Gottfried John Movies

In Fedora, Billy Wilder approaches Hollywood stardom in the same fashion as he did in Sunset Boulevard--with cynicism, regret, understanding, and awe. Fedora (Marthe Keller) is film's most intriguing movie queen. Rumored to be well into her sixties, the actress has remained a starlet for over four decades--retaining youth and radiance despite her advancing years. The mystery behind her numinous persona has never ceased to captivate audiences. Even now, as she lives in seclusion on the beautiful Greek island of Corfu, the public buzzes for her to return to the screen. When producer Barry Detweiler (William Holden) travels to Corfu, staking his faltering career on Fedora's return, he discovers the actress's tragic secret. Fedora's eternal loveliness may not be the result of defying her age, but of concealing her youth. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

This Rainer Werner Fassbinder drama centers around the lonely quest for love of Elvira Weishaupt, a man who became a woman to please his/her man. Just prior to that, Elivira had been jilted by her previous live-in partner, a man. She does the operation to win the heart of another, Anton. Unfortunately, the sex-change operation does not change the intended's mind; Anton is simply not interested. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's sweeping 16-hour-long drama Berlin Alexanderplatz is an adaptation of the novel by Alfred Doblin. Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht) is released from prison as the film opens; he had been jailed for four years after killing his girlfriend Ida. Franz becomes involved with Lina (Elisabeth Trissenaar) and promises to no longer break the law. The 1920s German economy is horrible, and Franz has difficulty providing for himself and his partner. He goes into business with Lina's uncle, who eventually betrays Franz, sending him into a serious downward spiral. Franz becomes involved with a criminal named Reinhold (Gottfried John), a womanizer who convinces Franz to get rid of the woman Reinhold himself has discarded. After a botched robbery, Franz loses his arm in a car accident. With assistance from his ex-girlfriend Eva (Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla) and her pimp, Franz recovers and returns to the city. He starts to make some money by acting as a pimp for a prostitute named Mieze (Barbara Sukowa), but Reinhold returns and kills her. The authorities arrest Franz for the murder. The film ends with Franz in a mental hospital, a prime candidate to join the ranks of the upstart National Socialist party. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Glentz (Gottfried John) is a strongman who was once a member of the Foreign Legion. He is trying to fulfill his job as a store detective, but because of his temper and his strength, he does considerable bodily harm to the minor thieves he catches in the act. His rough tactics cost him his job, are no help in getting another job -- and actually land him in jail when after several too many drinks, he clubs a woman who had once been his lover. Unfortunately, she forgives him his transgressions, gets him out of jail, and invites him to join her commune. In reality, the commune itself is into shoplifting (it is anti-establishment which in this case, means outside the law) and before he knows what is happening, Glentz is planning a robbery of the same store he used to guard as a detective. With his moral fiber unraveling at breakneck speed, Glentz seems to be careening toward disaster. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Combining a part-documentary, part-fiction approach to the March, 1921 uprising of sailors at the port of Kronstadt (an island port in the Gulf of Finland, near St. Petersburg), director Jurgen Klauss has created an erudite synopsis of the nature of the rebellion. Lenin was faced with a food shortage in the early years of his regime and in an attempt to handle the crisis, forcibly took grain from the peasants and redistributed it to the cities and the military zones in the country. Since the grain was not enough to go around to begin with, this caused shortages everywhere and the peasants revolted in 1918 -- with the sailors at Kronstadt following suit in 1921. This portrayal of the Kronstadt revolt is set in a studio with stage props, and is clearly meant to illustrate the issues and the history at hand. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Sylvia Kristel adds her sexual allure to the story of Mata Hari (Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), executed by the French in 1917 at the age of 41 for being a double agent. In reality, "Mata Hari" had been married, had children, and performed as a dancer around Europe -- not the normal background for a spy. And according to the man who requested her execution, Captain Ladoux, she was a lousy spy indeed. But Kristel and director Curtis Harrington capture one aspect of Mata Hari that made her most infamous -- her willingness to bed down with just about any military man she found attractive, and none were not. As Kristel jumps into bed with both Germans and French, and others in-between, something of the spirit of Mata Hari may live on in this ostensible biography. Viewers may definitely want to compare versions with Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, or Jeanne Moreau in the lead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Hans Neuenfels adapted this rather theatrical version of a 1920s play by Robert Musil on the angst of reaching 40+, introducing emotional components that Musil himself preferred to avoid -- but that might satisfy today's audiences. Five protagonists gather together at a Berlin villa one February morning and in the space of 24 hours discuss, argue, and otherwise verbalize their views on life, on alienation (in the 1920s!), and on topics that will be universal for all future generations, such as relationships and the nature of reality. Individual viewers will have to decide if the theatrical approach of Neuenfels works for them or not.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Four decades have passed since the end of WW II, and a woman returns to Germany, her birthplace, in an effort to discover the circumstances surrounding her son's death. She stumbles upon a covert Nazi organization who, through a selective breeding program, intend to create a new master race. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

When a secretary comes up missing after she witnessed a murder taking place, an unlikely couple of "relative-sleuths" (a duke and his uncle) team up to find the kidnapped woman. ~ All Movie Guide

Using two parallel stories, this drama explores the reconstruction of Germany after the Second World war. To what extend did the lessons of the war sink in? In the story, an idealistic cameraman and his more worldly friend, a movie director, have hidden their old equipment until it is safe to use it again. Finally, the war is over, and movies are being made again. The director is willing to make popular entertainments, but his friend the cameraman has a yen to make something more socially relevant, commenting on the evils of the Hitler regime. Curiously, though they come to a parting of the ways, it comes over a woman they have both falling in love with, rather than these weighty issues. In the parallel story, a former soldier in the Reich's armies has been discharged and has returned to his home town and his old job as projectionist at the local movie theater. He and the others experience some difficulty with the occupying forces, especially with the dark-skinned Moroccans, but as soon as they can, they settle down into their old lives - including their prewar prejudices. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

From the directing team of identical twin brothers Timothy Quay and Stephen Quay, Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life focuses on the experiences of Jakob Von Gunten (Mark Rylance), who has come to the titular institute to train to become a manservant. Amidst a series of unorthodox lessons under the instruction of brother and sister Johannes Benjamenta (Gottfried John) and Lisa Benjamenta (Alice Krige), Jakob becomes attracted to Lisa and she to him. As the magnetism between the two of them intensifies, Lisa's health declines more and more, leading Johannes to question Jakob's influence on her. The screenplay was adapted from the novel Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide