Daniel Krausz Movies

A handful of men set aside their differences to conquer one of Europe's tallest mountains in this period drama inspired by a true story. In 1936, Nazi Germany is looking to shore up its reputation in the eyes of the world, and after a pair of German climbers died in an effort to climb the North face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps, the state is looking to find another group who can succeed where the earlier team failed. Henry Arau (Ulrich Tukur), the publisher of one of Berlin's biggest newspapers, is a loyal son of the Third Reich, and when his editorial secretary Luise Fellner (Johanna Wokalek) tells him she knows some climbers who would be willing to take on the Eiger, Tukur gives her a free hand to assemble a team and make this dream a reality. Close friends Toni Kurz (Benno Fuermann) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) are serving in the German army when Fellner (who once dated Kurz) tries to persuade them to climb the Eiger; while Hinterstoisser is willing to take the risk in the name of patriotism, Kurz is cynical about the Third Reich and says he'll put his life on the line only for his own reasons and not to please Germany's leaders. Kurz and Hinterstoisser finally begin the climb in mid-summer, only to discover a pair of Austrians, Willy Angerer (Simon Schwarz) and Edi Rainer (Georg Friedrich) are now challenging them in a race to the top. Nordwand (aka North Face) was an official selection at the 2008 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A charming elderly Jewish writer who lives in a state of "permanent confusion" finds his vivid imagination becoming the bane of his existence in director Jan Schütte's adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer's richly textured short stories. Max Kohn (Otto Tausig) is an Australian émigré whose mind is constantly spinning. He's an accomplished author of short stories who lives in New York City and is so steeped in tradition that he still uses a typewriter. Despite the fact that confirmed bachelor Max has a virtual harem of female admirers, he spends the majority of his free time with worrisome kindred soul Reisele (Rhea Perlman). It's during a trip to speak in nearby Hanover that Max begins editing his latest story -- a mischievous tale of a Miami retiree who embarks on a series of misadventures. Of course, it doesn't take Max long to lose himself in his own creation, and before he knows it, he's mixed up in two feverish romances and an unsolved murder. Upon snapping back to reality, Max begins to feel as if his own written word has begun to manifest itself. A meeting with world-weary former student Rosalie (Barbara Hershey), with whom he shares a mutual attraction, follows, and later while heading to Springfield for yet another speaking engagement Max discovers that he has misplaced his prepared speech. In the aftermath of that and various other mix-ups, Max decides to start writing a new story based on his recent adventures and featuring a protagonist named Harry -- a thinly veiled stand-in for the author himself. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With the help of co-director Florian Kehrer, Roland Duringer adapts his stage production High Octane to the silver screen, playing four different roles in the process. The story concerns many different people dealing with alcoholism. The characters include Zorn, whose drinking is an aspect of his very angry personality; Frust, who slowly becomes aware that his alcohol fueled lifestyle is killing him; Stress, a successful businessman who sips constantly from his high-end collection of booze; and Angst, an actor who is embarrassed by photographs that captured him behaving poorly during an alcohol-filled evening. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by the filmmaking team of Gerhard Ertl and Sabine Hiebler, this odd German comedy is about three couples and the way their lives cross paths at one gas station. The first pair of lovers meets at the gas station where the man works. Falling in love, they decide to live together at the station. Next, the second couple arrives with a peculiar proposal. It seems the woman is fatally ill and they'd always dreamed of owning a gas station together, so they've come to offer to buy it. Finally, the third couple, a bank robbing duo, enters the story with plans to stick up the station. Nominated for the top prize at Germany's 2002 Max Ophuls Festival, Nogo had its U.S. premiere at the 2002 Chicago International Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

After burning his bridges as a detective, a man tries to redeem himself driving an ambulance in this dark comedy from Austria. Brenner (Josef Hader) was once a police detective, but after the local chief of police discovered Brenner was having an affair with his wife, he found himself off the force and in need of a steady job. Despite Brenner's appetite for booze and drugs, he soon finds work as a driver for an ambulance company, where it becomes obvious that he's not that different than his colleagues -- a rough and rowdy bunch who are struggling to outwit another local ambulance service and who make up in daring what they sometimes lack in civility and common sense. When a nurse well known to the drivers is brutally murdered, Brenner decides to put his experience as a detective to work, and with the help of his girlfriend Berti (Simon Schwarz) and fellow driver (and onetime schoolmate) Klara (Barbara Rudnik), Brenner sets out to track down the killer. Komm, Susser Tod is based on a novel by Wolfgang Haas, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Wolfgang Murnberger and leading man Josef Hader. