Rainer Kaufmann Movies
- 2007
A middle-aged man and his wife find their leisurely vacation routine uncomfortably compromised by the appearance of a former classmate and his curiously young girlfriend. For the past twelve years, Helmut and his wife Sabine have spent their holidays at Lake Constance. As the lazy days of summer roll by, Helmut bird watches and Sabine swims. At night they dine together, eventually retiring to bed with a good book and the promise of another relaxing day on the lake. But this year, Helmut has a chance run in with his former classmate Klaus. Of course it would be all well and good if the Helmut and Klaus were simply able to reminisce about their childhoods together, but Klaus is never far away from his enchanting, and far-too-young girlfriend Hel. Over the course of the next few days, Klaus finds every excuse possible to stop by and pay his old friend a visit. Helmut can't help but being annoyed by the obvious comparisons as the two couples spend more time together than he would like. Later, as the mismatched quartet sets out on a sailing trip, a sudden squall blows away the thin veneer of amicability, prompting everyone aboard to come clean about their true feelings. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ulrich Noethen, Ulrich Tukur, (more)
- 2000
Adapted from the novel of celebrated German writer Ingrid Noll, Kalt ist der Abendhauch bounces back and forth over a span of 50 years to tell the darkly comic tale of a destructive love affair between two people. When the film opens, octogenarian Charlotte (Gisela Trowe) has just received a letter from Hugo (Heinz Bennent), an old friend who is coming for a visit. The news of Hugo's impending arrival takes Charlotte back to the year 1936, when she was 16. One of four children born to middle-class parents, young Charlotte (Fritzi Haberlandt) carries a torch for handsome stud Hugo (August Diehl), and is understandably put out when he marries her older sister Ida (Georgia Stahl). An even deeper pall is cast over the couple's union when Charlotte's brother shows up at the wedding dinner wearing a dress, then proceeds to hang himself in the attic. A few years later, Charlotte enters into an unsatisfying marriage with Bernhard (Andre Hennicke), a dull schoolteacher with whom she has two children. Bernhard disappears during the course of World War II and is presumed dead, making it easy for Charlotte to consummate her long-simmering lust with Hugo when he drops by one day after the war. However, on a proverbial dark and stormy night, Bernhard reappears at Charlotte's doorstep, wet, unkempt, and hungry for sex. Hugo's arrival fifty years later exposes -- literally -- five decades of family secrets and dysfunction, thanks in part to the gruesome discovery of a body buried in the cellar. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Bennent, Gisela Trowe, (more)
- 1999
The question is just who's setting up whom in this stylish crime drama from Germany. A woman named Melody (Nicolette Krebitz) is making a drug buy when to the surprise of the dealers, she pulls a gun and police burst into the room. Despite outward appearances, Melody is not a cop -- she's being blackmailed by Kahnitz (Dietrich Hollinderbaumer), a police chief who uses her as a decoy for various assignments. Ben (Marc Hosemann), a safecracker, is about to be released from jail, and Kahnitz wants to tie him to another crime involving Ben and his partner Dennis (Martin Gladde), who was in on the job that sent Ben to prison but managed to avoid capture. Claiming to be a friend of Dennis, Melody (under Kahnitz's instructions) meets Ben shortly after he hits the street and tries to encourage him to pull another job. She also seduces Ben and introduces him to Percy (Axel Milberg) and Aurelia (Sunnyi Melles), a couple who have their own ties to the crimes. Long Hello and Short Goodbye was adapted from a screenplay by American writer Jeff Vintar -- perhaps appropriate, given the frequent comparisons made between director Rainer Kaufmann's work and that of American filmmaker Brian DePalma. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolette Krebitz, Marc Hosemann, (more)
- 1998
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
- Starring:
- Katja Riemann, Jürgen Vogel, (more)
- 1995
This lively German comedy follows the exploits of the cynical Monika, a never-married woman who just turned 30 and earns her living giving advice to the lovelorn on a local radio station. Though acerbic and glib with her replies on the air, Monika is a total washout in the outside world of l'amour. Her mother makes her feel worse, and her gay brother helps her put an add in the lonely hearts column of the local paper. Through her ad, she meets Erik, a tone-deaf dentist who likes to sing "That's Amore." He says he's single, but soon Monika discovers that he is married to a friend of hers, Sabine. A romantic triangle is born; mayhem and frank, funny discussions of sex ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
