Michael Mendl Movies
- 2005
German writer-director Til Schweiger's romantic comedy Barefoot (Barfuss) concerns itself with the plight of Nick Keller (Schweiger) a young man branded as an outcast and a ne'er-do-well by his exorbitantly wealthy family. Unable to hold a permanent job, and harboring deep-seated contempt for anyone in a position of authority, Nick retains the admiration and respect of only his mother, who persistently believes that one day, he will somehow rise above his loser past and accomplish something of merit. Indeed, this appears to be the case when Nick accepts a job at a psychiatric clinic and saves a troubled young woman namedLeila (Johanna Wokalek) from suicide, but she soon turns up at his home late one night, barefoot and clad in a nightgown. This issue-ridden girl battles post-traumatic stress disorder from her mother's untimely death, and harbors a phobia about being touched. Nonetheless, a quirky and unpredictable romance soon blossoms between Nick and Leila, and they set out together on an unforgettable road trip. For the first occasion in his life, Nick soon becomes accountable to someone other than himself. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Til Schweiger, Johanna Wokalek, (more)
Golden Globe winner Olivia Hussey dons the habit to portray selfless missionary Mother Theresa in a poignant made-for-television biopic from filmmaker Fabrizio Costa. A widely revered champion of the forgotten and starving masses, Mother Theresa had a combination of shrewd diplomatic skills and unwavering devotion to the power of hope, earning her the love and respect of world and, eventually, the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, this tale of a modern-day saint comes home to inspire viewers of all faiths and backgrounds to follow their dreams of making the world a better place and show how the determination of just one individual can make an entire world of difference. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2001
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The true story of a German soldier's long and difficult journey home after being sentenced to a Russian prison camp inspired this wartime epic. In 1944, Clemens Forell (Bernhard Bettermann) leaves behind his wife and children and joins the German army, where he is sent to fight along the Russian front. After a year in the trenches, Forell is captured by Soviet forces and is sentenced to spend 25 years at hard labor, mining lead. Predictably enough, the mine proves to be a dangerous and dispiriting environment, and after three years Forell decides he can stand no more and blocks out an escape plan. Forell makes his break during the dead of winter, and while he's at first discovered by a group of hunters who intend to turn him back in, a band of Eskimos come to his rescue. Forell throws in his lot with them, eventually falling in love with the lovely granddaughter (Irina Pantayeva) of the Eskimo chieftain. After a few seasons with the Eskimos, Forell resumes his journey back home, narrowly escaping capture in Siberia and finding an unexpected ally as he tries to cross into Iran. So Weit Die Fuesse Tragen was adapted from a best-selling German novel based on an actual incident; the novel was also the basis for a popular German television series of the late '50s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernhard Betterman, André Hennicke, (more)
- 2001
A mother's search for her missing son highlights this dramatic tale of loss from director Tayfun Pirselimoglu. An older woman who works at an Istanbul train station, Sukran (Zuhal Olcay), shares a close relationship with her son, Veysel, who works in a workshop on the edge of the city. Her husband having been politically active in the past, Sukran's protective nature is driven by the fact that she tried to keep Veysel politically neutral during his upbringing. When Veysel disappears one day, Sukran is thrown into a panic and turns the streets inside out in a desperate bid to find her missing son. With no arrest record and only a photograph of an unidentifiable body (which Veysel's girlfriend insists is his), Sukran refuses to give up hope that her son is alive. Soon given a lead by kindly train station barber Ahmet, Sukran heads for Mardin after hearing that a man with the same name as her son was arrested and subsequently escaped during transport. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zuhal Olcay, Michael Mendl, (more)
- 2001
A man struggles to come to terms with a mystery that has haunted him throughout his adult life in this drama from Poland. In 1967, a 13-year-old boy named Dawid discovered a cache of explosives and began experimenting with them; one day, several of his friends saw Dawid wave to them shortly before a massive explosion went off near a railway tunnel, and no one ever saw the young man again. Thirty years later, one of Dawid's close friends, Pawel (Marek Kondrat), returns to Poland for the first time in 11 years to visit Juliane (Juliane Kohler), a woman he used to love. As Pawel returns home, he discovers his thoughts keeps drifting back to Dawid and what might have happened to him that day. Pawel keeps replaying the explosive incident in his mind, and goes so far as to track down Elka (Krystyna Janda), Dawid's girlfriend, who was with him moments before the explosion, though then as now she refuses to talk about what happened. Pawel is unable to determine for sure just what happened or how Dawid died -- or if he did in fact die at all. Weiser was nominated for the Golden Bear award at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marek Kondrat, Krystyna Janda, (more)
- 1998
Roland Suso Richter directed this German prison drama about lawyer Konrad von Seidlitz (Kai Wiesinger) and his attractive fiancee (Sylvia Leifheit). With plenty of promotional press coverage, the arrogant Konrad serves a 14-day jail sentence for unpaid parking tickets. His release, however, doesn't happen since drugs are planted in his cell; instead, he gets a two-year sentence minus parole, is abandoned by his fiancee, has a close encounter with rape, is nearly killed, and works on a plan to prove his innocence. Shown in the market section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kai Wiesinger, Michael Mendl, (more)
- 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)
- 1993
- NR
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Ian McEwan's disturbing novel is given a chilly shimmer in this film adaptation by Andrew Birkin. The film takes place in a concrete slab of a house situated on the outskirts of an English town. The father (Hanns Zischer) is a consumptive creep, while the mother (Sinead Cusack) is a sweet and understanding matriarch. When the father dies of a heart attack after his garden is paved over, it is too much for the mother to bear, and after a few weeks she wastes away and also dies. This leaves the children to fend for themselves. The eldest sister and brother, Julie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and Jack (Andrew Robertson), have to care for the younger children, Sue (Alice Coultard) and Tom (Ned Birkin). Without parental supervision, the four children give themselves up to their secret longings. Jack hides in corners to masturbate, but Julie uses her sexual attraction to lure Jack into an incestuous relationship. Even the younger children have their problems: Sue is mostly mute and spends all her time obsessively writing in her journal, while Tom feels that deep inside himself he is a girl trapped in a boy's body. The children hide the mother's remains in the basement and live off her bank account. The neighbors don't suspect a thing --that is until sleazy Derek (Jochen Horst) begins to come around in his red convertible, trying to get a date with Julie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew N. Robertson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, (more)
- 1993
Ingo (Jurgen Vogel) is a moody fellow, much given to dark looks and long silences. In his personal life, he is a writer, but his "day job" is as a dishwasher at a restaurant. One day, an actor at one of Germany's eight major acting schools leaves a stool from the school at the restaurant, and Ingo must go to return it. Since the only people who ever darken the school's doors are actors, the people there immediately assume that Ingo is one, too - especially since he has so much beautiful "attitude." One thing leads to another, and before long he has made the acquaintance of Johannes (Kai Wiesinger), a very dedicated actor, who has flunked out of all seven of the other acting schools due to his pathological fear of auditions. He persuades Ingo to join him in a jaunt to Munich to try for a role on the professional stage, so that he won't have to constantly audition for school productions. For a lark, Ingo, whose girlfriend just jilted him, agrees to go along. Before long the two intrepid aspiring actors are joined by a third, a smooth ladies' man named Ali (Gedeon Burkhard), and their adventures have just begun. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kai Wiesinger, Gedeon Burkhard, (more)
- 1988
A woman gets plunged into an adventure in this German made-for-television movie. Bettina Kupfer stars as Petra, a pizza-delivery girl who gets through her mundane day job by living vicariously through the characters in her favorite books. She gets more than she bargained for though, when one of her routine evening deliveries turns into a scene right out of an adventure novel. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
