Max Tidof Movies
Joseph Vilsmaier (Stalingrad and Brother of Sleep) directed this fact-based German musical drama about a popular barbershop sextet in Nazi Germany of the '30s. In 1927, musician Harry Frommermann (Ulrich Noethen), attracted to music-shop assistant Erna (Meret Becker), joins ambitious vocalist Robert Biberti (Ben Becker) in forming a vocal group with arranger Erwin (Kai Wiesinger) and Bulgarian cafe-singer Ari (Max Tidof). As their fame increases, the authorities, who object to the Jews in the group, pressure them to perform National Socialist material. Traveling to New York, they eventually must decide whether to remain in the U.S. or return to Germany. The musical numbers use digitally remastered recordings by the real-life group, and computer graphics were employed to re-create a 1934 concert aboard an aircraft carrier in New York harbor. Barry Manilow's stage musical Harmony is based on this same music group. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Becker, Heino Ferch, (more)
- 1997
Though it starts out like a romantic comedy, Hannah is actually a chilling and suspenseful political thriller. Bright, energetic and charming Hannah has just landed a public relations job at the aging Hochstedt Doll Company. Her presence attracts the attention of both company owner Thomas and assistant director Wolfgang Heck, the nephew of Thomas. Things start out well for Hannah, but as she becomes more intimate with the company's inner workings, disturbing and potentially dangerous secrets emerge regarding the Hochstedt family's connections with the neo-Nazi movement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
Thelma & Louise go to Germany in this actioner. The story centers on two wandering women, Anna and Lisa, who encounter each other in a tiny town in eastern Germany when Lisa drops the toy gun she was using to rob a bank with, and Anna retrieves it for her. They soon team up to become Germany's most notorious traveling bandits, who are adept at evading Germany's crack police force. Along the way, the two women become great friends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This very short student film (55 minutes) was an unexpected commercial success in Germany. The story concerns the man-troubles of two women who are friends with each other. Maischa (Nina Kronjaeger) is man-hungry and knows it. She can't resist a good-looking man and generally gets the ones she sets her sights on. It's just that once she's got 'em, she's not all that happy about it. Her latest conquest is Rene (Gedeon Burkhard), a real looker who is also a thorough-going jerk. On the other hand, her friend Frenzy (Katja Riemann) spends most of her time slaving over her syndicated cartoon strip. She doesn't have much time or interest in dating. However, she has somehow managed to land what seems like the perfect man, a fellow who neither has a self-esteem problem nor goes around puffed up with arrogance, who is amusing and beguiling. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katja Riemann, Gedeon Burkhard, (more)
- 1993
In 1973, (Helmut Berger starred in one of Luchino Visconti's last masterpieces, a filmed biography of the Mad King of Bavaria (1845-1886) entitled Ludwig. In that film, the king's loss of control over his life was seen as resulting from a tragic disparity between the desires of an admittedly peculiar and neurotic man and the needs of the state of Bavaria, which he sold to the nation of Germany in order to raise funds to build his famous castles. In the present film, $Helmut Berger again plays Ludwig. In the story, Ludwig has travelled from Munich to Switzerland with a handsome actor (Max Tidof) who is part of his personal entourage, in order to hear him recite Schiller's "William Tell" in an appropriate setting. Unfortunately, the recitation is a disaster, and the aesthetic monarch is sorely disappointed. Meanwhile, his secretary of state is desperate to get him to pay some attention to more practical matters. Despite plentiful allusions in other quarters to the king's homosexuality, in this film no such inference or imagery appears. Instead, the king is maddened purely by an overstrong attachment to exalted aesthetic notions and ideals. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Berger, Max Tidof, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Father Joseph Mohr (Steve Bond) comes to stay with the family of Franz Guber (Cyrus Elias) in this romantic costume drama. The region is plagued by the evil Baron Von Seidl (David Warner) who delights in persecuting everyone including his own family. Magdalena (Nastassja Kinski) works at the local inn and falls in love with the unavailable Father Mohr. Janza (Franco Nero) is the insurgent who tries to incite a revolution against the despotic Baron. This drama of unrequited love contains nudity. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Amadeus only speculated on the probable causes of the death (both actual and spiritual) of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Czech-German Forget Mozart goes several steps further. When Mozart (Max Tidorf) is found dead, it's fairly obvious he's been murdered. Rounding up the likely suspects, Austrian police chief Count Pergen (Armin Mueller-Stahl) demands that each of his prisoners recall, in detail, his or her relationship to Mozart. As things unfold, however, it is clear that "guilt" is a relative term: the "murderer" turns out not to be a who, but a "what"--and even this is an elusive commodity. Nothing more can be revealed here without giving away the plot and the film's point of view. Originally titled Zabudnite na Mozarta, this existential exercise seemed destined from the start for limited art-house and festival viewings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Tidof, Armin Mueller-Stahl, (more)
