Jutta Wachowiak Movies
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
- Starring:
- Katja Riemann, Maria Schrader, (more)
- 1989
Hans Fallada (1893-1947) was a German novelist who wrote several best seller in the period between the two World Wars. His highly regarded books focused on the lives of ordinary people and were considered masterpieces of socialist realism. As the Nazi National Socialist party consolidated its hold over Germany, he was under ever-increasing pressure to write a "quality" anti-Semitic novel. This biographical film is set in 1937, with Fallada (Jorg Gudzuhn) suffering the effects of living under a microscope. The film details his decline, as he is intermittently imprisoned and threatened in order to motivate him to write for the Fatherland. Even the attention of his kind, patient wife (Jutta Wachowiak) and loving children begin to feel oppressive to him. This is one of the few films to take a serious, in-depth look at the tribulations of a creative artist pulled in all different directions by the real world. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jutta Wachowiak, Katrin Sass, (more)
- 1986
The German Das Haus Am Fluss (House on the River) is based on "The Russian Pelt," a 1942 story by Frederick Wolf. The film takes place in an industrial community just outside of Berlin in 1941. Two sisters--unmarried Emmi and married Agnes--live with their mother while their men are off to war. Emmi receives a Ukranian blouse from her fiance, who is fighting in Russia. Her acceptance of what is considered "war goods" upsets the equillibrium of the community. Meanwhile, Agnes is being pursued by the factory boss who arranged with his Gestapo contacts to have Agnes' husband sent to the Russian front. Noting the effect the Ukranian blouse has on the flighty Emmi, the factory boss hopes to entice Agnes by offering her a Ukranian fur pelt. Agnes' seriously injured husband returns from the war with a similar pelt as a gift. Agnes symbolically accepts her husband's gift over that of the boss, who responds by threatening to have the husband imprisoned as a subversive. The boss is killed by Agnes who, despite her subsequent arrest by the Gestapo, feels that she's won a moral victory. As for Emmi, she hangs herself upon discovering that her fiance has been killed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katrin Sass, Manfred Gorr, (more)
- 1985
The saga of Stefan (David C. Bunners), an 18-year-old construction worker who struggles to make it on his own is the theme that winds its way through this honest and sometimes amusing look at growing up. There are surprises in store for the young lad once he manages to move into his own apartment (he had a hard time telling his mother he was moving out). His landlord exploits his good nature to get him to do work around the house and to do favors for his friends too. Stefan's relationship with his mother is already strained after he moved out, and when she discovers how he is being used she really loses it. In an attempt to apologize, she gives Stefan her apartment to watch while she is away for awhile. He opportunistically decides to bring his new girlfriend home overnight, with comic and unforeseen consequences to his relationship with her and his mother. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David C. Bunners, Jutta Wachowiak, (more)
- 1983
Based on the satire of the same name by Guenter de Bruyn this film humorizes the dilemma of a pompous university professor when he discovers his 10 years of research on a revolutionary writer have gone down the drain because a village schoolteacher found out the writer was a hoax. The two men and their single-minded dedication to research provide comic fodder, and their unique relationship is highlighted when the schoolteacher shows up at the professor's birthday party. But since the professor knows that if his error is exposed he might lose his job, the stakes are high and very real. An interesting film for anyone, especially for those who have breathed the rarefied air of academia and found it less than pure. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hermann Beyer, Jutta Wachowiak, (more)
- 1980
The antics of young Sabine Wulff (Karen Duewel) carry this teen drama as she tries to make her way in the world with one foot firmly planted outside of society. After Sabine leaves the orphanage, she manages to get a factory job in her small town, but it is her private life and personality that undermine her ambitions. She is certainly attracted to men, yet none prove to be even remotely like the ideal she would want for herself. The car mechanic who is decent and clearly in love with her is not even an option; she does not want to be Mrs. Mechanic. At work, her temper flares up more than once, and in the end, it is highly unlikely that Sabine is going to get anywhere or learn anything if she stays put in her small town. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jürgen Heinrich
- 1978
The coming-of-age of an eighteen-year-old, solitary orphan is the focus of this interesting drama by Roland Graef. Peter (Andrzej Pieczynski) loves motors and engines and although he is still young he has a job in the construction industry with an eye to becoming a truck driver. Thanks to his appealing good looks, Peter never has to worry about lacking female company -- if he were more aware, he would be worried about understanding women a little better. One of these women is a friend from the orphanage who has opted out of any relationship with the immature young man. Another is Sabine, who falls madly in love with him and eventually pays the consequences. A third is a social worker who finally writes him a letter with a fateful "P.S." that makes Peter take his first steps into manhood. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrzej Pieczynski, Jutta Wachowiak, (more)
- 1975
In this youth oriented fantasy a famous gardener's son tries to improve life on the moon by planting a flower garden. He is assisted by a test pilot and a biology expert, Professor Vitamin. Together they create a hybrid "moon flower." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
