Michael Gwisdek Movies

Filmed in 1983, but not released until 1985, this East German drama is set in Germany immediately after the end of World War II. Henry (Michael Gwisdek), a discharged soldier who was a prizefighter before the war, returns home from the front, where he had been wounded. He tries to start his life over again but finds himself unable to do anything but drift around the country. He wanders around until he comes across Xenia (Aniko Safar), a free-spirited prostitute living in an abandoned railroad car. She is willing to share her space with him. Gradually he tries to get up the courage to box again but wonders if his war injuries will affect his boxing career. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

This docudrama by director Hark Bohm is about a famous murder case in West Germany during the early 1980s (the Marie Bachmeier case). Marie Sellbach (the fictional Bachmeier played by Marie Colbin) is a mother struggling to raise her seven-year-old daughter while working at a bar in Hamburg and carrying on two relationships -- one with the father of her daughter, and one with another worker at the bar. When Marie's daughter disappears, the mother fears the worst and her fears are well-founded -- her daughter was sexually attacked and murdered. The murderer was caught and brought to trial, and in broad daylight, in the middle of the courtroom, Marie raises a handgun and kills him. Her action was immediately picked up by all the papers and set off a storm of response throughout the country. For viewers who would like more information on the case, this film leans toward the sensational rather than the factual. At the same time, director Bohm was racing against the clock to get this film completed while the Bachmeier case was still in the news and before Burkhard Dreist could come out with his version of the story, Anna's Mutter. Both films on the Bachmeier case were released within a few days of each other. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Germany's lyric poet Friedrich Holderlin (1770-1843) is the subject of this informative re-enactment of the 12 years between 1796 -- when he ended his classes at the University of Tubingen -- and 1807 -- when he took up residence in what has come to be known as "Holderlin's Tower" in Tubingen. This film looks at Holderlin's life as a tutor for the wealthy Gontard family in Frankfurt. He falls in love with the lady of the house, and their affair leads to his dismissal, exacerbating his already sharp sense of solitude. As Holderlin tries to come to grips with his personal losses, the French Revolution dominates his thinking. His deteriorating mental state would soon see him isolated in his "tower" for the rest of his life.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Konig is a very minor cog in a huge piece of legal machinery, a low-level state prosecutor. He would like to be a bigger cog, but when he gets involved investigating a routine bankruptcy case which turns out to implicate governmental higher-ups, he opts for something resembling professional integrity over what he knows the government would prefer and effectively kisses his career goodbye. This film marks the directing debut of the well-known character actor Hark Bohm, who also stars. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this German and Turkish romance, a cocky young man joins a judo class and bets his male classmates that he can get any one of the female students to sleep with him in two days. His main target is a beautiful Turkish girl. Unfortunately, she has other things on her mind and rebuffs him. She is terribly upset with her family because her father will not allow her to pursue a higher education. Things get increasingly tense at home, and she begins seeing her romantic pursuant in a better light. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It seems like a good thing when Philip (Mathias Freihof), a high-school teacher, bumps into Tanja (Dagmar Manzel), starts a relationship with her, and eventually moves in with her. But Philip has a secret he hasn't even told himself. He attended a transvestite ball and met a man named Matthias (Dirk Kummer) there, with whom he also has been having an affair. He can't bring himself to tell either one about the other one. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The time is the French Revolution; the place is the village of Travers, ensconsed in neutral Switzerland. Prussian aesthete Herman Beyer is on the verge of divorcing wife Corinna Harfouch. Radical writer Uwe Kokisch, Corinna's lover, hopes to find a way of smoothing out animosities. What follows, however, is a nonstop drinking binge. The film subliminally addresses the then-prevalent issue of a divided Germany. Whether or not it succeeds is unimportant; Treffen in Travers (Reunion in Travers) has proven to be a crowd pleaser wherever it has been shown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama appears to have been oriented to citizens of the former East Germany and other former Iron Curtain countries. In the story, set in the 1970s, a girl has been learning the ropes at a newspaper job. However, under the communist regime, this was considered to be a particularly politically sensitive job and she is seeing a young man who is considered to be "unsuitable." After receiving a warning against seeing him, she complies with the wishes of the authorities for a time. However, she is unable to stay away and receives further threats. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In the old East Germany, all sorts of otherwise innocent activities could earn the unwary a prison term. In this story, Hans-Peter Dallow (Michael Gwisdek) was sentenced to two years in prison for acting as a substitute pianist for a tango group in a cabaret when the original pianist became ill. Was his charitable act illegal because the tango symbolizes freedom, because he broke union rules, or because students were present at the cabaret? Any one of these offenses could be the reason for his arrest. Now this puzzled history teacher is back out of prison, and he has become an outcast, unable to get a job, shunned by his old friends. It is 1968, and events in nearby Czechoslovakia have convinced everyone that the totalitarian chill they are experiencing will be permanent. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In the 18th century, the King of Prussia graciously sponsored the creation of a room in one of the palaces of Tsar Peter I (occasionally called "the Great) of Russia. This was the famous "Amber Room," noted for having some of the most elaborate mosaics ever created. In 1944, as part of a systematic pattern of art thefts, the Nazis removed the room from the palace and hid it away. It has never been rediscovered since. This thriller follows a trio of people whose lives are intertwined with the Amber Room. Lisa's father was actively searching for it when he died. He may even have been murdered because of that, so she begins to search for answers and gets drawn deep into what appears to be a labyrinth of shady characters and double-crosses. Ludwig is a music professor who is aware of the mystery of the Amber Room: he starts looking for it when he realizes that some of Wagner's manuscripts may hold clues to its whereabouts. Finally, Siegried is the son of one of the thieves of the room, and he too wants to find it. These three find reason to bond together when it becomes clear that they are being hunted by other, more sinister figures. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide