Peter Lilienthal Movies

A man frequently cited by his friends and family as the "perfect soldier" is sentenced to a year in prison after refusing to take part in a war he came to view as amoral in filmmaker Peter Lilienthal's portrait of controversial antiwar activist Camilo Mejia. A staff sergeant who spent six months with U.S. forces in Iraq before refusing to return to his post on the grounds that he was being encouraged to torture and abuse detainees, Camilo stands to many as a new breed of war hero - a soldier whose conscience ultimately won out over his willingness to blindly follow orders. When the duties expected of Mejia simply became too repulsive to degrading to carry out, the man who once dedicated his life to the armed forces was given no other choice than to stay true to his morals. But every choice comes at a price, and when Mejia chose to stop following orders the American government chose to put him behind bars. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The tensions felt between Palestinians and Israelis forms the basis of this odd political drama that is based on a short story by Abraham Jehoshua. The tale centers on a history student, Noah, who becomes a forest ranger so he can have the quiet time he needs to complete his dissertation. He is stationed in the midst of a remote firetower in the center of a large forest where his only companions are a mute Arab and his daughter Nahida. When he learns that some of the Israeli-planted forest was placed upon the ruins of an Arab settlement destroyed in the last war, he becomes fixated with exploring the remains with his binoculars, wondering about the history and lives of those who once lived there. One night, he dreams that Indiana Jones comes to him and explains that history is but an illusion. Soon after, an enormous fire erupts, Abraham's phone line is cut, and he can do nothing, but rescue the girl. Later her father is arrested for arson even though there is no proof that he did it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama comes from one of Germany's greatest contemporary directors, Peter Lilienthal; and is one of the few to be released outside of the country. It is the story of an Israeli poet's struggle to create in an inhospitable environment. The poet is suffering from severe writer's block and much of the film centers upon the reasons why. Among those reasons is a brother blinded during the Yom Kippur War, the drawn out illness and subsequent death of his wife, and the simpleton son she bore before she became ill. Most of the time the poet blames his son for his inability to write; the father resents having to care for him night and day but he refuses to institutionalize the lad. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This off-kilter German film attempts to tell a purely American story as filtered through European sensibilities. Joe Pesci plays Ruby Dennis, a Jewish bowling alley/nightclub manager in New Jersey. Despite his tacky surroundings, Ruby convinces himself that he's just about to hit the big time in Las Vegas. It takes him 100 minutes to realize that he's never going to be any better off than he is now. Just tap your bowling shoes together three times and say, "There's no place like Jersey." Tony Martin shows up in the film's highlight, a dream sequence in which a handful of songs co-written by star Pesci are featured. Dear Mr. Wonderful was released to video as Ruby's Dream. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Wim Wenders' mines Dennis Hopper's real-life experience as a painter and collector in this existential take on the American gangster film based on a Patricia Highsmith novel featuring the notoriously sociopathic Tom Ripley. Hopper stars as the eponymous American, currently a middleman selling the work of American painter Derwatt (Nicholas Ray), who has feigned his own death to increase the value of his paintings. While auctioning this work in Berlin, he meets art restorer Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz), who he learns is suffering from an incurable blood disease. When a shady friend (Gerard Blain) requires Ripley to find a "clean" non-professional to do a contract hit in order to pay off a debt, even he is reluctant. But he quickly realizes that the physically vulnerable Jonathan would be perfect for the job, and tries to get him to accept by employing various subterfuges to persuade him that his condition is even worse than it is. For his part, Blain guarantees the restorer that his family will be financially secure for life, and a deal is struck. As usual, nothing works out quite as expected. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

At the turn of the century, an idealistic schoolteacher who has just finished his training arrives in the small town which is to be his territory. There, he finds a smug factory-owner, who has cleared out an old barn for a schoolhouse -- for children who have already worked eight hours each day in his factories. Incensed at the whole situation, the schoolteacher allies himself with a local priest to build a proper schoolhouse. He then gets involved with labor protests that bring about a better situation for the children. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Enrico Malatesta (Eddie Constantine) leads a group of Latvian dissidents in the siege of Sidney Street. Chief of police Winston Churchill organizes against the anarchist who threaten to disturb the peace to make their demands known to the British aristocracy. Authorities break up the volatile gang and Malatesta is deported to Italy. Constantine gives a sympathetic portrayal of the agitator that organizes the revolt that shocked the Edwardian sensibilities of London in this historical drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide