Marie-Charlotte Schüler Movies

The men in The Men are stuffy ad exec Heiner Lauterbach and nonconformist artist Uwe Oschsenknecht. Both are amorously involved with lovely Ulrike Kleiner: Lauterbach is her husband, Oschsenknecht her new lover. Deducing that Ulrike is attracted to Oschsenknecht's Bohemian lifestyle, Lauterbach plots to transform the artist into a rock-ribbed conservative. A dash of gratuitous slapstick hurts the farcical proceedings not one whit. Originally titled Manner, The Men was made on a shoestring for German television, then released as a theatrical feature, making a tidy sum in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed with the eye of an ad man, the camera angles and approaches to scenes in this drama, as well as the lighting and color, reflect the preceding career of director Ulli Weiss in the advertising business. The story is straightforward and unexceptional, about two friends who have been living a fairly carefree existence. Harry (Heinze Honig) is now driving a cab at night because the woman he loved left him, and he has no desire to follow a traditional career. He sees his friend Pit (Jan Fedder) on a daily basis, and when they are not talking together or working, Pit is with his lover -- a rock and roll singer -- and Harry is chasing after women. Pit is a glass artist whose sculpture has not been selling at all recently, and to make matters worse, the woman he loves is now having an affair with someone else. Faced with the same crisis his friend had before him, Pit disappears from sight for awhile. When Harry catches up with him again, circumstances have changed. Harry has become seriously interested in an older, responsible woman and Pit has discovered the realities of manual labor (that pays). For all intents and purposes, it looks as though the carefree days are over for both friends. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Anke (Gudrun Landgrebe) and Philip (Jochen Schroeder) are a married couple with respectable jobs -- she is a lawyer and he, a civil servant -- who are at odds with each other over when to have a baby (if they should) and what to do about the mortgage they have to sign in order to keep their apartment. As the two hassle each other with their contending views, a battle of the sexes is initiated that recalls other times and places in German cinema (Heidi Genee's One Plus One Equals Three, May Spils' To The Point, Darling). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi