Sylvester Groth Movies

This lavish, broadly scaled feature from director Kai Wessel dramatizes the life of Hildegarde Knef (1925-2002), arguably the most popular actress and chanteuse in post-WWII Germany. Yet in lieu of presenting a chronological and all-inclusive account of Knef's decades-long career, Wessel and screenwriter Maria von Heland use Knef's 1966 concert at the Berlin Philharmonie as a narrative framing device from which they exclusively flash back to the years depicting the performer's early ascent to stardom; the film thus ends as Knef is just beginning to achieve acclaim and recognition as a vocalist. The backstory commences in 1943, when 17-year-old Knef (Heike Makatsch) aspires to show business life. She applies for a job at Babelsberg Studios, under the aegis of casting director Else Bongers (Monica Bleibtreu) who becomes her lifelong mentor. Knef finds it relatively easy to break in to the industry; unfortunately, her political leanings reflect great naïveté, and these are the years of The Third Reich, when Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels supervises all German art and culture -- and the actress falls into Nazism without hesitation. Hilde soon grows smitten with Third Reich film head Ewald von Demandowsky (Anian Zollner), then -- after the war ends with the loss of the Nazi party -- catches the eye of genial producer Erich Pommer (Hanns Zischler), a man appointed to rebuild the German movie industry. Shirking past Nazi ties, Knef ventures to America at the invitation of mogul David O. Selznick, and spends the next several years repeatedly shuffling back and forth between the U.S. and Deutschland as opportunities surface in both countries. Following a scandal involving a nude swimming scene in the movie The Sinner and a marriage to actor David Cameron (Dan Stevens), Hilde fixes her sights on a singing career and finally achieves the breakthrough of which she has long dreamed. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Sixty years after the fall of the Third Reich, German filmmaker Dani Levy takes the bold step of playing the most notorious man of the 20th century for laughs in this offbeat historical comedy. In December 1944, the war in Europe is in its final stages; Germany has been decimated by Allied attacks, and the Third Reich is fated to collapse in just a few months. With the Nazi empire in tatters, Adolf Hitler (Helge Schneider) is understandably depressed, and while he's scheduled to give a major address to the nation on New Year's Day, he can barely summon up the enthusiasm to get out of bed. Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth), Hitler's propaganda czar, realizes the Führer needs some help to get out of his funk, and thinks some coaching from a trained actor would help him put on a brave face for his big speech. Goebbels approaches Adolf Grünbaum (Ulrich Mühe), one of Germany's most respected thespians, and asks him if he'd be willing to help Hitler prepare for his address; since Grünbaum is Jewish and currently residing in a concentration camp, he jumps at the chance, provided his wife and children are also released and the camp is shut down before the next round of executions. While Goebbels and his men have no intention of honoring Grünbaum's latter request, they are willing to free his loved ones, and soon Grünbaum is spending his days with the emotionally immature dictator as he tries to help him get back on his feet. Meanwhile, Goebbels and SS leader Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen) suspect that Hitler may be too far gone for help and start hatching a backup plan, in which they'll kill the Führer in a phony accident and seize control of the Reich. No stranger to controversy, writer and directory Levy's previous project was Go for Zucker, a comedy which poked fun at the division of Berlin during the Cold War and one man's opportunistic embrace of Orthodox Judaism. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Nina Hoss stars in this adaptation of a novel by Klaus Mann as Marion von Kammer, a singer who leaves Germany for Zurich as the Nazis rise to power. However, she finds life in Switzerland dull and suffocating, so she journeys to Paris, where she works at a pirate radio station broadcasting anti-fascist messages. She becomes friendly with a group of fellow Germans living in the city of lights, including nightclub owner Mother Schwalbe (Katharina Thalbach); Professor Abel (Udo Samel), the unofficial leader of the group; Martin Korella (Christian Nickel), a dissatisfied young author; and Kikjou (Boris Terral), Martin's lover. Nina Hoss was named Best Actress at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this thoughtful and melancholy drama, a politician returns to his family's rural homestead near the borders of Germany when he learns in a mysterious manner that his parents have died. As he does so, he recalls his almost idyllic farm upbringing, free from the kinds of money-grubbing and backstabbing that he has grown accustomed to in the society around him. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Momo (Radost Bokel) is a ten-year-old orphan girl who tries to save her village from the evil clutches of the Grey Men in this uneven children's story. Led by Chief Grey Man (Armin Muller-Stahl), the Grey Men have managed to make the villagers give up all their leisure time. Momo must get to the rococo palace where the time guardian Hora (John Huston) stands in her way. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi