Nina Hoss

A young mother of two begins the slow transformation into a Medea-like figure after discovering that her husband is leading a secret life with another family. Marie was bringing her husband his violin when she found out that he was moonlighting as a husband for another family. Devastated by the sight of her beloved husband with another woman and child, the emotionally shattered mother begins a painful descent into psychological despair from which she will never emerge until achieving her grim revenge. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With his bittersweet, German-language tragicomedy The Elementary Particles, writer-director Oskar Roehler brings to the screen Michel Houellebecq's popular seriocomic novel of two ill-adjusted siblings. Christian Ullmen and Moritz Bleibtreu portray, respectively, Michael and Bruno, half brothers who have each adjusted poorly to adult life, thanks in no small part to a cracked upbringing by their eccentric, social dropout mother. As the story opens, each brother experiences a personal crisis. Geneticist Michael returns to his work in cloning after an extended period away from his Irish laboratory, but suffers in quiet desperation from his intense inner loneliness; he must soon leave the lab once again and head back to his hometown, where his grandmother's corpse is being disinterred from a cemetery. Upon arrival, he reencounters Annabelle (Franka Potente of Run Lola Run), an adolescent crush to whom he was never before able to express his romantic yearnings; they consummate an intense erotic affair, and remain together, but a troubled pregnancy renders her infertile and makes family conception an utter impossibility. Meanwhile, high school teacher Bruno (a married husband and father) is driven completely around the bend by sexual yearnings for his female students, and consequently suffers from a nervous breakdown; he checks himself into a sanitarium, then heads off on a bender at a swingers' retreat with a new lover, Christiane (Martina Gedeck} - but their pleasure is all too short-lived. Nina Hoss and Uwe Ochsenknecht co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Christian Petzold's drama Wolfsburg details how one decision can destroy a life. One day while on a drive, Philipp (Benno Fürmann) becomes involved in a fight with his fiancée, Katja (Antje Westermann). While he is distracted, he runs into a boy. Instead of stopping, he continues home. Although the couple momentarily salvages their rocky relationship, the boy dies. Laura (Nina Hoss), the victim's mother, attempts to track down the man responsible for her son's death. Eventually she and Philipp meet, but they are unaware of their link. They begin a relationship that lasts until the truth is revealed. Wolfsburg was screened at the Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Drawing favorable comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock upon inital release in its native Germany despite having been originally made-for-television, director Christian Petzold's sophomore effort concerns a middle-aged lawyer whose tentative romance sets the stage for an elaborate con. Attracted to Leyla (Nina Hoss) after a chance encounter at a public pool, lawyer Thomas (Andre Hennicke) soon works up the courage to ask out the comely blonde who, much to his surprise, accepts. Though their first date seems headed downhill when she arrives late at the restaurant just before closing time, the couple make the best of things by heading to Thomas' place for pizza and a few drinks - shortly after which finds Leyla falling asleep on Thomas' couch. Awakening to find both Leyla and his laptop missing, Thomas begins a frantic search for both the woman and the vital case files now in her possession. When Thomas' investigation begins to hint at an elaborage scam, he tracks Leyla as she begins to size up her next target; a factory worker and former client of Thomas'. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Nina Hoss stars in this adaptation of a novel by Klaus Mann as Marion von Kammer, a singer who leaves Germany for Zurich as the Nazis rise to power. However, she finds life in Switzerland dull and suffocating, so she journeys to Paris, where she works at a pirate radio station broadcasting anti-fascist messages. She becomes friendly with a group of fellow Germans living in the city of lights, including nightclub owner Mother Schwalbe (Katharina Thalbach); Professor Abel (Udo Samel), the unofficial leader of the group; Martin Korella (Christian Nickel), a dissatisfied young author; and Kikjou (Boris Terral), Martin's lover. Nina Hoss was named Best Actress at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide