Nikolaus Dutsch Movies
Told in flashback, the film relates Francis of Assisi's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian and eventually to full-fledged saint. Francesco was based on Hermann Hesse's Francis of Assisi, which director Liliana Cavani had previously filmed in 1966. The Saint and founder of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor is played by Mickey Rourke, and his inspiration, the woman who later became Saint Clare, is played by Helena Bonham Carter. Raised as the pampered son of a merchant, Francis goes off to war only to return with a profound horror for the society which generated such suffering. In one scene, as an act of renunciation, he strips himself of his fine clothing in front of his father and leaves the house naked and barefoot, joining the lepers and beggars in the poor section of town. The film follows with a series of episodes from the saint's life rather than a coherent narrative, following up until his final days when he receives the stigmata, or wounds similar to those on the body of Jesus at the crucifixion. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rourke, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
- 1987
Fred left his working-class neighborhood in the north of Germany in order to take advantage of an opportunity to earn a lot of money in Africa as a truck driver. He believed then that money would solve a lot of the problems he was facing. However, when he comes home to his wife with the money, she sends him away. An old girlfriend wants a settled married life which he is unable to provide. Even his old buddies can't get on with him anymore. His brief experience of larger horizons has changed him too much for them to relate with him easily. Instead of improving his life, it seems that his sojourn in the south has eliminated it entirely, leaving him (metaphorically) holding a bag with only money in it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Redl, Ann-Gisele Glass, (more)
- 1985
Herbie Melbourne (Didi Hallervorden) is a poor schlemiel who is inadvertently caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea in this German farce about a cab driver (Hallervorden) assigned to bring a "comrade" back to the East German side of the Berlin wall, a passenger who is dead to the world, permanently, when he arrives. Herbie the cabbie is recruited by the KGB and East German Intelligence to help them discover who murdered the man in his back seat. After arriving on the West German side of the divide, Herbie is then recruited by the CIA and West German Intelligence to become a counterspy, for double what the other side is paying him. As Herbie seems to have no viable way out of this mess, he does what many have done before him, he goes to a therapist (Catherine Alric) for help. Reaching into her bag of tricks, the therapist gives Herbie a small bottle he can sniff when in need of self-confidence, an act guaranteed to put him on top of any situation. Now Herbie is a cabbie, a KGB agent, a CIA agent, and a bottle sniffer -- and he is falling in love with his gorgeous therapist. Although the standard chase routines are a bit lengthy and exaggerated, this spy spoof keeps its sense of humor intact.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dieter Hallervorden, Catherine Alric, (more)
- 1983
This well-crafted, carefully-wrought film details the downward spiral of a loner named Paul (Peter Franke) who slowly succumbs to a worsening depression after his wife leaves him. Paul works part-time, goes to peep-shows, lives in a run-down room, and spends his time drinking beer in the bar at night. When he meets Lisa (Brigitte Janner) it almost looks as though he will pull himself up by the bootstraps -- until his aloof behavior does nothing to keep Lisa from going off with someone else. Paul reverts to his old ways, and even tries to rob one of the places where he used to work -- but fails. In the end, there seems to be no hope for his future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Franke, Brigitte Janner, (more)
- 1981
This story handles the movement to end discrimination against women - and its context, through a semi-autobiographical account of the years between 1967 and 1970 that the director Helke Sander spent in West Berlin. The activist Anni (Angelika Rommel) opens an album her son gave her on the political movement called "Ausser Parlamentarische/Opposition," and compares that with her own memory of the end of the 1970s. At the same time, her son acquired another book for himself on a commune that is fighting against the use of atomic energy and for better care of the environment. The book, the album, and Anni's reminiscences mesh to create a multisided picture of the causes that gained adherents during a particular place and time in history. With only $200,000 to make this film, Sander has accomplished a lot given her financial restrictions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The slow, nightmarish accumulation of ever more responsibilities eventually threatens the sanity of a young woman in this drama. When her mother died, Helga was only a teenager, but she took over much of the responsibility for her household. As a young woman, she has a brief interlude of freedom in Paris before she is called back to Germany by her father. After a brief courtship, she marries and has a baby but is gradually overwhelmed by her daily responsibilities and copes by obsessively cleaning the house in a highly erratic manner. When her activities nearly lead to the loss of her child, she seeks psychiatric help. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaus Dutsch, Erwin Keusch, (more)
- 1977
In this drama, the means by which a monopolistic corporation fixes prices to soak the consumer is shown in detail. A conscience-stricken executive, Bernd (Peter Fitz) reveals the company's insider shenanigans to the public, which results in a governmental investigation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fitz, Dorothea Moritz, (more)
- 1977
An out of work architect and a recently discharged military man meet at a critical moment in their lives. Each of them has been deprived of an occupation which gave meaning to their existence, and is left, instead, with a $15,000 severance check. Neither one handles the situation at all well. Bert, the architect, is thinking about giving up his apartment and studio, and tries his hand at an elaborate con-game. Thomas, a former military air-traffic controller, must take an elaborate series of exams before he can resume his profession as a civilian. Their girlfriends are not a steadying factor in their lives. When circumstances get in the way of their plans, they soon have only their friendship to rely on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Bernd Tauber, (more)
- 1977
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
- Starring:
- Nikolaus Dutsch, Romy Haag, (more)
- 1971
This German docudrama explores the ins and outs of a strike in a West Berlin factory. The story concerns a locksmith who, on the recommendation of his employment agency, comes to Berlin to interview for a job in the factory. The job has nothing to do with locksmithery; however, it is in the transport section. As a result, he is in an even testier mood than his disgruntled co-workers, and when the strike is near to being settled he wants it to continue. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
It is reasonably clear that this German language film is not based on the comic-book character who is a younger relative of Superman. The girl in this version of Supergirl suddenly appears from another planet and to a variety of people, from novelists to the American President, she announces an imminent attack from space. They are not moved to rally the planet to meet the threat, however, particularly as they only have her unsupported warning. Instead, they simply seem confused. As abruptly as she appears, she disappears. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1971
This dark, futuristic exploration of the German film genre known as the Heimat, or village, movie marks Uwe Brandner's critically well-received first foray into filmmaking. For this film, he served as producer, screenwriter and director. In the heimat genre, the extreme goodness, orderliness and timeless simplicity of life in rural Bavarian villages is highlighted. The genre generally lends itself to melodramatic bathos, and was extraordinarily popular in Germany for many decades. This film faithfully uses the elements of those movies to make a quite different statement. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
