Sigfrit Steiner Movies

In this meditative, poetic comedy, a strait-laced young bureaucrat has been informed that, rather than being promoted, he is being apprenticed to the town archivist in anticipation of taking over his job whenever the old man retires, which doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon. A vengeful anarchist sets the town hall aflood, and something changes in the minds of the lad and his new mentor, so that we see them happily folding soggy, ruined official forms into boats and sending them down the river. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A drama about personal conflicts and the political biases of the East and West German governments in the mid-'80s, this story focuses on the defection of a talented singer. Klaus (Gerulf Pannach) is finally granted permission to leave East Germany where he is no longer allowed to perform. But after arriving in the West he decides that he does not like being treated as the latest hot commodity; he appears to be no more comfortable in his new environment than in his previous one. While being hyped and promoted, he goes looking for his father, who had left nearly 30 years before to pursue his career as a musician in Cambridge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this, the third, remake of Gotthelf's classic horror story, a woman offers the soul of her unborn baby in exchange for Satan's intervention in a situation that threatens her village. Unlike it's two predecessors, this version is told without operatic embellishment and is framed by the modern-day story of a drug-addicted woman who has a strange drug-induced dream about the woman in village. In the dream, the threat comes in the form of the ruthless knight who brutalizes and terrorizes all the villagers. The woman reneges on the bargain by having the babe immediately baptized after it is born. Satan gets his revenge by sending a murderous black spider into town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally a nine-hour British miniseries, this film on the last four decades in the life of Richard Wagner may have taken its long-winded cue from the lengthy operas of the famous 19th-century German composer and musical theorist -- the Ring des Nibelungen is 14-15 hours in itself, divided into four separate operas. This biographical film begins when Wagner is first recognized for his work, yet in that same year, 1848, he was forced out of his homeland for his radical politics (he supported the unification of separate kingdoms under one Germany) and settled in Zurich for awhile. Focusing on character traits that are well-known and would not endear him to anyone, the film details his bigotry (a confirmed anti-Semitic), his insensitivity, and his obsession with money -- he went after the bottom line even if it meant losing friendships or ruining his marriage. Although Wagner is known for his music theory and the contribution he made to opera during his lifetime, very little attention is given to his actual works in this film. Venerable British thespians (Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, and Richard Burton as Wagner) light up the cast but not always with the same brightness. In the final analysis, the slow-paced story is simply too long in the telling, and even the visually sumptuous costumes and production design cannot make up for a slow script, uneven acting, and problems in direction. The film version runs 300 minutes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Even in war, the life of a rich family is different, according to this fictional story about Francois Korb (Armin Müller-Stahl) an arms manufacturer who sold both to the Germans and the Allied forces. Korb's home life is less than ideal, since his wife is having an affair with his brother, and his young son is inseparable from a teddy bear. To remedy the son's situation, the parents take in a little refugee girl as a temporary companion and playmate, and the two children become fast friends -- and when they meet again long after the war, the influence of family is all the more apparent. Meanwhile, the arms dealer will learn the hard way that weapons kill. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Alexander is a young boy at the crossroads of manhood, faced with a single mother whose time is taken up finishing her degree, studying, and pursuing her own relationships. The boy has no one to turn to for life's more important questions. He puts an ad in the paper asking for someone to be his friend and "stand by him," an ad that does not do much to improve his situation with his mother. Eventually, he comes across a young girl about his age, and between the two of them, they tackle a few of the mysteries about growing up - not the least of which involve questions on sex and relationships, a theme that recurs throughout this story. Meanwhile, Alexander's mother needs to come to grips with what it means to be a real parent. This film, like the protagonists, seems to be caught between adulthood and childhood, with a foot in both camps, not standing solidly in either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Big corporate agricultural interests have crowded out small farmers around the globe. In this Swiss story, a young farmer refuses to participate in a community agreement, with a big industrial group, to sell his land. He wins the help of another farmer in his area and falls in love with a lovely veterinary student as he works at forcing the corporation to back down. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

After Goethe, Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) is the playwright and writer who did the most to fuel the Romantic movement in German literature. A troubled and brilliant man, he committed suicide at age 34, and his life was the paradigm for that of a tragic romantic artist. Penthesilea was among his better known works. This biographical film explores the circumstances leading up to and immediately following his suicide. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Konrad Steiner (Sigfrit Steiner) has worked all his life, never taking a single vacation. When his wife dies, the old gentleman cremates her and continues working, though he should have retired long ago. His son tries to get him to move in with him, far away from everything familiar to him. When he receives an eviction notice from his landlord, he fights back with the help of a sympathetic social worker, but is soon left with the option of an Old Age Home or the struggle to live independently on his few savings. However, he still has some fight left in him, and makes a surprising choice. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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

In this German tragedy, a generally humane bureaucrat ruins his life by too rigorously enforcing the rules concerning honest weight. Taking place in the years just prior to World War I, the film is set in a colorful village in Galicia, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Because of his efforts to enforce strict weights and measures, our bureaucrat has become the most-hated man in his region. His wife cuckolds him and has a child by another man, his gypsy girlfriend abuses him mercilessly and he is hunted down by those he has mortally offended. He slowly comes to realize that almost everything people do is short-weighted in some way. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide