Herbert Achternbush Movies

This esoteric comedy is designed specifically for linguists who are fluent in German - or native German speakers with a passion for language used in the service of (as one reviewer put it) "intellectual anti-intellectualism." Others may find the film's rapid-fire wordplay which skillfully subverts the grammatical and linguistic conventions of the German language difficult or frustrating to follow. The story, such as it is, is that Mixwix is the owner of a department store who literally squats on the roof of his store, while a horde of attendants flatter him and look after his every imaginable want. Even the name of the owner is a play on words, connoting someone who masturbates. The symbol is apt, in that this almost onanistic fantasy is intended to poke fun at the awful seriousness of Germany's intellectual classes. Director Herbert Achternbusch, who has been at this sort of drollery since 1971, has numerous fans in Germany. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Herbert Achternbusch seems to have made enough money with his many underground films to take this trip to mainland China, camera-toting accomplice at hand, and record life in this vastly different culture. As he films children on the streets, the greenery of parks, and flowers of all colors, he notes how impossible it is to make films in Germany. Apparently German streets, parks, and flowers are not competitive as far as Achternbusch is concerned. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In yet another salty Herbert Achternbusch interpretation of life, sex, and politics, the prolific director relies on long monologues and visual references to the infamous 1936 Olympics in Berlin and to Nazi concentration camps in order to put across a story involving his father (played by the director himself) and his mother, who was a sports instructor during the time of the Olympics (the year when Achternbusch was conceived). In reality, the film is not so much a story, as a platform for Achternbusch's stand-up routines. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is the tenth film in eight years from writer and director Herbert Achternbusch and is radically out on its own limb. The premise is that Jesus Christ has returned as a fairly palpable ghost behaving in a slightly less than saintly manner, and no one knows how to react to him. He lives on bread and wine, teases the Mother Superior, and has a crown of thorns that nettles him at times. Achternbusch aficionados will readily enthuse about this latest creation though other reactions may vary from amusement to objection. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Herbert Achternbusch wrote, directed, and starred in this comedy that pokes fun at the German way of subsidizing the art of creating movies and documentaries. He is a filmmaker playing the role of a filmmaker in a film he is making, and as a result, the film jokes might be a little abstruse for some of the viewers. The story centers on a "film" man just out of prison (Achternbusch) who has to make a living with his craft again. He is followed by a reporter who wants an interview, and winds up at an inn called "Zum Neger Erwin," run by a woman whom he convinces to be the leading lady in his planned production. As the story continues, the filmmaker finds ample excuses to pan the financial powers that be, and to paint the beknighted and talented seekers after funds as Neger Erwins, slaves to the funding process. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is another unclassifiable movie by Herbert Achternbusch, whose other odd movies give solid evidence of his gnomic abilities. These include The Atlantic Swimmers and Bye Bye Bavaria. The story of Der Comanche is a mix of satire and high philosophical comedy. Herbert (played by Achternbusch) is a patient in a hospital whose dreams are of such salable quality that his wife sells them, without editing, directly to television. This is an era, apparently, where the man's imaginings can be made visible through electronic magic of some kind. In one scene, he is in Ceylon, asking the two elephants if they are his wife and children. Generally, though, since he believes he is an actual Native American Comanche tribesman, his dream adventures unfold accordingly. Herbert speaks in a thick Bavarian dialect, so his extremely witty lines may be difficult for some German speakers to understand. Once he is released from the hospital, he goes to a restaurant in the Vienna Woods to conduct a Comanche raid on the palefaces drinking beer there. Once there, a highly abstruse discussion about life, etc., takes place. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this somewhat experimental satirical black comedy, a renowned and sensitive poet and writer is fed up with the crudenesses of his native Bavaria and, in a well-publicized move, says he refuses even to die there. Instead, followed by reporters, he retires to Greenland. There, he has a reunion with his girlfriend, and gains some idea of the current situation of his wife before he dies. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This comedy records the hijinks of one celebrant of the Bavarian Oktoberfest who has dressed himself up as a policeman. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

German director Werner Herzog's internationally acclaimed "breakthrough" film is based on the famous story of mysterious 19th-century child genius Kasper Hauser. As played by Bruno S., Hauser shows up unannounced in the middle of a village square, frightening the populace with his bizarre behavior. He cannot talk, nor is there any indication of his parentage, thus Kaspar is immediately the object of close scrutiny from the authorities. When he finally does develop the power of speech, he reveals a highly advanced state of intelligence, as well as a seeming gift of prophecy. The winner of the 1975 Grand Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Every Man for Himself and God Against All was originally released in Germany under the title Jeder für Sich und Gott Gegen Alle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide