Elric talks Suzie into keeping him company -- he is also hoping her disinterest in gambling will cure him of his habit. The reverse happens; he infects Suzie with the gambling bug. At that juncture, Jorg (Kurt Raab), a skillful cheat at many games, cons Elric into taking off with him to scam their way through one casino after another. The men leave and when they return, the temporary rift between Suzie and Elric is healed -- she objected to Jorg's methods -- but Elric is now infected with Jorg's methods himself and uses a remote-control electronic device to cheat at roulette, winning a fortune. With these proceeds, he and Suzie can start building that chateau in the French Alps they have always dreamed of owning -- though it remains to be seen if the gambling bug has been exterminated or is just lying dormant for awhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Dutronc, Bulle Ogier, (more)
Screenwriter George Axelrod turns Alfred Hitchcock's classic comedy-thriller into a capering screwball comedy showcase for Cybill Shepherd and Elliot Gould in this style-less remake of The Lady Vanishes. On an express train traveling through pre-World War II Germany, Amanda Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends a cute old nanny, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury). But when Miss Froy disappears and the rest of the passengers profess no knowledge of the old woman, Amanda and Robert Condon (Elliot Gould -- the only person aboard who will believe her story about the missing woman -- search the train trying to find out what happened to Miss Froy. In the meantime, they uncover an insidious German plot and fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, (more)
- 1977
Franz Lang (Gotz George) was one of the commandants of the Auschwitz concentration camps. He was also a man whose honor consisted of following the orders given to him by his superiors as perfectly as possible, whatever those orders might be. This German-made movie chronicles his career beginning in World War I, and shows in detail how he came to occupy the infamous position of Auschwitz commandant. Told in an understated manner without extraneous moral commentary, the story continues up to his interrogation at the end of the war by an American officer, and shows how it was possible for this fairly ordinary man to, without any particular anger or hatred, personally execute or cause to be killed hundreds of thousands of people. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kai Taschner