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The fortunes of a family of Hungarian Jews are followed over the course of nearly 150 years in this epic historical drama, with leading man Ralph Fiennes playing three different roles. The story begins in the late 18th century, as Aaron and Josefa Sonnenschein (the name means "Sunshine" in German) die in an explosion while making an herb tonic for sale in their village. Their son Emmanuel (David de Keyser), the only survivor of the tragedy, travels to Budapest, carrying the recipe for the medicine with him. He's able to parlay the formula into a successful business, and Emmanuel and his wife Rose (Miriam Margolyes) raise two sons, Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes), who becomes a successful lawyer, and hot-tempered Gustave (James Frain). The Sonnenscheins also make room in their home for Valerie (Jennifer Ehle), but Emmanuel and Rose become furious when Valerie becomes romantically involved with Ignatz. Eventually, Valerie and Ignatz raise two children, Istvan (Mark Strong) and Adam (Ralph Fiennes), and the family changes its name to Sors in hopes of avoiding the anti-Semitism sweeping Europe. In time, Adam goes so far as to convert to Catholicism, and he marries another Catholic, Hannah (Molly Parker). He soon begins an affair with his brother's wife, Greta (Rachel Weisz), who is unable to persuade Adam to leave as the Nazis rise to power. Adam and Hannah have only one son, Ivan, who is fated to watch his father die in a concentration camp; as Ivan grows to adulthood (now played by Ralph Fiennes), he swears revenge on the forces of fascism and embraces Communism. Ivan throws in his lot with Communist leader Andor Knorr (William Hurt), but a liaison with the wife of a party official (Deborah Kara Unger) leads Ivan to tragic consequences and a jail term. In time, Valarie and Gustave are reunited at the family's estate as the only two members of the Sonnenschein clan who survive to witness the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Hungarian director Istvan Szabo co-wrote Sunshine's original screenplay in collaboration with American playwright Israel Horovitz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In an Austrian farming village during the '30s, narrator Severin (Lars Rudolph) watches an old woman, Rosalind (Elisabeth Orth) visit the bed of sleeping farmhand Lukas (Simon Schwarz). Rosalind is accused when the owner of the farm is found dead. Local farmers believe his land will be divided among them, since he had no heirs, but his will states that both farm and livestock are left to his peasant workers. When the seven peasants decide not to sell, they join the ranks of the landed gentry. The community's established farmers, led by Danninger (Ulrich Wildgruber), first attack the seven peasants with slander and ridicule and then turn violent. Shot in Super 16 with a blowup to 35mm, this film had its world premiere at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival where it won a Tiger Award. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Set within a Viennese apartment block, this affectionate Austrian comedy makes fun of the strange habits of the famed city's residents. The building is located in a middle-class area and has residents from many age groups and walks of life. Many of the tenants are much older, but there are also a few children about. In one apartment lives a large group of Polish construction workers, while a Yugoslavian woman and her huge family attempt to survive in their tiny flat. The episodic story of the lives of these and other tenants is framed by a visit from a civil servant from the Office of Statistics. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this frankly bizarre fantasy story based on a novel by Austrian writer Robert Schneider, Elias Johannes Alder (Andre Eisermann) is born into a filthy, poverty-stricken village in the alps; his mother doesn't much care for him, and he later discovers he's the bastard son of the town's clergyman. As his mother is giving birth to his sister Elsbeth, Elias has an epiphany that causes his hearing to become unusually keen and his eyes to change color. He suddenly develops a tremendous talent for music, quickly mastering the church organ and performing and writing music with remarkable skill and passion. Once Elsbeth grows to maturity, Elias becomes obsessed with his sister and longs to be her lover; however, she breaks his heart by instead marrying Peter (Ben Becker), an old friend who is deeply moved by Elias' music. Driven to despair, Elias decides to commit suicide, but in a truly novel manner -- by giving up sleep. Director Joseph Vilsmaier also served as cinematographer; Schneider wrote the screenplay from his own novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the Turkish village he lives in, Orhan, who is a shepherd boy, watches his father killed by a hit-and-run driver whose car has Austrian plates. He hides away in a truck bound for those parts and tracks down the killer. He has somehow gotten hold of a gun, and manages to frighten his father's killer with it. Meanwhile, he has made friends with an Austrian boy, and made a hangout of the kitchen of the night club which his father's killer frequents. After he exacts his nonlethal revenge, he finds another truck headed back to Turkey, and returns to his flocks. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Elisabeth (Hannelore Schroth) and her scientist husband Heinrich (Friedrich von Thum) return to Germany after a 40-year stay in the United States. There, Heinrich's old friend and rival Franz (Hans Peter Hallwachs) becomes jealous of the attention Heinrich is receiving from government officials and he tries to discredit Heinrich. Elisabeth experiences health problems, so Heinrich arranges for nurse Charlotte to care for her, but for some strange reason, she moves in with Franz instead of with the patient and her husband. When the four go to Spain on a holiday, Charlotte becomes the object of Heinrich and Franz's rekindled rivalry. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide