Ulrike Ottinger Movies
Filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger is generally associated with directors on the experimental fringe of New German Cinema. Her films, written, produced, directed and filmed by herself, are filled with exaggerated colors, interesting camera work, and surprising blends of image and sound. Many of her stories are designed to help people become more focused on their individual reality by depicting people rebelling against living a life of alienation. Ottinger has no formal training in filmmaking; rather, she began her career by studying art. During the '60s, she was a working artist in Paris, but she found it frustrating. Her first film was released in 1972. Laokoon und Soehne was made after she began playing around with photo-documentation and events. In 1977, she created her first feature-length film, Madame X -- Eine absolute Herrscherin, an exploration of the famed pirate queen's lesbian matriarchy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2009
The traditions of the Korean marriage ceremony and the realities of the 21st century wedding industry find an uneasy common ground in this documentary by filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger. In Korea, there are a number of strict traditions observed in the run-up to a traditional wedding, including a "Wedding Chest" that is prepared by the groom, packed with a variety of very specific gifts for the family, and carried to the home of the bride's parent on his back. There are also meetings between the families that are conducted following an etiquette that was established centuries ago. But as the influence of the West has come to hear on Korea, many couples strive to strike a balance between ancient traditions and contemporary styles and attitudes, and as the wedding planning industry has grown in Korea, professionals try to juggle the needs of both past and present in planning the celebration, often with curious results. While Ottinger treats his subjects with respect, The Korean Wedding Chest takes a witty view of that most common part of weddings -- trying to find a way of making everyone happy, which is easier said than done. The Korean Wedding Chest was an official selection at Toronto's 2009 Hot Docs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Running close to five hours long, this documentary offers an overview into the experiences of European Jews who lived in Shanghai during WW II. All six of the survivors interviewed live in Northern California and represent a broad cross-section of economic status and European culture. The film is divided into five parts (one of the interviews is with a married couple). The subjects were born in Russia, Germany and Austria and explain their reasons for coming to the once wonderful Shanghai. When the Japanese took over the city during the war, all Jewish people were forced to live in a special ghetto, that while unpleasant, was nowhere near as awful as the Eastern European camps. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Utilizing computer-generated effects and creative splicing to place Germany's most famous living directors in a fantasy movie house, filmmaker Edgar Reitz takes an innovative approach toward exploring the history of German cinema. In this magical theater, directors such as Leni Riefenstahl, Detlev Buck, Volker Schloendorff, Margarethe von Trotta, Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog "discuss" the state of German cinema with a focus on New German Cinema. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
While traveling on the Trans-Mongolian Railway, when a cozy group of female western tourists are abducted by a horde of female Mongolians wearing tribal dress, they fear the worst. They are forced to learn traditional Mongolian ways, and are made to do all sorts of onerous chores in the old-fashioned ways. They are equally perplexed when, after about a month, they are released to return to the train and resume their journeys. The situation becomes clearer when they are back on the train and the most garrulous among the released women strikes up a conversation with a Mongolian woman wearing western attire. It seems that every year, many Mongolian women on vacation from their modern jobs return to the steppes for a holiday to keep their culture alive, and the western women's abduction was just another aspect of their role-playing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Seyrig, Irm Hermann, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this feature-length anthology of short films, seven women filmmakers from around the world interpret the seven "deadly sins" for a modern age. New Yorkers Bette Gordon and Maxi Cohen direct "Greed" and "Anger," respectively; Germans Helke Sander and Ulrike Ottinger take on "Gluttony" and "Pride"; Belgian director Chantal Akerman tackles "Sloth"; Austrian Valie Export composes "Lust"; and Laurence Gavron of France directs "Envy." ~ Sarah Welsh, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyne Didi, Gabriela Herz, (more)
- 1985
Director Ulrike Ottinger has created a very long and visually interesting cinematic tour of China in this 270-minute documentary but with little narrative explanation of the scenes captured on film. These scenes are views of dance and drama, art and architecture, and daily life. For anyone unfamiliar with Chinese culture, the views of shops, work places, operas, directors at work, political banners, and crowded streets with their many vendors and activities will be eye-opening.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1984
In another avant-garde, underground film, director Ulrike Ottinger takes up the decadent, self-indulgent character of Dorian Gray (Veruschka von Lehndorff) and uses him/her to explore the seamier side of Berlin night and street life -- for 2 1/2 hours of running time. About half that time would have been more than enough, even for in-house, Berlin-based fans. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Delphine Seyrig
- 1981
As Orlando (Magdalena Montezuma) enters the world of "freaks," the movie develops scenes from a mythological netherworld, the Spanish Inquisition, the Middle Ages, and a few other settings to focus on unusual characters with physical or mental oddities. By the time the various vignettes that take place in these separate periods are completed, each with their own points and counterpoints, the "freaks" seem much less odd than their physically normal contemporaries. After Orlando has revealed much about the human condition through glimpses of a P.T. Barnum side-show, Siamese twins, as well as modern sexual morés, her journey with the viewer is completed. The device of Orlando, the time-traveler and liberated bisexual is based on Virginia Woolf's "Orlando: A Biography." The same set of actors play different roles in each of the five chronological segments. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Magdalena Montezuma, Delphine Seyrig, (more)
- 1979
A sartorially resplendent woman (Tabea Blumenschein) arrives in Berlin with plans to live out the rest of her days as a drunkard in this experimental film. The film provides the viewer with a tour of the city and some of the more colorful characters, but the appeal may be limited to those who are mavens of the experimental style. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Magdalena Montezuma
- 1977
Lesbian filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger's first feature film is an extravagant, unconventional allegory about Madame X, a pirate queen of the China Seas who assembles a crew of stereotypical women -- such as the "housewife" and the "diva" -- who wish to leave their mundane lives behind for a utopian adventure. The women soon fall into self-destruction, however, as they replicate the power dynamic of the outside world among themselves. In German with English subtitles. ~ Carrie Downes, All Movie Guide
