Peter Schlesinger Movies

In this entertaining and joyfully absurd children's comedy, an ordinary family wins Willfried, a very large white stallion, in a raffle and are then at a loss about what to do with him, since they live in a small apartment in a Berlin housing project. After the ad agency finishes their spectacular photos of the family with Willfried in the courtyard of the building, they leave and the family tethers the horse outside. But it starts to rain, so poor Willfried is brought inside and gets nervous on the stairs. Things go from bad to worse when the family finds out the ad agency will not take the horse back. The family brings him (illegally) by train to the country home of a friend, at least for the summer. But then what do they do? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's birth in 1483, a group of excellent stage and screen thespians joined to act out a street performance of the religious reformer's attitudes and views, divided according to the many hats he wore: monk, reformer, fugitive, politico, and also prophet. As an added twist at the end, the actors -- still in costume -- both review and debate the very aspects of Luther's philosophy dramatized for the audience. Although the acting and dialogue are well-executed, the camerawork is hampered by a low vantage point and uncoordinated takes that may or may not focus on the most important moments on the stage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this children's film, many of the ills of urban living are plowed into a highway-building project that runs through a greenbelt of forest. The planned highway threatens the home of a retired (and retiring) magician, a cause that the younger set can get behind. The themes of this well-intentioned film are stated in no uncertain terms, though few would disagree with the message no matter how it is couched. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This unsettling British Alien clone (released in the U.K. under the sleazy title Inseminoid) is set in the labyrinthine underground caverns of a remote planet, where a team of scientific explorers find themselves in the bizarre predicament of defending themselves from a rampaging, pregnant crew member (Judy Geeson). It seems the poor woman has been impregnated by a slime-covered insectoid alien (as depicted in a surreal and truly disgusting flashback), and the resulting hormonal imbalance has transformed her into an inhumanly strong, psychopathic killer. She promptly sets about dismembering and eating everyone in sight (no doubt because of the baby's nutritional requirements) before finally giving birth to a pair of snarling little mutants bearing a more-than-passing resemblance to the terror tykes from the It's Alive series. Aside from the admittedly "unique" premise, this is a fairly standard rip-off -- complete with characters resembling their Alien counterparts -- and the lovely Geeson's rabid, eye-popping performance is more than a bit uncomfortable to watch. The American video release is missing a great deal of the original's graphic violence. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Anyone interested in why UFOs might be stealing our lettuce deserves to sit through this film. The plot, not a regular garden-variety, involves an earthling experimenting with the explosive potential of lettuce. This singularly dedicated biologist runs into interference by the police, finds his mother who has been missing for years, and begins a love affair with the daughter of a baker. Involved in this mix of characters is the U.S and Russian armies, and a film crew working on a movie about Hitler. None of these elements make sense in the long run, or short run either. These oddities are being observed from the UFO, which is perched out in space like a hawk, waiting for one of the little lettuces to blossom into a full-blown explosive device before it swoops down to steal the organic weapon of mass destruction. This film was distinguished at the 1984 Vienna Film Festival as being one of the entries in the "Cinema Nobody Likes" category. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Unable to pay her illegitimate children's education costs, and having virtually no employable skills, Hilde (Erika Skrotzki) is arrested by state authorities and placed in a women's detention center on an island for a stay of several months. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

All sorts of schemes have been used in West Germany by developers anxious to move people out of old apartment houses so that new and more profitable developments can be put in their places. This sincere drama follows the work of "evictors," those whose job it is to get people who have been tricked into signing away their apartment leases out of their apartments and (sometimes) into other housing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This largely improvised film examines the family life of a girl who attempts suicide. It is the all-too common case of an extremely sensitive child who grows up in a perfectly decent family with rather commonplace values. Her parents are not very sensitive and, without intending to, ride roughshod over her hopes and dreams. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A true oddity that cannot escape its dated origins, A Bigger Splash is a fictional film in which all the actors play themselves. David Hockney is a gay painter unable to work when he breaks up with a boyfriend, leading his friends and his art dealer to worry about him. Eventually, Hockney begins a new painting, using a swimming pool as a canvas, in which he draws a picture of a man floating in the pool while his lover stands outside and stares. Made in 1974 but unreleased until a decade later, A Bigger Splash paints a vivid picture of the "Swinging London" art and gay scenes of the early 1970s. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide