Karlheinz Hackl Movies
- 1994
Directed by Axel Corti and based on the German novel by Joseph Roth, Radetzkymarsch was a television miniseries originally broadcast in France. Taking place in Vienna, Austria, the story concerns the an aristocratic family right before the outbreak of WWI. Baron Franz Von Trotta (Max Von Sydow) is the son of a war hero who saved the Emperor's life. He was raised in royalty under the Emperor's care and not allowed to join the army himself, so he pressures his son, Carl Joseph (Tilman Günther), to join the military. Carl Joseph is weak and wants no part of the armed forces, but soon WWI breaks out and lessens his chance for escape. Also starring Gert Voss as Chojnicki, Claude Rich as Dr. Demant, and Charlotte Rampling as Valerie von Taussig. Features a score by Poland's leading contemporary film composer, Zbigniew Preisner. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Tilman Gunther, (more)
- 1985
The award-winning Austrian film Welcome in Vienna unfolds a true story that has long been shunted aside by military historians. The film concerns those Austrian and German immigrants who fought with the American forces during World War 2. Specifically, the story deals with Austrian Jew Freddy Wolff (Gabriel Barylli) and German intellectual Adler (Nicholas Brieger). Wolff must contend with the anti-Semitism of his German-American sergeant (Joachim Kemmer), while Adler is ideologically drifting towards communism. The shock of meeting old friends on the "other" side and of finding that their homes no longer exist as they remember them are only some of the additional challenges faced by the two protagonists. Upon its first release, Welcome in Vienna stirred up a small controversy by suggesting that the Austrian people were not merely the helpless victims of Nazi tyranny, but were as responsible as any individual "fifth columnist" in helping Hitler overwhelm the rest of Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Barylli, Nicolas Brieger, (more)
- 1984
Set during World War II, The Assisi Underground deals with the efforts made by a handful of hardy European souls to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Ben Cross plays a dynamic young Catholic priest who puts his own life on the line to save thousands of refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy. While the role of the Vatican in the war is still a matter of hot debate, there can be no denying that individuals like Cross existed: in fact, virtually every event depicted in this film is based on an actual event. Featured in the all-star cast are James Mason, Irene Papas, and Maximillian Schell. When originally released, Assissi Underground clocked in at 178 minutes, resulting in a well-intentioned but frankly boring wartime epic. The producers whittled the running time down to 118 minutes for its general release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, James Mason, (more)
The year is 1947. Aspiring southern author Stingo (Peter MacNichol) heads to New York to seek his fortune. Moving into a dingy Brooklyn boarding house, Stingo strikes up a friendship with research chemist Nathan Landau (Kevin Kline) and Nathan's girlfriend, Polish refugee Sophie Zawistowska (Oscar-winner Meryl Streep). There is something unsettling about the relationship; Nathan is subject to violent mood swings, while Sophie seems to be harboring a horrible secret. Stingo soons learns that both Nathan and Sophie are strangers to truth; the audience is likewise led down several garden paths by a series of sepia-toned flashbacks, depicting Sophie's ordeal in a wartime concentration camp. The scene in which we discover the facts behind Sophie's "choice" is a gut-wrenching one; it might have been even more powerful had not the film taken so long to get there. It is betraying nothing to reveal that the character of Stingo is the alter ego of William Styron, upon whose best-selling novel the film was based. The film is rated R, due in great part to a disposable scene wherein Stingo tries to put the make on a "liberated" female intellectual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, (more)
The analyst becomes the analyzed as filmmaker Alex Carti and screenwriter Georg Stefan Troller turn the theories of Dr. Sigmund Freud on the father of psycho-analysis himself to offer a fascinating look at one medical history's most controversial figures. From the anti-Semitic experiences of his childhood to his tenure studying the reproductive habits of eels at Vienna University, Freud's life is explored in minute detail to reveal just how his personal experiences may have influenced his groundbreaking but often contentious theories. As the relationship between Freud and such contemporaries as Charcot and Bruer begins to highlight the differences between the Parisian and Viennese schools of psychiatry, the origins of Freud's Studies in Hysteria slowly come into focus. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karlheinz Hackl
