Marie Baumer Movies
Writer/director Stefan Ruzowitzky explores the moral corrosion of Nazi complicity with this tightly wound adaptation of Adolf Burger's fact-based book The Devil's Workshop. Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) may be a talented artist at heart, but his desire for wealth has driven him to use his creativity for more nefarious means. Arrested by the police inspector Herzog (Devid Striesow) at the onset of World War II, Sorowitsch is sent to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp. It's not long before Salomon's thinly veiled opportunism earns him a relatively comfortable position as the camp's resident sketch artist, and five years later he is mysteriously swept away to Sachsenhausen. Upon arriving at the camp, Sorowitsch discovers that Herzog, now a commandant, is attempting to destabilize the economies of the Allies while simultaneously funding the Nazi war machine by assembling a special team of counterfeit artists to create millions in fraudulent pounds and dollars. As the operation gets under way, Sorowitsch finds the efforts of the team continually undermined by unyieldingly idealistic collotype specialist Adolf Burger (August Diehl). In the months that follow, the team wrestles with their consciences as Axis forces are gradually overwhelmed by Allied might. The Counterfeiters won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karl Markovics, August Diehl, (more)
- 2007
Writer-director Ognjen Svilicic's feature Armin - a Bosnian-Croatian-German co-production, in Bosnian, Croatian, German and English - follows the experiences of Ibro, a father who takes his teenage son Armin on a lengthy road trip. They journey from their village in Bosnia to a movie studio in Croatia, where Armin is to audition in a German film about the Balkan conflict. The movie relentlessly dissects and eviscerates the idealism engendered by "New Europe," while it documents the shifting nuances and dynamics in the relationship between the two men. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emir Hadzihafisbegovic, Armin Omerovic-Muhedin, (more)
- 2003
Oskar Roehler's drama Der Alte Affe Angst (Angst) is about the dissolution of a couple. Robert (Andre Hennicke) and Marie (Marie Baumer) have little in common other than their sex life. Since Robert is going through a bout with impotency, they are having a very rocky time. Robert learns that his father, whom he is estranged from, has died. This disturbs Robert so much that he visits a prostitute, and is able to engage in sex with her. Marie discovers the infidelity, and the prostitute has a surprise of her own. Angst was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- André Hennicke, Marie Baumer, (more)
- 2002
Wim Wenders' documentary Viel Passiert: Der BAP Film (Ode to Cologne: A Rock 'n' Roll Film) consists primarily of a look at the career of European rock star Wolfgang Niedecken. Known for singing in an almost indecipherable dialect, Niedecken is backed up by an ever rotating set of musicians know as BAP. While there are some fictional story lines employed in the film, the majority of the movie is comprised of concert footage. Ode to Cologne: A Rock 'n' Roll Film was shown at a special screening at the Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- BAP, Marie Baumer, (more)
- 2002
Filmed in France, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Morocco, and Canada, this ambitious biographical TV miniseries chronicles the life and times of the "Little Corporal" from Corsica who managed to conquer nearly all of Europe within a period of a dozen years. The narrative begins in the mid-1790s, as Napoleon Bonaparte (played, curiously enough, by comic actor Christian Clavier) makes his mark on posterity with spectacular victories in Austria and Egypt. On the home front, Napoleon woos and wins the lovely (and considerably older) Josephine (Isabella Rossellini), but finds time for extracurricular romances with other women, notably Countess Marie Walewska (Alexandra Maria Lara). Ultimately, Bonaparte's ambitions destroy him, first in Russia, then at Waterloo, consigning the general-cum-emperor to live out his life in humiliation and exile. When originally broadcast in France in October 2002, Napoleon ran six hours (plus commercials), with four episodes. For its American presentation on the A&E cable network beginning April 8, 2003, the production was literally sliced in half, shown in two installments with a running time of three hours. What remained was all highlights and few insights, though a few brilliant moments remained, many of these supplied by the supporting cast, which included Gérard Depardieu (who also produced) as Fouche, and John Malkovich as Talleyrand. Thankfully, the full six-hour version was made available in the U.S. on DVD and VHS in 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Clavier, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 2001
Paolo Taviani and his brother Vittorio Taviani wrote and directed this made-for-TV adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's final novel. Wealthy and privileged Prince Dmitri Nekhludov (Timothy Peach) is called to serve on the jury of a woman accused of prostitution and murder. When the accused is brought forward, Nekhludov discovers to his surprise that the streetwalker is Katusha Maslova (Stefania Rocca), a peasant woman he led into a brief affair many years ago. Maslova has been charged with the poisoning of a local merchant, but she firmly declares her innocence. Nekhludov and his fellow members of the jury find in Maslova's favor, but the judge overturns their verdict on a technicality, and she is sentenced to life at hard labor. Agonized that his seduction of a once-innocent girl led her down a path of such grim consequences, Nekhludov sets out to change his life in a bid to somehow right the wrong he's done to Maslova. Risurrezione was originally screened in a three-hour version designed for television broadcast in Europe, though it was reported that a shorter cut was being prepared for theatrical exhibition. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stefania Rocca, Timothy Peach, (more)
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