Ulrich Noethen

Sixty years after the fall of the Third Reich, German filmmaker Dani Levy takes the bold step of playing the most notorious man of the 20th Century for laughs in this offbeat historical comedy. In December 1944, the war in Europe is in its final stages; Germany has been decimated by Allied attacks, and the Third Reich is fated to collapse in just a few months. With the Nazi empire in tatters, Adolph Hitler (Helge Schneider) is understandably depressed, and while he's scheduled to give a major address to the nation on New Year's Day, he can barely summon up the enthusiasm to get out of bed. Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth), Hitler's propaganda czar, realizes the Fuehrer needs some help to get out of his funk, and thinks some coaching from a trained actor would help him put on a brave face for his big speech. Goebbels approaches Adolf Gruenbaum (Ulrich Muehe), one of Germany's most respected thespians, and asks him if he'd be willing to help Hitler prepare for his address; since Gruenbaum is Jewish and currently residing in a concentration camp, he jumps at the chance, provided his wife and children are also released and the camp is shut down before the next round of executions. While Goebbels and his men have no intention of honoring Gruenbaum's latter request, they are willing to free his loved ones, and soon Gruenbaum is spending his days with the emotionally immature dictator as he tries to help him get back on his feet. Meanwhile, Goebbels and SS Leader Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen) suspect that Hitler may be too far gone for help and start hatching a back-up plan, in which they'll kill the Fuhrer in a phony accident and seize control of the Reich. No stranger to controversy, writer and directory Levy's previous project was Go For Zucker, a comedy which poked fun at the division of Berlin during the Cold War and one man's opportunistic embrace of Orthodox Judaism. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ulrich Noethen stars in this Spanish-language espionage thriller from Mexican director Eva López Sánchez. Fleeing Germany for Mexico, spy Helmut (Noethen) is tapped by the Mexican secret service to go undercover as a professor to help bring down a group of local militants. Unfortunately, Helmut becomes emotionally involved with one of the extremists, thus complicating matters. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A group of friends attempt to enjoy a carefree summer in the Swiss Alps while a conspiracy of hatred sweeps their homeland in this historical drama. In the early 1930's, Kurt (Ulrich Noethen) is a German journalist who, under the pen name of Ignaz Wrobel, has published a series of articles attacking the Nazi party as they steadily rise to power. Kurt and his girlfriend Lydia (Heike Makatsch) are growing wary of the shift in political tides in their country, and when a Swiss baron invites them to spend a few weeks watching his estate while he's away, they agree, thinking a vacation is just what they need. Kurt and Lydia take to the carefree Swiss atmosphere like ducks to water, and Kurt begins to wonder out loud if it's worth returning to Germany to keep up a doomed fight against fascism. Karl (Marcus Thomas), a pilot and friend from Berlin, makes a stop in Switzerland to visit the couple; while Karl is cordial, he also warns Kurt that his writings have been outlawed in Germany, and that he's been publicly declared a "traitor" for his anti-Nazi stance. Kurt, Lydia, and Karl are soon joined by Billie (Jasmin Tabatabai), a close friend of Lydia's who is a nightclub chanteuse. As Billie and Lydia bond, Kurt finds he's becoming increasingly wary of Karl, who displays an uncomfortable degree of sympathy for Nazi policies. Gripsholm is based on the novel Schloss Gripsholm, a semi-autobiographical account by Kurt Tucholsky, a German writer who was exiled to Sweden in 1929 and lost his citizenship during World War II. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A naive girl's love for Switzerland is put to the test in this satiric comedy. Irina (Yelena Panova) is a woman from Russia who all her life has always been fascinated by Switzerland and longs to live there some day, though her notion of Swiss life has more to do with Heidi and old movies set in the Alps than reality. So when fashion designer Charlotte De (Geraldine Chaplin) and lawyer Alfred Waldvogel (Ulrich Noethen) offer Irina a chance to live in Switzerland and gain the Swiss passport she's always dreamed of, she leaps at the chance. Never mind that she's actually working for them as a prostitute, catering to the sexual appetites of the slimier members of the Swiss upper crust -- she's simply delighted to be there and nothing bothers her a bit. However, just as Irina's about to gain her cherished passport, her "sponsors" decide she's outlived her usefulness and send her back home. She responds by blowing the whistle on Charlotte and Alfred, which in turn sends a shock wave through the nation's social and political foundations. Beresina was noted for its barbed wit, clever production design, and a fine comic performance by Yelena Panova when it was screened in the "Un Certain Regard" category at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This film takes place in 1935 in a once-tranquil valley in the Black Forest, where Jewish cattle dealer Levi goes every year to do business. This year, he also wants to propose to Lisbeth Horger. But the valley seems to have changed. Workers from the National Railway are repairing damage in the train tunnel, and their presence has changed the spirit of the closed-off valley. The town hopes for an economic upswing, but the workers also introduce Nazi ideology. Farmer Horger will no longer sell his cattle to Jews. Swastika flags appear on the tables of the local pub. Someone slashes the tires of Levi's car. Nobody will defend Levi except Lisbeth, but the era does not favor their union. People are caught in the confrontation between the old and the new order; they end up doing things they don't really want to do. Thomas Strittmatter, author of the play on which the film is based, constructed the narrative from recollections of stories told by his family and neighbors about a Jewish cattle dealer, Levi. The theme of the film has universal qualities; the outsider and his wish to integrate are applicable to many contemporary ethnic conflicts. Viehjud Levi was screened at the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide