Christoph Meyer-Wiel Movies
- 1996
French philosopher/semiotician Roland Barthes once asked "Why and how do singers find their emotions in their voices?" This passionate German-French documentary explores and pays tribute to that mystery via a montage of interviews and musical performances by three of the world's greatest opera divas: soprano Martha Modl, mezzo soprano Rita Gorr and soprano Anita Cerquetti. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anita Cerquetti, Martha Mödl, (more)
When a mysterious killer turns a small town's annual Easter celebration into a blood-soaked nightmare, it's up to Detective Maria Delgado (Mira Sorvino) to see that the homicidal maniac is apprehended and justice is served. As the winding and narrow ancient streets quickly fill with penitents, Detective Delgado's ominous task becomes as dangerous as it is seemingly impossible. With the body count quickly mounting and the frenzied killer's murderous antics holding the town in a horrific grip of terror, the pressure placed on Detective Delgado by the frightened townspeople plunges her headlong into a nightmarish confrontation with an unrelenting madman. This film also stars French actor Olivier Martinez. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mira Sorvino, Olivier Martinez, (more)
George Milton directed and co-wrote this quirky and riveting British thriller set in a crumbling old hotel run by a suspicious-looking manager named Jay (Trevor Eve, who played Harker in the 1979 Dracula). A group of strangers, gathered by an obnoxious young sailor (Christien Anholt) to celebrate his birthday, plays cards to determine which of them will spend the night in Room 207. The room is reputed to be haunted and a place where one "dreams the dreams of the ones who slept before you." Susie (Yse Marguerite Tran), an Asian woman who came to the hotel ostensibly to meet "someone special" is first, witnessing an appalling scene combining apparent oral sex and childbirth. She was dreaming the same dream the manager had when he slept there last. As the days and nights progress, more of the guests' dark secrets begin to come to light, leading them all to know far too much about each other's personal lives. One is there to avenge his dead son; another is seeking the birth-mother who rejected her; another is a suicidal former centerfold. There's robbery, drug abuse, perverse sexual behavior, and it's all somehow tied in to the hotel's creepy chef (George Lentz) and his dull-witted assistant (Detlef Bothe), leading inevitably to murder. Ute Lemper stands out as the mysterious Greta, Milton's direction is assured, and the film's look and feel often bring to mind a self-contained variant on Twin Peaks at its best. George Harris and Edward Hardwicke co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
This historical drama is based on the true story of Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman to achieve success as a painter. In 17th century Italy, noted artist Orazio Gentileschi (Michel Serrault) is a portrait artist enjoying a certain degree of success and acclaim. His 17-year-old daughter Artemisia (Valentina Cervi) would like to follow the same path as her father, but women are not allowed to pursue careers in the arts, and the convent where she attends school forbids students to sketch nude models. Eager to learn, Artemisia begins posing for herself by use of a mirror; her father discovers her secret but is enthusiastic about her work, and he takes her out of school so he can tutor her in painting and drawing. Orazio forbids her to draw male nudes, but curious Artemisia persuades local men to serve as her models, and her work steadily improves. In time, Artemisia and her work come to the attention of Agostino Tassi (Miki Manojovic), a friend of her father who is a well-known painter and something of a rake. Tassi is impressed by both the art and the artist, but when he and Artemisia begin a love affair, he finds himself on trial for rape. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Valentina Cervi, (more)
Celebrity obsession leads a French teen to track down her favorite singer following a disastrous staged television encounter between the pair in the feature debut from director Emmanuelle Bercot. The music of pop superstar Lauren (Emmanuelle Seigner) has a profound effect on the quiet life of teen admirer Lucie (Isild Le Besco), but when Lauren suddenly appears on Lucie's doorstep as part of a promotional campaign, the starstruck teen is left reeling when her idol serenades her with a love song in front of millions of viewers. Determined to have a genuine encounter with her idol sans the media circus, Lucie subsequently sets out to locate Lauren and hoodwinks the singer's tough-as-nails production assistant (Noemie Lvovsky) into allowing her into the mixed-up megastar's luxury suite. After the pair bonds over Lauren's latest breakup, the singer agrees to take her fan in as a low-level errand girl. Now, as the disillusioned teen begins to see past the glamorous facade to discover that fame has little bearing over emotional instability, she gradually begins to realize that the celebrity world is much different than she ever imagined. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isild Le Besco, Emmanuelle Seigner, (more)
- 1995
This Dutch adventure drama chronicles the birth and preservation of a Flemish legend. The tale begins in mid-16th century Flanders when Spain ruled the area. A peasant revolt is in progress and a gang of rebels is seen lugging the giant head of a statue onto Nettelneck's farm. Just then the Spanish arrive and only one rebel survives the invasion. The rebel makes love to the farmer's wife and then leaves. She later bears a son. A few years later this boy, who is ostracized by the community, meets Campanelli, an Italian minstrel who claims to have witnessed the massacre and the boy's creation. He then fancifully spins a yarn about the curious lad's father, telling him that his father lives and helms a fabulous ship. He also tells the boy, his father can fly. The boy grows up believing this and eventually takes his lover Lotte to begin searching for his mystical father. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rene Groothof, Nino Manfredi, (more)
- 1994
Joan Collins camps it up in this pretentious art-house virago written, directed, and starring Steven Birkoff. In a satirical thrust at British upper-class values, in which the characters spout out dialogue in rhyming couplets, Collins and Birkoff portray snobbish British aristocrats and then, in contrast, a couple of East-enders in a British suburb. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joan Collins, Steven Berkoff, (more)
- 2000
One man's dedication to "learning by doing" has dangerous consequences when he tries to land a TV role as a criminal in this drama set in South Africa. Sox Moraka (Tony Kgoroge) is a young actor from a comfortable, middle-class background who thinks he may have gotten his big break when he auditions for a television series, playing the roughneck leader of a township street gang . However, Sox flubs the audition, and the producers inform him he's just not convincing in the role. Eager to prove that he can play "street" if he wants to, Sox connects with Zama (Rapulana Seiphemo), a friend from childhood who is now a hard-core gang banger, and asks Zama to show him the ropes. While it soon becomes obvious to Zama and his partners Joe (Makhaola Ndebele) and Fly (Percy Matsemela) that Sox is out of his element on the streets, Sox is determined to prove himself -- so much so that he crosses the line from observer to active participant, putting himself in grave danger. Hijack Stories was shown at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival, where it opened the "Planet Africa" series. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rapulana Seiphemo
Director Matias Bize's erotic chamber piece details the debauched encounter between two strangers as they retreat to a seedy hotel room for an unbridled night of passion, only to find their personal boundaries and preconceptions about one another challenged as they attempt to get better acquainted. They've been as intimate as two people can be without even knowing each other's names, but now that the initial flames of passion have burnt out, it's time for these two lost souls to truly connect. Putting on their clothes as they lay their souls bare, these two intimate strangers cautiously mix truth with deception to create a tangled web of personal intrigue. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Blanca Lewin, Gonzalo Valenzuela, (more)
- 1997
The life of Ferdinand, an aspiring German novelist, changes dramatically on the day he spies a beautiful harpist floating upon a seashell off the shore of the Baltic island where he lives. It is not a vision he sees, but a photo shoot featuring Rebecca, a popular Irish musician. He decides to try to be near her but is constantly thwarted. When she goes to Hamburg to give a concert, the young writer follows. It is the enigmatic and sinister Henry who gives him a ride. With Henry's entrance, the story becomes a thriller as both men seem to be obsessed with Rebecca. The difference is, while Ferdinand simply wants to meet her, Henry has much darker intentions. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
After well-received shorts (The Ferry, The Mail), Laila Pakalnina made her feature directorial debut with this black-and-white German-Latvian tale that offers a reverse twist on Cinderella. During the '50s, the Red Army finds a woman's shoe on a Baltic beach. Three awkward Russian soldiers are given the assignment to locate the "foreign spy" who left the shoe. The trio travels about in a futile mission as they shoehorn into a local town, trying to fit the shoe on one foot after another. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Igor Buraks, Vadims Grossmans, (more)
- 1997
Mirroring the style of French graphic novels and dramatic comic strips, this adventure is set in a rundown lunar city and chronicles an evil, rapidly aging dictator's desperate search for the man who unwillingly donated his brain cells to him 20 years before. The dictator Mac Bee begins his mad hunt after an assassin kills his heirs. Without more of Tykho Moon's brain cells, Mac Bee will lose control of the moon and so sends out his best storm troopers to find Tykho. But Tykho lost his memory after the first operation and has become Anikst, a sculptor. He has a feeling that something is wrong and that for some reason he may be the object of the intense searching. While wandering the city streets, he encounters and falls in love with Lena, a beautiful prostitute who also turns out to be more than she seems. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Johan Leysen, Julie Delpy, (more)
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