Ellen Umlauf Movies

This story filmed in the style of a docudrama, is about a German pediatrician so intent on helping sick patients die that his enthusiasm goes against human compassion. Dr. Schumann (Hans-Michael Rehberg) starts an official organization chartered to assist patients in committing suicide, if that is their determined wish. Young Pierre (Klaus Rohrmoser) works for Dr. Schumann, and his first assignment is to unplug the life-support system from a patient in intensive care. Pierre has no problem in carrying out his mission, but when another terminally-ill patient changes his mind about euthanasia at the last minute, Dr. Schumann tells Pierre to ignore the man's change of opinion. If this was not upsetting enough, Pierre unfortunately falls in love with a lovely woman and then finds out she is one of Dr. Schumann's patients scheduled for euthanasia. From that point onward, Pierre and the doctor are set on a collision course that cannot be avoided. Given the controversial nature of the subject matter, this film is sure to draw attention -- even though it sadly skims the surface on the ethical and moral questions raised within the storyline. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Serpent's Egg, or Das Schlangenei is director Ingmar Bergman's second English language production (The Touch was his first). It is, however, his first completely non-Swedish production, made after his voluntary self-exile from Sweden over taxation issues. Set in Berlin in the early 1920s, it explores the fear and despair the city evokes in Manuela and Abel Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and David Carradine), two Jewish trapeze artists. The suicide of Manuela's husband (Abel's brother), has stranded them in Berlin. Berlin is shown to already possess the sinister elements of cruelty and anti-Semitism which laid the groundwork for the later Nazi takeover. A series of misadventures gets them sent to a medical clinic for treatment. However, the clinic is actually a site for Nazi-type "racial" experiments on humans, which generally either madden or kill the subjects. Das Schlangenei was savaged by the critics for its improbable-seeming story and more particularly, for casting David Carradine (best known for his earlier appearances in the Kung Fu U.S. television series) in a crucial role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by the exiled German writer Heinrich Mann, Belcanto forsakes the normal conception of a plot and unfolds instead as a series of three separate expressions of the beginning, middle, and end of an elaborate and elegant party. In the first segment, the idea of an opera is suggested when businessmen and artists are brought together by the manager of an opera house for an evening's festivities. What could more logically follow then, than a full-fledged opera (arranged by Wolfgang Woelfer) as the second part of the film. The opera itself is sung by the people at the manager's party. In the last segment, the party has come to an end and the guests all leave. Throughout the many scenes of the festivities, the actors pose against various backdrops and basically mime the meaning of what is being said or sung. Unlike the movie, the book has a plot that may help to explain all this to the unwashed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This British/German horrorama was the sequel to....drum roll please....Mark of the Devil (1970). The original film starred Herbert Lom as a "burning judge" preying upon accused witches in 18th century Austria. Anton Diffring substitutes for Herebert Lom in Part 2, but the basic premise remains intact. The overall tenor of the film is implicit in its alternate English-language title, Witches: Violated and Tortured to Death. Neither the original nor the sequel to Mark of the Devil had anything to do with the similarly titled 1985 Val Guest production. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, set in an Austrian mountain village, the town leaders conspire to attract tourists by touting a mythical "fountain of love" that runs nearby the village. When the minister of tourism discovers this, she immediately sends her agents to check out the veracity of the potentially scandalous water. After the village mayor declares a 3-day ban on sexual activity, he then plugs up the fountain. When the agents come, they find nothing. One of the agents wants to have his boss come and check it out personally, but changes his mind after he drinks some of the water. It really is an aphrodisiac! Soon tourists are arriving by the hundreds to sample the mysterious water. Unfortunately, the minister finds out and claims the water for the state. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A musical work by Johann Strauss first performed in 1874 provides the basis for this musical comedy set in Vienna during the late 19th-century. It tells the story of a prince who plans an enormous costume ball with Phillip, his good friend. They are holding the ball to get revenge on Alexander, another friend. As the lavish dance begins, comic mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide