Jürgen Vogel Movies

A film that was reportedly over ten years in the making, Männersache represents the long-awaited onscreen pairing of two German comics: Dieter Tappert, and standup sensation Mario Barth. Barth stars as Paul, the assistant in a Berlin pet shop who harbors not-so-quiet aspirations of establishing himself as a stand-up comedian. In time, he manages to achieve this goal, but does so by aggressively making fun of his best friend Hotte (Tappert) and his sexy girlfriend, Susi (Anja Kling). Paul's potshots and putdowns score with audiences across Deutschland, but in the process he risks losing the ones he loves the most, and must quickly choose between career priorities and personal ones. Uwe Ochsenknecht and Juergen Vogel contribute guest roles. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A precocious girl turns sleuth to recover a missing diary and uncovers more than she bargained for in this family-friendly comedy-drama. Eleven-year-old Paula (Thelma Heintzelmann) is a smart girl who has been forced to be more self-reliant than she'd wish thanks to the busy lives of her folks. Paula's most prized possession is her diary, in which she spins tales from her rich fantasy life about romantic adventures with a handsome young hero. Paula runs afoul of a pair of youthful thieves who take a knife to her backpack and make off with its contents, including her diary. Tobi (Paul Vincent de Wall), one of Paula's classmates who has a secret infatuation with her, hears about the missing diary, and he offers to help her find it. Before long, Paula and Tobi are playing detective on a grander scale than expected, and they buy more time to search for the diary by sending her younger sister Jenny (Constanze Spranger) to summer camp in Paula's place. However, when Paula and Tobi learn the truth about the thieves, they find they've uncovered a crime ring with ties to trafficking in kidnapped children. Paulas Geheimnis (Paula's Secret) also stars Albert Berisa, Claudia Michelsen and Juide Girisken. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

First-time German writer-director Sven Taddicken authors and helms the unconventional romance Emmas Gluck (AKA Emmas Bliss, 2006). The film opens on Max (Jordis Triebel), an ungifted car salesman who learns from his physician that he's dying of pancreatic cancer and only has a short time to live. On impulse, Max lifts a large sum of cash from his boss's holdings, and takes off for Mexican beaches. An auto accident, however, waylays him, and he has a chance encounter with Emma, a slightly hostile and thoroughly lonely pig breeder who opts to slaughter her hogs by holding them gently until all of the blood drains out. Emma instantly grows smitten with Max (and her excitement doubles when she learns of the money he pilfered; Max, in return, falls in love with Emma, and the romance drives the encroaching cancer completely out of his mind. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Tom Tykwer protégé Sebastian Schipper details the burgeoning friendship between an introverted corporate drone and a mischievous motor-mouth while taking the audience for a wild ride in a series of formidably powerful street machines. Conscientious Karl (Daniel Bruehl) was on the fast track to success when his boss Fernandez (Peter Kurth) assigned him the thankless task of spying on the head of a questionable car rental service. Though the exercise was more a test of Karl's reaction to provocation than an outright necessity, the depressive suit and tie guy voices no objection to the job and soon makes contact with fast-talking garage employee Hans (Juergen Vogel). While reserved Karl and hyperactive Hans couldn't be more different, the pair soon finds common ground in their mutual love of fast cars and beautiful women. When Hans introduces Karl to his beautiful girlfriend Stelle (Sabine Timoteo), Karl gradually begins to emerge from his shell and try his luck with the local ladies. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta directs the war drama Rosenstrasse, based on the plight of "mixed marriages" between Jewish men and non-Jewish women during the Holocaust. In contemporary New York, Jewish matriarch Ruth (Jutta Lampe) practices Orthodox mourning traditions for her late husband, to the dismay of her daughter Hannah (Maria Schrader). At the wake, Ruth's cousin Rachel (Carola Regnier) tells Hannah some family secrets that send curious Hannah over to Berlin. She searches out 90-year-old Lena Fischer (Doris Schade), who cared for Ruth during WWII. Flashbacks recall the events of 1943,when Jewish husbands were rounded up and kept in a house on a street called Rosenstrasse. Lena (played by Katja Riemann as a young woman) joins a group of other wives for a week-long protest, where she meets an abandoned seven-year-old named Ruth (played by Svea Lohde as a girl). Rosenstrasse was shown in competition at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Based on the exploits of two criminal brothers who eluded the authorities as they embarked on an ever more daring series of complex robberies, director Carlo Rola's tense crime drama follows the brothers as they steal their way through the Berlin of the 1920s. As burglars and safecrackers, Franz and Erich Sass (Ben Becker and Jürgen Vogel) embark on a series of small robberies in order to elude the all-seeing eye of the taxman. As their crimes escalate to include a bank where the Nazi's keep their substantial funds, the authorities quickly begin closing in while Franz and Erich plan their final heist and grand getaway. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by newcomer Chris Kraus, this family drama centers around the eccentric Jesko (Jürgen Vogel), who, despite a debilitating condition, makes a visit to his father, Gebhard (Dietrich Hollinderbaumer), and brother, Ansgar (Peter Davor), on the day that Ansgar is scheduled to take over the family company. However, when Ansgar reveals that their long-estranged mother, Kathe (Margit Carstensen) has returned home, Jesko's life is thrown even further off of its already crooked axis. Though Jesko is far from normal himself, it's Kathe who is truly insane. Her lucidity is further put to the test when she turns out to be the most viable bone marrow donor for Jesko's much needed surgery. Flashbacks reveal that Kathe was, in fact, the cause of her own son's head injuries -- years of child abuse had done serious damage to his skull and brain. The deepest of family secrets, however, isn't revealed until the marrow of a little-known relative turns out to be a superior donor candidate. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

After a rat is discovered on board their airplane, a group of travelers is stranded at the Manila airport. They include the mild-mannered Knut (Peter Ruehring) and his icy wife Regine (Margit Carstensen), who are both history teachers from eastern Germany. Knut befriends the jovial Walther (Michael Degen) and his Filipino wife Maribel (Chin-Chin Gutierrez), who are taking the body of Walther's dead son back to Germany. Also along for the wait is Cora (Ana Capri), a businesslike husband hunter; Rudi and Herbert, two skirt-chasing brothers who fall in with a poised American-German journalist (Elizabeth McGovern); and sex tourist Franz (Martin Semmelrogge), who forms an unlikely relationship with Mercy (Ces Quesada), a shy washroom attendant who can't understand a word Franz is saying. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Jan Schuette directed this German drama about Munich street people. Middle-class dropout Hagen (Juergen Vogel), a policeman's son, hangs with various small-time thieves and hustlers, including hooker Liane (Sibylle Canonica). Jealous tramp Edgar (Lars Rudolph) is obsessed with Liane. Hagen's only link to the people of his past is sympathetic cop Schandorf (Ernst Stoetzner), who was a friend of his father. Joining the gang is 15-year-old Berlin runaway Judith (Julia Filiminow), who's attracted to Hagen. After the two are arrested while having sex on a train, Hagen is threatened with possible charges of abducting a minor, and Judith is sent back to Berlin. Learning Liane is now a wealthy man's mistress, the distraught Edgar goes over the edge and follows Liane to a park, where he stabs her. Later, employed and rehabilitated, Hagen is haunted by memories of Judith and travels to Berlin in an effort to locate her. Shown in competition at the 1998 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Traveling down DePalma-like pathways, director Rainer Kaufmann made this dark comedy-thriller about 30-year-old small-town pharmacist Hella Moormann (Katja Riemann), unlucky with men. She finally beds Levin (Jürgen Vogel), who's in debt to imprisoned drug-dealer Dieter (Richy Mueller). Hella is shocked when Levin suggests that they kill his wealthy grandfather Hermann Graber (Joachim Tomaschewsky) to get his mansion and money. So when Graber dies, Hella suspects Levin. Soon Dieter joins Levin and Hella in the mansion, and the events become even more convoluted after Hella catches Levin making out with Dieter's sexy wife Margot (Isabella Parkinson). Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The political and social upheaval of the reunification of Germany provides the backdrop for this romantic comedy-drama. Jan Nebel (Jurgen Vogel), a young slaughterhouse worker who doesn't like to work much more than is necessary in order to keep his job, is walking home through Berlin one evening when he finds himself strolling into the middle of a riot. He sees a woman named Vera (Christiane Paul) trying to get away from a pair of cops; Jan trips the police officers, which earns him Vera's gratitude and a night behind bars. Jan's unexpected detainment causes him to lose his job, which doesn't bother him very much except that he'll be short on money. Jan decides to pay his father a visit only to discover that the old man has died; Jan takes over his apartment, and his friend Buddy (Ricky Tomlinson) joins him as a flatmate and pays him rent. Death pays a visit of its own to Jan when he learns that one of his former girlfriends has tested positive for the HIV virus; while Jan is understandably upset, he's too frightened of the possible results to be tested himself. While Jan is dealing with his many anxieties, he runs into Vera for the first time since the riot; they get to know each other better, and they are soon engaged in a passionate romance, though they take many twists down the bumpy road of love. Das Leben Ist Eine Baustelle was a prize winner at several major festivals in its native Germany, including a special award at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival for writer and director Wolfgang Becker "for the humorous and ironic portrayal of the changes taking place in present-day Berlin." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Berlin woman endeavors to choose between two lovers on a snowy Christmas Eve in this German drama. Art student Julia has been living with Christian, a policeman, for several years, but has recently embarked on an affair with Frank, a bartender. She is first seen waiting for Frank so she can tell him that she chooses Christian. Suddenly the phone rings. It is Christian calling to tell her that he is in east Germany recuperating from a skull fracture. Frank then calls for a little sex-talk, he voices his doubts about Christian's story. Sure enough, after he hangs up, Christian calls, perfectly healthy, for a little intercourse himself. Julie is naturally confused by her men and so goes to bed. No sooner does she fall asleep when Frank appears armed with body oil and a gas mask. The telephone interrupts their passion. Once again it's Christian. This time, Julia figures out that he is in their Paris love nest and so sends him a fax to tell him so. She and Frank then go frolicking in the snow while Christian gets involved with a singer. Matters are finally resolved with the revelation of Julia's closely guarded secret. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This German mystery thriller is set in Poland. It follows the exploits of Tom, an insurance agent, who must find his brother before the mob does. His quest begins after he receives an urgent message from his psychotic brother Piet who is hiding out in Poland after he double-crossed a local mob. Tom is hindered by his weakness for Piet's beautiful girlfriend Alina, and by the police who continually harass him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide