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Bernhard Betterman
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)
- 1997
Two Greek rubes get into trouble while trying to enact a harebrained get-rich scheme. Irresponsible Stavros is married to the pragmatic and more mature Eleni. She is pregnant and he has not reconciled himself to this fact. His good buddy Fotis is still single and loves chasing women. Neither man is terribly intelligent, but both are sure they have come up with a brilliant way to easily make their fortunes. The plan is thus: they will take a large amount of Greek drachmas, convert them into American dollars and convert them to Bulgarian currency. They will then head for Switzerland and convert the Bulgarian lev to U.S. dollars and thereby make a big profit. The plan involves travel and a good sum of money to begin. They get the needed stake from Eleni who temporarily appropriates 7 million drachma from her vacationing boss's account and reluctantly gives it to Stavros, who immediately sets off in a beat up jalopy with Fotis. They only have a week to get the money exchanged. Right from the start, things begin going wrong when they get a lousy exchange rate on the drachmas. Things don't get better in Bulgaria. Complicating matters is the constant bickering between the two friends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
