Hans-Christoph Blumenberg Movies
- 2009
The Berlin International Film Festival has long been regarded as one of Europe's biggest and most prestigious events for film fans, and filmmakers Hans-Christoph Blumenberg and Alfred Holighaus celebrate the festival's remarkable history in this documentary. Created to honor the Berlin Festival's 60th Anniversary, Spur Der Baren (aka Trace of the Bears) follows the growth of the annual event from 1950 onward, as well as exploring how the festival reflected not just the changing shape of global cinema but the political realities of Berlin, as it evolved from a font of Cold War tension to a divided city only to be reunified after the fall of Communism in Europe. In addition to recalling the festival's triumphs and controversies, Trace of the Bears includes both new and archival interviews with some of the stars and filmmakers who have presented their work over the decades, including Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Ang Lee, Costa Gavras, Tilda Winton, Errol Flynn and Claudia Cardinale. Appropriately enough, Trace of the Bears received its world premiere at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The opening film of the 49th International Berlin Film Festival in 1999, Aimée & Jaguar drew attention not only for the lesbian love story that it narrates, but equally for the political position of the lovers -- Aimée, the wife of a Nazi officer, and Jaguar, a Jewish journalist. The story is based on the memoirs of Lilly Wust (the Aimée character), who is 85 and still living in Germany. In 1943, as Allied bombers leave Berlin in ruins, Lilly Wust Juliane Köhler earns a Cross of Motherhood for bringing up four children while husband Günther Detlev Buck is away fighting on the eastern front. She leads a bourgeois existence, with occasional love affairs on the side, and the bust of Hitler is a prominent decoration in their flat. When Lilly receives a love letter signed 'Jaguar,' she suspects a male admirer. But it is the self-confident Felice Schragenheim Maria Schrader who initiates this forbidden romance. A passionate love affair begins amidst the bombing raids and the threat of persecution. Madly in love, Lilly wants to divorce her husband, which causes a terrible storm, not just because her lover is a woman, but because she is Jewish and fighting for the Resistance. But nothing stops the love-blind Lilly. The two women make a pact of love and marriage and try to block out the reality of war and persecution; however, the Gestapo soon catches up with them. Aimée & Jaguar is based on Erica Fischer's best-selling book, published in 1994 and translated into eleven languages; the real life Lilly Wust was 80 years old when she told Erica Fischer her story. Maria Schrader and Juliane Köhler shared the Silver Bear for the Best Actress at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival, for their roles in Aimée & Jaguar, while the film received the Teddy Award, given to films dealing with gay and lesbian issues. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maria Schrader, Juliane Köhler, (more)
- 1995
German politics and filmmaking are parodied in this comedic mystery that centers on a line-up of odd-balls, each suspected of killing a politician, as they explain their different motives for committing the crime. It is up to the viewer to decide which one of them committed the crime (the filmmaker never does tell who did it, so it could provide an interesting topic for discussion after the picture ends. Also never shown is the industrialist they killed). Among the suspects are a bungling terrorist who cannot prove the existence of her radical group and a former director of East German state films who currently makes his living editing video clips for a dating service. During the "interviews," characters will periodically stop to argue with director Hans-Christian Blumenberg. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1989
Martin (Marius Muller Westernhagen) is an Australian tourist forced to land in Hamburg in this routine thriller. He is mistaken for a notorious hitman and is pursued by the authorities. With help from the darling Dutch woman Juliane (Renee Soutendjik), the two are chased through the city by the thugs and the law. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Renée Soutendijk, (more)
- 1988
When her search for the chemical components of "romantic" love prove fruitless in her native Hamburg, naïve German journalist Dorothee travels to San Francisco to conduct "research" in director Monika Treut's unabashedly hedonistic exploration of one woman's sexuality. Soon introduced to the city's thriving lesbian scene, Dorothee's encounters with a series of sexually liberated ladies eventually lead her to wonder if she has finally found the true meaning of love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ina Blum, Shelly Mars, (more)
- 1986
Concocted with a flair for the kind of mystery once captured in the best silent films, this engaging suspense story concerns a German samurai who mastered his art while growing up in Japan. The flaxen-haired samurai is Wilcke (Hans Peter Hallwachs), who has his dander up because an ancient and highly valuable sword has been stolen from its rightful owners. Wojciech Pzoniak plays Gerhard Krall, a cringing, super-rich thief who defends himself with huge castle walls, a moat, a surveillance system, and one talented ninja bodyguard. To complicate matters between these enemies, a female journalist is on the trail of the samurai and the story behind his actions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cornelia Froboess, Hans-Peter Hallwachs, (more)
- 1984
In this curiously irresolute drama, Gabriele (Barbara Rudnik) is a young woman who lives at home in her wealthy parents' apartment, but dreams of returning to Australia to join her Aussie boyfriend. He keeps in touch by mailing her taped messages and a video of their good times together on the beach. She, in turn, is studying marine biology and working at a peep show at night so she can save some money to join him. Her nighttime job introduces new people into her life -- everyone from her manager who lusts after her, to the women who work in the peep shows, and the taxi driver who takes her to work each night. An uneasy sense of foreboding slowly takes over, raising the question of whether she may finally return to Australia or not. All this might be more compelling if the acting were less stylized and the script a little more convincing. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barbara Rudnik
- 1978
Howard Hawks (1896-1977) was a highly regarded director during the heyday of the studio system in Hollywood and was known for producing classics in every film genre he attempted. Among his most notable films are Scarface, Bringing Up Baby, and The Big Sleep. In the last few weeks of his life, Hawks generously gave an extensive series of interviews to journalist Hans Blumenberg which serve as the basis for this brief biography. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
