Bruno Ganz Movies

Peter Keller has come back to his native village in Switzerland from Berlin to investigate a murder. It seems that an old army buddy of his is the accused. As he pokes around, it becomes clear that his having roots there cuts no ice with the locals: they all seem to have something to hide and resent his presence on the scene. Among the tensions seething beneath the placid surface of the place is the resentment a religious commune has provoked locally, and schemes which are designed to take their land away from them. This drama about a particularly tenacious and methodical investigation is based on a novel by mystery writer Sam Juan. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This funny, satirical comedy stars German actress Hanne Wieder as Chikita, a Swiss woman who owns a certain type of establishment in a South American country where men can come to relax and whatever. When she goes back to her hometown in Switzerland, her past catches up with her, but not in a negative way. The townees decide that she should open a similar establishment for them. Meanwhile, she falls in love with a Swiss gentleman but her new enterprise in the town hits the rocks when she has a falling out with the authorities. What to do now? Should she stay or leave for South America again? This was the first feature-length film for prolific Swiss actor Bruno Ganz. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bruno Ganz plays a West German journalist whose frequent assignments to war-torn nations have left him jaundiced. He is assigned to cover the civil war in Beirut. The combination of his harrowing experiences on the job and his after-hours relationship with widow Hannah Schygulla affects Ganz deeply, in spite of the wall he's built around himself. He suffers a crisis of conscience when he is forced to commit himself to someone--and something--for the first time in his life. The plot of Circle of Deceit was based on the reminiscences of novelist Nicolas Born; the picture's realism is grotesquely enhanced by the decision to film on location in Beirut, surrounding the actors with genuine wartime carnage--bodies and all. Originally titled Die Falschung, Circle of Deceit is not a comfortable experience, but few will stop watching once the film has started. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in 1941 in Amsterdam, this is a story of humanity -- specifically, Otto (Gerard Thoolen) the Jewish owner of an ice-cream shop, his best friend Gustav (Bruno Ganz), and his friend Trudi (Renee Soutendijk) -- facing the dangers of an escalating war and the specter of fascism. The outgoing, fun-loving Otto came to Amsterdam from Berlin, and while his shop is a focus for anti-Nazi activists, Otto also cares about making good ice cream and supplying his customers with the best pastries he can manage. When his friend Gustav is on leave from the army for awhile, he spends some time with Otto and falls in love with Otto's friend Trudi. As conditions and the environment around them fluctuate and change, the three friends react differently. But it is certain that Otto's gatherings of anti-Nazi activists are not going to be unnoticed for long -- and whether he is fully aware of it or not, the prognosis is not good.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is the final film in a trilogy by Bernhard Giger that examines a man's struggle to find and defend his personal identity. In Winterstadt, a young wanderer discovers himself through his interactions with people in a small town, and in Der Gemeindeprasident, a mayor fights hard to maintain his personal and public ethical standards. Now in this drama, a young man vacillates between abiding the law and a life of crime. Tom (Andreas Loeffel) has been coerced into informing on his underworld buddies by a tough, aggressive police inspector (Bruno Ganz). Although he did not volunteer the information, Tom hides both his criminal past and current connections to the police from his girlfriend of the moment. His main concern is to live the best life he can regardless of what happens to others; he does not question his own identity as long as he has the amenities he wants. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Mourning for a lost relationship can be every bit as devastating as mourning for someone who has died. In this drama based on the director's own novel, a couple with an unhappy marriage agree to a trial separation. They try to patch things up, and at the same time other relationships begin to develop for them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The last ten days of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime are seen through the eyes of a young woman in his employ in this historical drama from Germany. Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) was 22 years old when, in the fall of 1942, she was hired to be personal secretary to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz). In April of 1945, Junge was still working for Hitler as forces were bearing down on Germany and the leader retreated to a secret bunker in Berlin for what would prove to be the last ten days of his life, as well as that of the Third Reich. As Hitler's mistress Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) attempts to throw a cheerful birthday party for her man, Hitler's closest associates, including Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen), Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes), and Albert Speer (Heino Ferch), urge him to flee the city with only Goebbels maintaining any illusions that the Third Reich has any hope of survival. Hitler refuses to leave Berlin, and he spends his final days ranting and raving to Junge, blaming all around him as he tries to understand where his leadership went wrong. Meanwhile, Goebbels and his wife round up their six children and bring them to the bunker as Berlin begins to topple, determined to take their lives rather than face the Allies after Germany's certain defeat. Der Untergang (aka The Downfall) was based in part on the memoirs of the real-life Traudl Junge, whose experiences also formed the basis of the 2002 documentary Im Toten Winkel: Hitlers Sekretarin (aka Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This is not the only European drama to handle the universal topic of how to find affordable housing when you are dirt poor with several mouths to feed, but it is one of the more engaging of its type. Laced throughout with comic nuances, the story starts out with an impoverished couple and their brood of half a dozen children barely managing to survive in a small shanty. One day the wealthy owner of an apartment complex makes the family an offer they would never turn down -- a modern, capacious apartment at a fraction of its real value. The family jumps at the chance and they move in, not knowing that the landlord only plans to take advantage of their raucous children to drive out some unwanted tenants. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Scenes from the Vietnam war are enacted by Asian and white actors, captioned, and juxtaposed with a slow-paced commentary that gives time for reflection on the message conveyed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Two well-known German actors, Curt Bois (1901-1991) and Bernhard Minetti (b. 1905) reminisce about their work on the stage in this charming documentary by directors Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander. Bois emigrated to the U.S. in 1933 but he found it difficult to obtain work in Hollywood or in New York and returned to Germany after the war. He met Charles Laughton, Bertolt Brecht, Buster Keaton, and other notables of stage and screen while he was in America. Minetti is shown at work in a rehearsal of "Faust" and at an empty, cavernous Olympic Stadium where he and friends think back to previous great soccer matches. Both Minetti and Bois contribute insights and information about their profession that only seasoned veterans like themselves can impart. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide