Hans-Peter Hallwachs Movies
- 2002
Eoin Moore's domestic abuse drama Pigs Will Fly focuses its attention on the abuser more than the victim. Laxe (Andreas Schmidt) is an emotionally troubled Berlin policeman who, after witnessing a male associate of his wife's flirt with her, beats Manuella (Kristen Block). Afterward she is admitted to the hospital, and he is suspended from his job. Taking a visit to San Francisco to visit his very different brother Walter (Thomas Morris), Laxe is confronted by his family's history of abuse, and must decide if he wants or has the ability to change his violent behavior. Pigs Will Fly screened at the San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andreas Schmidt, Thomas Morris, (more)
- 2001
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The true story of a German soldier's long and difficult journey home after being sentenced to a Russian prison camp inspired this wartime epic. In 1944, Clemens Forell (Bernhard Bettermann) leaves behind his wife and children and joins the German army, where he is sent to fight along the Russian front. After a year in the trenches, Forell is captured by Soviet forces and is sentenced to spend 25 years at hard labor, mining lead. Predictably enough, the mine proves to be a dangerous and dispiriting environment, and after three years Forell decides he can stand no more and blocks out an escape plan. Forell makes his break during the dead of winter, and while he's at first discovered by a group of hunters who intend to turn him back in, a band of Eskimos come to his rescue. Forell throws in his lot with them, eventually falling in love with the lovely granddaughter (Irina Pantayeva) of the Eskimo chieftain. After a few seasons with the Eskimos, Forell resumes his journey back home, narrowly escaping capture in Siberia and finding an unexpected ally as he tries to cross into Iran. So Weit Die Fuesse Tragen was adapted from a best-selling German novel based on an actual incident; the novel was also the basis for a popular German television series of the late '50s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernhard Betterman, André Hennicke, (more)
- 1999
A man discovers the difference between lust and love isn't as simple as he thought in this romantic comedy from Germany. Bob (Gregor Torzs) is a self-styled ladies' man in his mid-twenties who is making a concerted effort to settle down by marrying his girlfriend Claudia (Miriam Lahnstein). Claudia loves Bob so much she's getting breast implants in hopes that a more substantial bosom will encourage him to stick around. However, one morning Bob spots Barbara (Martina Gedeck) on the bus and is immediately infatuated; he chats her up and they go so far as to get a motel room before she calls things off. Bob is intrigued, however, and wants to know more about her; he discovers she's a bit older than he expected -- and the slightly insecure mother of three children. But as Bob and Barbara become better acquainted, they discover a real attraction has grown between them, and Bob has to decide just how he feels about Barbara before meeting Claudia at the altar. Alles Bob won enthusiastic reviews for Martina Gedeck's well-nuanced performance as Barbara. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martina Gedeck, Gregor Torzs, (more)
- 1998
Drachenland is a drama about Hannes, a computer designer who left Berlin seven years ago and has since become successful in the United States. On returning to Germany, he is haunted by images and emotions from his past -- his dead father, relatives he did not get along with, the woman he left behind. His feelings of guilt, his deep-seated fear of human relations and everything else he ran away from seven years ago take the shape of a dragon and appear in the virtual world of the computer game he is working on, entitled "Dragonland." Drachenland is a psychological drama that reflects some of the anxieties of the post-modern, computer age man. It was screened as part of the New German Films at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marek Harloff
- 1995
German politics and filmmaking are parodied in this comedic mystery that centers on a line-up of odd-balls, each suspected of killing a politician, as they explain their different motives for committing the crime. It is up to the viewer to decide which one of them committed the crime (the filmmaker never does tell who did it, so it could provide an interesting topic for discussion after the picture ends. Also never shown is the industrialist they killed). Among the suspects are a bungling terrorist who cannot prove the existence of her radical group and a former director of East German state films who currently makes his living editing video clips for a dating service. During the "interviews," characters will periodically stop to argue with director Hans-Christian Blumenberg. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- R
