Martin Wuttke Movies
A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache," Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, (more)
- 2007
At some point in the not-so-distant future, an unnamed European city has evolved into a bizarre dystopian metropolis, whose residents inhabit towering utopian high-rises and work, collectively, in a single compound. Such is the backdrop of Austrian director Christian Frosch's intense and offbeat sci-fi thriller Silent Resident (AKA Weisse Lilien, 2007). Amid this strange onscreen environment, a young woman named Hannah (Brigitte Hobmeier) screams out for asylum from her physically abusive husband, Branco (Xaver Hutter). She ultimately grows so distraught that she flees from Branco on impulse - assisted by her friends, who help her move into the top floor of their facility. While Hannah's future brightens for a period, given her blossoming romance with the detective Hauks (Martin Wuttke) and the disappearance of Branco (who fails to turn up as expected after Hannah moves), the poor woman's paranoia builds - she constantly suspects that she is being watched by an unseen presence and learns of the dire fate of a previous occupant (whose body was spotted hurling from the upper balcony). Meanwhile, her friendships and romance with Hauks also begin to take on a decidedly odd character. Frosch filmed this saga at Alterlaa, formerly a utopian housing complex in Vienna, Austria. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Hobmeier, Johanna Wokalek, (more)
German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta directs the war drama Rosenstrasse, based on the plight of "mixed marriages" between Jewish men and non-Jewish women during the Holocaust. In contemporary New York, Jewish matriarch Ruth (Jutta Lampe) practices Orthodox mourning traditions for her late husband, to the dismay of her daughter Hannah (Maria Schrader). At the wake, Ruth's cousin Rachel (Carola Regnier) tells Hannah some family secrets that send curious Hannah over to Berlin. She searches out 90-year-old Lena Fischer (Doris Schade), who cared for Ruth during WWII. Flashbacks recall the events of 1943,when Jewish husbands were rounded up and kept in a house on a street called Rosenstrasse. Lena (played by Katja Riemann as a young woman) joins a group of other wives for a week-long protest, where she meets an abandoned seven-year-old named Ruth (played by Svea Lohde as a girl). Rosenstrasse was shown in competition at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katja Riemann, Maria Schrader, (more)
Noted German director Volker Schlondorff helms this riveting exploration of 1970s West German political terrorism. The film opens with Rita (Bibiana Beglau) reminiscing to her unseen friend Tatjana of her life as a radical. Cut to a flashback of her along with her like-minded colleagues robbing a bank. Later while traveling from Beirut to East Berlin, she is carted away for questioning. When the interrogators learn of Rita's vocation, Stasi officer Erwin (Martin Wuttke) releases her and tells her to consult him if she needs help. After she botches the breakout of her boyfriend Andi (Harald Schrott from a West Berlin jail, she calls on her Stasi contact to protect the gang and provide safe passage to Beirut and later to Paris. Tension between the group members -- particularly between Andi and Rita -- soon grow strained. After Rita almost gets arrested for killing a cop, she turns to Erwin, who comes up with a different offer. Rita will stay in East Germany as a working proletarian under an assumed name. While in East Berlin, she befriends Tatjana (Nadja Uhl) who soon becomes her lover. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
