André Eisermann Movies
Internationally speaking, esteemed German actor André Eisermann is best known for playing the title role in Peter Sehr's Kaspar Hauser. His portrayal garnered Eisermann awards from several major film festivals, including the Actor's Prize at the Locarno Film Festival and the German Film Prize. Eisermann is the son of travelling performers (including his contortionist grandmother and strongman grandfather) and, though born in Worms, Germany, spent most of his youth on the road with his family. As a young man, he studied acting at Munich's Otto Falckenberg Schule Für Schauspiel. After graduation, he gained professional experience on stage. Eisermann made his first film appearance in Durst (1993). Though he continues to appear sporadically in film, including voicing the character Quasimodo in the German-language version of Disney's animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and playing the lead in Joseph Vilsmaier's haunting Schlafe's Bruder/Brother of Sleep (1995), Eisermann has devoted most his time to the theater. He joined one of Germany's most prestigious theaters, Hamburg's Thalia Theater, in 1994. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
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
- Starring:
- Joseph Vilsmaier, André Eisermann, (more)
Director Peter Sehr offers here another version of the origins of Kaspar Hauser, one of the most enigmatic characters in German history. According to this film, the title character is the real son of Duke Karl of Baden. Karl's brother Ludwig wants the throne for himself so he secretly orders a dying baby to be exchanged for the newborn heir. The real baby heir is promptly sent with a nurse to the countryside, but then is kidnapped by the Bavarians who are antagonistic to Baden. After Ludwig becomes a ruler of Baden, the young boy is kept in a cellar by the Bavarians, and then in 1828, after 12 years of confinement, he is brought to a square in Nuremberg in the early morning and left there alone. Unable to talk or walk, the young man is given the name Kaspar Hauser and is brought to the home of the kind professor Daumer, who teaches him to talk and introduces him to a civilized life. However, while the tension between the two rival countries increases, Ludwig of Baden sends his spies to seek out and eliminate the missing heir. Unlike Werner Herzog's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, which treated the leading character as a mysterious man of the universe, this is a rather straightforward tale of political intrigue, where Kaspar is merely a pawn in someone else's wicked game, and the film barely rises above the level of a beautifully crafted costume drama. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- André Eisermann, Udo Samel, (more)
