Alexander May Movies
- 2007
A very human story of love and betrayal lurks in the background of one of the great air disasters of the 1930's in this drama from German writer/director Gordian Maugg. Matthias Silcher (Herbert Schafer) is a man who has been fascinated by his father Jakob (Peter Wolf) for much of his adult life, while Jakob is similarly obsessed with the life of his own father, Robert (Olaf Rauschenbach). When Jakob unexpectedly dies, Matthias takes up his research into Robert's life and death; while in his youth Robert worked as a tailor, when airships enjoyed their great moment of popularity in the 1930's, he took a job with a firm that serviced zeppelins with hydrogen, including the Hindenburg. Robert died in the midst of a work-related accident, and shortly before his death Jakob had tracked down Karl (Alexander May), a close friend and colleague of Robert who was with him at the time of his death. Matthias begins interviewing Karl on a regular basis, but while the old man initially has little patience for Matthias's questioning, in time he begins sharing some of the long-forgotten details of his life with Robert. In the 1930's, Robert had married the great love of his life, Thea (Agnieszka Piwowarska), and through her brother Konrad (Christoph Bach) he landed a job in airship maintenance that led to a prestigious appointment to help keep the Hindenburg in repair. Robert developed a tremendous passion for airships, and struck up a friendship with one of his co-workers, Karl (played as a young man by Hendrik Massute). However, as he devotes more and more time to his work, Robert begins neglecting his wife, while Karl becomes increasingly attracted to the lovely and lonely Thea. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olaf Rauschenbach, Alexander May, (more)
- 1993
In this drama, a young priest (Timothy Peach) and his pretty parishioner (Heike Falkenberg) are busily engaged in a love affair. They are unconcerned about the spiritual consequences of their actions, and are chiefly interested in remaining undiscovered. When the girl discovers that she is pregnant, she becomes bitterly preachy on the subject of obligatory priestly celibacy. Meanwhile, the priest is jumping at shadows: on one occasion, when a sweet old lady parishioner gives him what looks like a baby jacket, he nearly faints dead away, until he discovers that it's intended to cover a hot water bottle. Eventually his bishop and his best friend, a Jesuit, discover what has been going on. To his amazement, both men are unsurprised, and view the situation quite calmly. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Gallauner
- 1978
Things run steadily downhill for Maxmilian (Towje Kleiner), a divorced journalist who is trying to sell a novel he has written. On the very day his divorce is finalized, he meets a divorced woman and begins an affair with her. At the same time he learns that he is about to be fired from his newspaper job, he discovers that the one publisher expressing interest in his novel wants him to write some sex scenes for it. Meanwhile, his new girlfriend has moved into his two-room apartment with all her furniture, practically crowding them out of it, and she is urging him to move to the countryside with her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Towje Kleiner, Helmut Fischer, (more)
- 1977
Grete Minde, based on the novel by Theodor Fontane, tells the story of a girl trapped in the turbulent religious and social prejudices of 17th-century Sweden. Born of a noble Lutheran father and his second wife, a Spanish Catholic, Grete is barely tolerated by her anti-Catholic older half-brother as long as her father is living; when her father dies, she flees to the home of an uncle with the help of a local boy who has grown accustomed to protecting her. Later, unwed and pregnant, she must flee again. She returns to her home town, but is tragically ill-received. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Siemen Ruhaack, Hannelore Elsner, (more)
- 1975
Based on the best-selling novel by Nobel-laureate Heinrich Böll, this drama is a passionate indictment of Catholicism. Hans Schnier (Helmut Griem) has earned his living as a clown, though he is in fact a very covert sort of social critic. After enduring a difficult childhood in Bonn during the Second World War, including his mother's fanatic Nazism, he is appalled to discover many of the people he knows and loves swept deeply into involvement in the Catholic Church. His complete estrangement from his family and friends, who are now either bourgeois or passionately Catholic (or both), is demonstrated to him, after he makes a series of efforts to make contact. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helmut Griem, Hanna Schygulla, (more)
- 1974
The Pedestrian (Der Fussganger) was the second filmed directorial effort of German actor Maximillian Schell. Billed third under Gustav Rudolf Sellner and Ruth Hausmeister, Schell plays Andreas Giese, a Krupp-like industrialist whose past suddenly returns to haunt him. A newspaper article reveals that Giese was responsible for the wartime destruction of a Greek village and the wholesale slaughter of the villagers. Whether or not Giese feels remorse for his actions is ultimately beside the point: his family is torn apart and his son kills himself as a result of the accusation. Here as in other films, Schell exhibits his fondness for female European film stars of days gone by: Elizabeth Bergner, Lil (Metropolis) Dagover, Francoise Rosay and Peggy Ashcroft appear in key minor roles. The winner of several international awards and a "best foreign picture" Oscar nominee, The Pedestrian was also produced and written by Schell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Traumstadt concerns a tiny, remote village where people from all over can indulge in their wildest dreams. Per Oscarsson and Rosemarie Fendel play an unhappy couple who hope that a trip to this magic town will patch up their relationship. Instead, they find themselves fighting for their lives when several of the wackier fantasies get out of hand. Based on Alfred Kuhn's novel The Other Side. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Benno (Christof Wackernagel) is a troubled 16 year-old who is placed in a home for juvenile delinquents in this depressing drama. He is mercilessly tortured by the other residents when he refuses to tell them where he has hidden a stolen gun. His isolation ends when he is invited back home to live, but he can't along with his stepfather, whose only goals are business and social climbing. Benno finds he is just as alone as he was at the reform school as he handles the stolen gun. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helga Anders, Christof Wackernagel, (more)