Anthony Perkins, in one of his last roles, is the sole highlight of this mundane, German-made psychological thriller, based on a novel by Ruth Rendell. Perkins plays Arthur, an obsessive-compulsive English bachelor with a history of far more destructive habits -- the worst of which include his reign of terror as the "Kenbourne Killer," who is responsible for the strangulation murders of several prostitutes. Like a certain legendary Perkins character of yore, Arthur has some Oedipal issues that need working out and fixates his mother fixation on the department-store mannequin he keeps in the secluded boarding house where he spends his "retirement." When this decidedly one-sided relationship is disrupted by the sudden loss of the dummy, poor Arthur goes 'round the bend again... but the blame for the new string of murders falls on one of his neighbors instead. Bogged down by pedestrian direction and a romantic subplot that serves little purpose, this attempt at a detailed portrayal of madness is kept aloft (barely) on the basis of Perkins' brooding, restrained performance. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The Nazi doctrines of eugenics which led to genocide were by no means limited to Jews, gypsies, or homosexuals. This gripping drama follows the exploits of two pediatric caregivers who risked their lives to protect their handicapped charges from being gassed or used in medical experiments. Even though what the government was doing was in the caretakers' view obviously not conscionable, they were unable to get help from religious or judicial authorities and were forced to resort to other ways to rescue the youths in their care. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark McGann, Gabriele Osburg, (more)
- 1991
- R
This dramatic presentation is the story of the landscapes that inspired Caspar David Friedrich. Narrated by Friedrich's friend and pupil, Carl Gustav Carus (played by Helmut Griem) this takes place on location throughout Europe. Mr. Friedrich's will not appear, except with his back to the camera, as he paints. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Griem, Sabine Sinjen, (more)
- 1990
Famed actor Helmut Berger directed this nondirectional, experimental film, which focuses on the improvisational conversations of three of life's more clueless individuals: a would-be suicide, a bank robber, and a first-time visitor to Vienna. The film also features a variety of odd visual juxtapositions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Helmut Berger, (more)
- 1989
Otto Waalkes is a goofy looking and very popular German standup comedian, who has also directed, written and starred in a number of very silly films in which he plays a bumbling, wacked-out Frisian. Frisians are to "regular" Germans what Newfoundlanders are to other Canadians, the Irish are to the English, etc. In other words, they are the regular butt of jokes about how clueless they are. In this particular film, Otto travels the globe to save Frisia from being paved over by the German military-industrial complex. This involves his visiting the set of Miami Vice, interfering with Steffi Graff at a tennis match, etc. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Volkmar Kleinert
- 1988
Elisabeth (Hannelore Schroth) and her scientist husband Heinrich (Friedrich von Thum) return to Germany after a 40-year stay in the United States. There, Heinrich's old friend and rival Franz (Hans Peter Hallwachs) becomes jealous of the attention Heinrich is receiving from government officials and he tries to discredit Heinrich. Elisabeth experiences health problems, so Heinrich arranges for nurse Charlotte to care for her, but for some strange reason, she moves in with Franz instead of with the patient and her husband. When the four go to Spain on a holiday, Charlotte becomes the object of Heinrich and Franz's rekindled rivalry. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hannelore Schroth, Hans-Peter Hallwachs, (more)
- 1986
Concocted with a flair for the kind of mystery once captured in the best silent films, this engaging suspense story concerns a German samurai who mastered his art while growing up in Japan. The flaxen-haired samurai is Wilcke (Hans Peter Hallwachs), who has his dander up because an ancient and highly valuable sword has been stolen from its rightful owners. Wojciech Pzoniak plays Gerhard Krall, a cringing, super-rich thief who defends himself with huge castle walls, a moat, a surveillance system, and one talented ninja bodyguard. To complicate matters between these enemies, a female journalist is on the trail of the samurai and the story behind his actions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornelia Froboess, Hans-Peter Hallwachs, (more)
- 1986
A drama about personal conflicts and the political biases of the East and West German governments in the mid-'80s, this story focuses on the defection of a talented singer. Klaus (Gerulf Pannach) is finally granted permission to leave East Germany where he is no longer allowed to perform. But after arriving in the West he decides that he does not like being treated as the latest hot commodity; he appears to be no more comfortable in his new environment than in his previous one. While being hyped and promoted, he goes looking for his father, who had left nearly 30 years before to pursue his career as a musician in Cambridge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerulf Pannach, Fabienne Babe, (more)
- 1985
This is an uneven sci-fi farce that combines electronic imaging and video but stops short of a rampant, comic-book approach to its tale. Hurry Cane (Piero von Arnim), Daisy Bit (Linda Himbert), and the crazed Dr. Popov (Hans-Peter Hallwachs) are a determined trio bent on completing a trip to Mars to foil the evil Argon (Ugo Kier). Argon is a space bandit who poses a serious threat to the planet Earth unless he can be subdued and conquered.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Udo Kier, Piero vonArnim, (more)
- 1984
Popova (Elisabeth Rath) is a widow who lives in a crumbling mansion and manages as best she can with the help of a loyal and quirky butler/handyman named Luka (Hans Mandin). One day a former officer comes by to demand payment of an old debt that sets her along a collision course with her neighbor Smirnov (Hans-Peter Hallwachs) - an equally poor bachelor. The two go at each other with barbed diatribes that lead to a ridiculous duel - and then discover they are in love. Based on the Anton Chekhov one-act farce by the same title, this version of the Bear focuses on the visual aspects of an essentially theatrical presentation (the actors are all from the stage). Director Don Askarjan studied art history in Moscow and his training shows in this film, as well as his talent since this low-budget production was shot in ten days - and includes the unpaid labor of a hen who wanders around like the real owner of the mansion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans-Peter Hallwachs
- 1982
A Medeci villa is home to a crackpot doctor who does experiments on peacock eggs, a nurse who greets people by doing a handstand in her skirt, an aspiring ballerina, and a few other odd characters. The villa also hosts a broad range of visitors, including a musician and a gay couple -- the younger gay blade wastes no time in chasing after the mansion's gardener. A countess who arrived at the villa throws a dinner party one day while a wedding is going on in another room (partially sponsored by a local refrigerator company) and while the two young gays are cavorting in the bushes. At the height of the frivolity, gangsters invade the scene and things turn downright nasty, even the doc shoots one of his peacocks. Tourism is just not what it used to be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentina Cortese, Gisella Hahn, (more)
- 1981
Based on a novel by Irmgard Keun written in 1937, this film is a satire on the up-and-coming Germans of that time who desired to make the leap from comfortably well-off to rich and/or powerful. The bawdy cabarets and omnipresent swastikas and military police form a backdrop for these social climbers, as they are observed by an older teenage girl. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Desiree Nosbusch, Nicole Heesters, (more)
- 1980
The destructive nature of a rising Nazi menace is the subtext in this drama about a young man in Germany in the late '20s. While he enjoys a certain immunity from hard times because of a rich friend and female companionship, he is not blind. He sees mounting injustices in the society around him and cannot always reconcile them with his own views. After his love life gets a jolt and he loses his job, he debates whether or not to work for a Nazi newspaper as the future seems to look worse each day. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Hermann Lause, (more)
- 1977
An out of work architect and a recently discharged military man meet at a critical moment in their lives. Each of them has been deprived of an occupation which gave meaning to their existence, and is left, instead, with a $15,000 severance check. Neither one handles the situation at all well. Bert, the architect, is thinking about giving up his apartment and studio, and tries his hand at an elaborate con-game. Thomas, a former military air-traffic controller, must take an elaborate series of exams before he can resume his profession as a civilian. Their girlfriends are not a steadying factor in their lives. When circumstances get in the way of their plans, they soon have only their friendship to rely on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hans-Peter Hallwachs, Bernd Tauber, (more)
- 1967
- R
When a young woman accidentally kills her ex-lover during a fight, she decides to conceal the body. Unfortunately, however, our anti-hero is less than honorable and becomes involved with not one but both of the men she finds to help her with his disposal at a construction site. And that's just one of the problems this little case of murder and deception starts. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Pallenberg, Hans-Peter Hallwachs, (more)
