Janek Rieke Movies

A retired Mafioso takes the misstep of a lifetime -- and inadvertently triggers a most inconvenient love affair between two complete strangers -- in this zany German-language farce from Teutonic director Sebastian Niemann. The hermetic (Don Enrico Puzzo) (screen vet Franco Nero) may have put the bulk of his professional life as a godfather behind him, but he mistakenly reasons that this will permit him to publish his tell-all gangster memoirs sans consequence. Instead, it draws both fear and concern from a vast number of people whose lives and safety will be at stake if news of Enrico's exploits hits the presses. One of those concerned, mafia middleman Pepe (Bud Spencer), tries to prevent the publication of the book by having cocky, loudmouthed hit man Toni Ricardelli (Rick Kavanian of Manitou's Shoe) rub Enrico out. Meanwhile, Enrico fails to turn up at a press conference, which prompts the publisher of the book to send his editor-cum-girlfriend, Julia (siren Nora Tschirner) to Enrico's with a $500,000 check meant to pull the mafioso out of hiding. Minutes before Julia turns up at Enrico's place, Toni visits Enrico and ices him -- leading to a comically inconvenient and awkward meeting between hitman and editor. In seemingly no time at all, Toni and Julia fall in love, which creates enormous complications, given the conflicting nature of their ambitions. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

One of the key political events of the late 20th century fails to distract a man who is having a row with his parents in this comedy from Germany. The film takes place in the fall of 1989 in SO36, a neighborhood in West Berlin adjacent to the Berlin Wall, shunted into a corner and largely ignored. It is home to an oddball community of Bohemians and outsiders who pay little mind to the world around them. Frank Lehmann (Christian Ulmen) is a bartender who serves beer at nights to the motley citizens of SO36 and is oblivious to most everything except his lackadaisical pal Karl (Detlev Buck) and his ill-tempered girlfriend Katrin (Katja Danowski). A visit from Frank's parents throws his simple life into disarray, especially since his letters home led them to expect a far grander life than he's leading, and with this sudden chaos in his life, Frank barely notices that big things are happening on the other side of the wall. Herr Lehmann, also titled Berlin Blues, was screened as part of the "German Cinema" series at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man who loses a very personal part of his body to cancer decides he wants it back in this offbeat black comedy. Martin Schwarz (Wotan Wilke Moehring) is a young man who has returned to Berlin after receiving a graduate degree in the United States. Short on both work and funds, Martin is alarmed by a constant pain in his groin, but doesn't want to spend the money to go to a doctor; a friend persuades a local paramedic to look at Martin, who insists he visit a hospital as soon as possible. The bad news for Martin is he's suffering from testicular cancer, which means one of his testes will have to be removed. While in the hospital, Martin meets Susanne (Julia Hummer), a beautiful patient who is carefully swiping drugs from the clinic for her own purposes. After surgery, Martin is told that he should have his other testicle removed to prevent a possible spread of the cancer. Put off by this notion, Martin instead opts for chemotherapy, and ends up in a ward with two eccentric cancer patients, Harry (Antoine Monot Jr.) and Nickel (Janek Rieke). One especially odd conversation between the three ends with Martin taking a bet that he can successfully recover his cancerous testicle from the hospital's pathology lab, a task he soon learns is far harder than he expected. Meanwhile, Martin and Susanne fall into a relationship, but she becomes increasingly upset by his inability to accept the notion that both of them may be living on borrowed time. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Janek Rieke wrote, directed, and stars in this German romantic comedy about loser Jonas ($Rieke), a 26-year-old with allergies who still lives with his parents, wealthy from their oil-tanker business. Jonas falls for eco-oriented bicycle courier Lena (Lisa Martinek), who tells him she will only sleep with him after seeing proof that he's not a wimp -- but then tensions erupt when an oil tanker disaster leads to her discovery of his father's profession. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide