Manfred Zapatka Movies
- 2007
Four insecure men just trying to hang on to their pride find their lives intersecting on the highways of the German Ruhr region in this drama from director Bastian Guenther. For soccer coach Georg, tonight's game will dictate the outcome of his future career. Likewise, bathroom equipment salesman Jorg also stands to lose his job if sales don't perk up, and given that his personal life is currently in shambles he struggles to keep his numbers up. Freelance television reporter Dieter, on the other hand, may not fear for losing his job as he chases his latest sensational story, though he would like to spend a bit more time with his young son. Unfortunately in order to do so, Dieter has to contend with his embittered ex-wife Rita. Meanwhile, out at the local mall, ageing pop star Heinz greets his many adoring fans. Despite the fact that he is still viewed as a superstar by the public at large, Heinz is beginning to feel like the product of a bygone era. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charly Hubner, Wolfram Koch, (more)
Theo (Jürgen Vogel) has raped several women and is, after several years of committing acts of sexual violence, caught. He is committed to a psychiatric prison and, after 12 years in prison, he is released to return to normal life. Theo finds work as a printer, goes regularly to therapy, and lives in a supervised group. But Theo finds that finding a normal life isn't all that easy. Functioning more like a wooden puppet than a person, Theo wanders through his post-prison days more like an inhibited loner with severe difficulties in his social encounters with women. In spite of overwhelming loneliness and growing depression, Theo fights returning to his old violent ways. And then a ray of hope enters Theo's life: he gets to know Netti (Sabine Timoteo), the daughter of the domineering printing house owner. Netti mistrusts men in the same way that Theo mistrusts women. The two outsiders befriend each other and eventually fall in love. But Nettie knows nothing about Theo's past and his problems -- until one night when Theo decides that he can't keep living a lie. Der Freie Wille tells the story of a man who is given freedom but still remains a prisoner inside. ~ Heidi Philipsen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jürgen Vogel, Sabine Timoteo, (more)
- 2006
In 2000, Mohammed Fazazi was the Imam (or faith leader) at the Al Quds mosque in Hamburg, Germany, and near the end of the holy observance of Ramadan, Fazazi led several teaching sessions for his congregation in which attendees would be allowed to ask questions about the Qur'an and Islamic principles that they would normally be required to present in writing. Two of the sessions were videotaped, and in them Fazazi speaks (among other things) about his attitudes about Europe and America, and Islamic positions towards nations that embrace other faiths and support policies that run counter to Muslim law. Fazazi's statements proved to be wildly controversial after the fact when it became known that a number of the attendees at his 2000 presentations later participated in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., including three of the four suicide pilots. Filmmaker Romuald Karmakar transcribed Fazazi's statements from the surviving videotapes, and in the film Hamburger Lektionen (or Hamburg Lectures), actor Manfred Zapatka delivers Fazazi's speeches in full, at once altering their original context while allowing the words to speak for themselves. Director Karmakar and actor Zapatka collaborated on a similar project in 2000, Das Himmler Projekt, in which they recreated an infamous 1943 speech by Heinrich Himmler, leader of the Nazi SS. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
The pull between Eastern Europe and the West is symbolized in a story of love and difficult choices brought to the screen by filmmaker Didi Danquart. Nicu (Razvan Vasilescu) is a man well into middle age who runs a successful print shop in Bucharest. Brindusa (Alexandra Maria Lara) is a beautiful younger woman who works at the shop with Nicu -- she's his receptionist and does translating for him when necessary, but their working relationship is sometimes complicated by the fact they used to be lovers. Stefan (Felix Klare) is a printing engineers who has come from Germany to install a new printing press at Nicu's shop. While working with Stefan, Brindusa finds herself becoming attracted to the handsome German, and Stefan is deeply infatuated with her. Nicu, however, finds anger and jealousy growing inside himself as he sees sparks fly between them, and when he learns that Stefan has asked Brindusa to marry him and leave Romania for Germany, he begins to lose control of his emotions. Offset was screened as part of the 2006 Rome Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexandra Maria Lara, Felix Klare, (more)
A handsome but disaffected college graduate unable to deal with the pressures of the ultra-competitive job market in director Christoph Hochhaüsler's dark coming of age comedy. Armin (Constantin von Jascheroff) certainly has the brains to get a good-paying job, but the pressure from his parents to find gainful employment seems to be pushing him strait over the edge. After witnessing a tragic car accident and phoning in a false confession to the local newspaper, Armin finds his darkest impulses slowly taking control as he scrawls obscene graffiti on the bathroom wall, fantasizes about violent crimes, and has forced-sex with a vicious, leather-clad motorcycle gang. The trouble is, Armin can't distinguish where his fantasy world ends and where his reality begins anymore, and the danger that lurks beneath his innocent surface is about to get the best of him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Constantin Von Jascheroff, Manfred Zapatka, (more)
- 2000
A buddy movie in the tradition of Wayne's World and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Doppelpack introduces viewers to erstwhile pals Hoffi (Markus Kneufken) and Lehmi (Eckhard Preuss, who also co-wrote the movie) waking up in Dortmund Zoo after an all-night booze orgy. Following a hearty breakfast, the extroverted Hoffi and laconic Lehmi find a crate of beer and take to roaming the streets in a vague mission to find a birthday present for Hoffi's sister. Along the way, Lehmi becomes enamored of a barmaid (Margret Voelker), and Hoffi falls for a picture of a comely girl (Jeanne Tremsal) he finds in a photo booth. Later in the day they find the latter working in a retail store and Hoffi begins pursuing her; the three subsequently go to a club, where Lehmi becomes reacquainted with his barmaid. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Markus Knuefken, Eckhard Preuss, (more)
- 2000
After a rat is discovered on board their airplane, a group of travelers is stranded at the Manila airport. They include the mild-mannered Knut (Peter Ruehring) and his icy wife Regine (Margit Carstensen), who are both history teachers from eastern Germany. Knut befriends the jovial Walther (Michael Degen) and his Filipino wife Maribel (Chin-Chin Gutierrez), who are taking the body of Walther's dead son back to Germany. Also along for the wait is Cora (Ana Capri), a businesslike husband hunter; Rudi and Herbert, two skirt-chasing brothers who fall in with a poised American-German journalist (Elizabeth McGovern); and sex tourist Franz (Martin Semmelrogge), who forms an unlikely relationship with Mercy (Ces Quesada), a shy washroom attendant who can't understand a word Franz is saying. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jürgen Vogel, Michael Degen, (more)
- 1984
In this straightforward crime drama, Kovacs (Manfred Zapatka) is an engineer with designs on a larger income, so he gathers together a disparate and flawed group of individuals to help him execute the perfect armored-car robbery -- and they plan everything down to the minisecond. When it is time to pull off the robbery, Kovacs has a way of standing apart from all the rest, who cannot seem to rise above their own faults and defects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manfred Zapatka
- 1983
In a slow-moving sequence of events, a brutal misogynist who runs a bordello with an iron hand has a few problems of his own: head pains of unknown origins, and some threatening associates. His punishment of one of the older women for not bringing in many customers sets off a counterattack that may stop his reign of terror -- but is no threat to the exploitative business of prostitution itself. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manfred Zapatka, Imke Barnstedt, (more)
- 1983
This two-hour documentary and fiction film was a cooperative writing effort by five different German writers and/or directors, one of the most noted being the 1972 Nobel prize winner Heinrich Böll. Böll was specifically responsible for three fictive episodes at the end of the film that promote an anti-nuclear, pro-peace message ("Space Talk," "Atom Bunker," and "Kill Your Sister"). Documentary footage of Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt in action, along with various European and American leaders highlight the urgent issues of the day. At a time when this film partly addresses these issues and partly hedges its bets, religious leaders in Europe were coming out with a very strong anti-war statement. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jürgen Prochnow, Günther Kaufmann, (more)
- 1983
A husband and wife have separated and while in that semi-marital state, the wife begins an affair with a Turkish architect. In the meantime, the once revolutionary-minded husband now prefers his more comfortable lifestyle in his villa with his children, and he is the one who writes letters to his wife seeking a reconciliation. But she herself is thrown into a turmoil because choosing between her estranged husband and the Turkish architect is very difficult, if not impossible. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manfred Zapatka
- 1978
All alone in a big mansion, the baby-sitter hears one of the phones ringing. When she answers it, an abusive and obscene caller begins threatening her. She calls the police on another line. Meanwhile, the caller breaks into the house and seems to be preparing to rape her. However, she and the man get to know one another slightly, and she discovers that he is a desperate and lonely man, and begins to feel some pity for him. Tension builds as the police surround the residence and demand that he come outside. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This provocative film anthology contains nine short fiction and documentary films believed to have had great influence on the development of New German Cinema. Each of the five was directed by a different German filmmaker and are set during the politically tempestuous summer of 1977 in West Germany when terrorism ran rampant. Filmmakers include Fassbinder, Boll, Schlondorff, Sinkel, Kluge (who narrates) and more. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Caroline Chaniolleau
- 1971
Set in the German underworld, this romantic drama has a satirical edge. Siggi is a young mother with a mobster husband, Fred, who has grown tired of her. Abandoned, and sick of men, she takes up with her friend Elke. Together, they hit on a way of swindling men out of money on the pretense of offering sex. This works for a while, until Siggy actually goes to bed with Joky, a jukebox record distributor. Soon, she sets up housekeeping with him and goes around on distribution calls for him. This calls her to Fred's attention, and, as a form of jealous revenge, he arranges for Elke to be caught sleeping with Joky. Things look bad for Siggy's relationship for a little while, until Joky wises up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
