Volker Schlöndorff Movies

An ordinary working woman helps to spark a revolution in this historical drama inspired by a true story. Agnieszka Kowalska (Katharina Thalbach) has been working as a welder in the shipyards of Gdansk, Poland, since 1950, struggling to support her son since divorcing her husband. Working conditions at the shipyard have always been difficult and dangerous, and in 1961 Agnieszka begins speaking out, confronting her bosses about the rights of the workers; her fellow employees are at once grateful to her and worried about what might happen if she rocks the boat too hard. Agnieszka's personal life takes a turn for the better when she meets and marries Kazimierz Walczak (Dominique Horwitz), a kind man who moves into her neighborhood. However, after a serious accident at the shipyard claims the lives of several employees and their families are denied pension benefits, Agnieszka takes the bosses to task and begins organizing a union to protect the rights of the workers, an effort that slowly evolves into Poland's rebellious Solidarity movement. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff, Strike (aka Strajk -- Die Heldin von Danzig) was based on the true story of Polish labor advocate Anna Walentynowicz, though Walentynowicz has publicly criticized the film for certain historical inaccuracies. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Acclaimed filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff directed this story of a war of words between a Nazi soldier and a man of the cloth. In 1942, Henri Kremer (Ulrich Matthes) is a Catholic priest who, like three thousand other Catholic clergymen, has been sent to the Dachau prison camp by Nazi authorities for espousing his faith and speaking out against the Axis leadership. Shortly after Kremer receives word that his mother has passed away, he's pulled from the ranks at the camp and sent to Luxembourg, where he used to live and lead a congregation. While Kremer at first believes his well-connected family has arranged for his release, he soon finds this is not the case -- Untersturmfuehrer Gebhardt (August Diehl), a ranking member of the Gestapo, informs Kremer that he's been given a nine-day respite from the camp for a special assignment. Kremer is well acquainted with Bishop Philipp (Hilmar Thate), leader of Luxembourg's Catholic community, and the Nazis want the bishop to sign a letter pledging full cooperation with German authorities, something he has been unwilling even to discuss. Gebhardt wants Kremer to persuade the bishop to sign the document; if Kremer fails to meet this goal, he's told 18 priests from Luxembourg currently in Dachau will all be killed. What Gebhardt prefers not to mention is that if he can't find a way to secure the bishop's cooperation, he'll be transferred from his comfortable post to a death camp in Eastern Europe. Der Neunte Tag was based on the true story of Luxembourg priest Father Jean Bernard, who wrote of his experiences in the book Pfarrerblock Z4587. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Eight master directors of world cinema combine forces for this omnibus film that focuses cumulatively on the subject of time. Bookended by cello interludes, Ten Minutes Older: The Cello presents just one parameter to each of its filmmakers: no final entry can be more or less than ten minutes long. The resulting films run the gamut of styles and moods, beginning with Bernardo Bertolucci's Histoire d'Eaux, which presents an Indian fable about a mentor's impatience. In Mike Figgis' entry About Time 2, the director continues with the experimental structure he pioneered in Timecode; similarly, Jean-Luc Godard uses his time allotment to present a fractured series of clips on youth, death, and love. Another non-narrative entry, Volker Schlöndorff's The Enlightenment presents a series of images on racism. Claire Denis' effort Vers Nancy chronicles a philosophical discussion on time between a teacher and student on a train ride; in Jirí Menzel's Ten Minutes After, the effects of time on aging Czech actor Rudolf Hrusinsky are documented. In perhaps the film's most narrative-oriented segment, director Michael Radford offers up a sci-fi vision of an astronaut returning to earth to find that his son has aged faster than he has. Ten Minutes Older: The Cello is a companion piece to 2002's Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet, which aired in the U.S. on the Showtime cable network. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

When new evidence confirms that he was framed, reporter Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson) is released from prison after serving two years. He then goes on to demonstrate repeatedly that he is the dumbest, most masochistic noir hero since Adam ate the apple. His original plan, to leave Palmetto, is foiled when he runs into his girlfriend Nina (Gina Gershon), a successful sculptor who truly loves him. Unfortunately, he also runs into Rhea Malroux (Elisabeth Shue), a conniving femme fatale and wife of a dying millionaire, who offers him $50,000 for a small part in a phony kidnapping of her stepdaughter Odette (Chloe Sevigny. Feeling that he is owed something for his lost two years, and blinded by Rhea's sexuality, Harry agrees to participate even after he realizes he was set up from the very beginning. Complicating matters for himself, he also accepts an offer from the DA to serve as press liaison on the case. As the kidnapping careens out of control, Harry's involvement follows the same trajectory. His downfall is that he thinks he's clever, but his ability to think rationally is compromised from the start and worsens from there. ~ Steve Press, Rovi

One woman's conflicting emotions and the whims of fate prevent her from being faithful to the man she loves in this drama. In 1939, Jeanne (Emmanuelle Beart) marries Louis (Daniel Auteuil) shortly before he is called to duty during World War II. Jeanne does not deal well with loneliness, and she takes many lovers after Louis is declared Missing In Action. In 1944, Jeanne receives word that Louis is alive, incarcerated in a P.O.W. camp. When Louis is released and returns home, he learns of her scandalous behavior; he forgives her for her infidelities and offers to give her freedom, but Jeanne chooses to remain in the marriage. Several months later, Jeanne gives birth to twins; while Louis is not convinced that he's the father, he loyally accepts them as his own. Louis takes his wife and children to Berlin, where to his disappointment, Jeanne becomes smitten with Mathias (Gabriel Barylli), a successful businessman. Before long, Louis is once again sent into battle, this time in Indochina. Jeanne returns to France, and Mathias opts to go with her; both Louis and Mathias remain faithful to Jeanne, and when Louis is made a military attaché to Damascus, Mathias once again follows her. Une Femme Francaise) reunited Emmanuelle Beart and Daniel Auteuil, who previously co-starred in the acclaimed French drama Un Coeur en Hiver. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The title of this documentary on Rainer Maria Fassbinder is just slightly changed from the title of a film that director made in 1976, entitled Ich Will Doch Nur, Dass Ihr Mich Liebt (I Only Want You to Love Me). The wunderkind of postwar German filmmaking died at age 36 in 1982 after making over 50 films in his short fifteen year career. He tended to produce resolutely experimental films using members of his theatrical troupe, the "Anti-Theater." Hanna Schygulla, frequently the female lead in his films, speaks about the man and his character as a director, as do others who were members of his extended filmmaking family. This is the first attempt to produce a documentary of the audacious, controversial director since his death, and it is interesting that it shuns personal controversies (his homosexuality, drug use) that he never shied away from in real life. Those looking for a deeper perspective on the man's character and development will have to wait for another feature; his complex and far-reaching career will surely yield quite a few. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this dystopian fable, a librarian wife and mother becomes the childbearing pawn of a Christian theocracy. In the near future, as war rages across the fictional North American Republic of Gilead and pollution has rendered 99 percent of the female population sterile, Kate (Natasha Richardson) sees her husband killed and her daughter kidnapped while trying to escape across the border. Kate herself is transformed into a handmaid -- a surrogate mother for one of the privileged but barren couples who run the country's fundamentalist regime. Although she resists being indoctrinated into the bizarre cult of the handmaids, which mixes Old Testament orthodoxy and misogynist cant with 12-step gospel and ritualized violence, Kate soon finds herself ensconced at the home of the Commander (Robert Duvall) and his frosty wife, Serena Joy (Faye Dunaway). Forced to lie between Serena Joy's legs and be penetrated impersonally each month by the Commander, Kate longs for her vanished earlier life; she soon learns that since many of the nation's powerful men are as sterile as their wives, she may have to risk the punishment for fornication -- death by hanging -- in order to sleep with another man who can provide her with the pregnancy that has become her sole raison d'être. When that other man turns out to be Nick (Aidan Quinn), the Commander's handsome, sympathetic driver, Kate grows attached to him -- and eventually pregnant with his child. Only the mysterious rebel affiliations of her fellow handmaid, Ofglen (Blanche Baker), seem to offer any chance of giving her unborn child a life of freedom -- or finding the daughter she already lost. Loosely adapted by Harold Pinter from the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale also features Elizabeth McGovern in a small but pivotal role as Moira, a "gender traitor" who befriends Kate at the handmaids' reprogramming center. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In 1984, actor Dustin Hoffman starred in a critically-acclaimed Broadway revival of playwright Arthur Miller's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Death of a Salesman. A year later, Hoffman and most of his fellow cast members starred in this made-for-TV production, the first English-language film by German director Volker Schlondorff. Hoffman stars as Willy Loman, an aging salesman who has lost his job because of encroaching senility. Now living on handouts provided by his friend Charley (Charles Durning), Willy's lifelong delusions of success and greatness awaiting just around the corner for he and his family have been shattered, and he's considering suicide. As he reflects on his life and the failed promise of his sons Biff (John Malkovich) and Happy (Stephen Lang), Willy finally confronts some unpleasant truths about both sons, particularly Biff, a one-time athlete who has become a kleptomaniac. One of the best of the many filmed versions of Miller's seminal work, Death of a Salesman (1985) won several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Hoffman. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

This ambitious attempt to film a portion of Marcel Proust's epic novel Remembrance of Things Past stars Jeremy Irons as Charles Swann, a Jewish intellectual who has managed to overcome growing anti-Semitism in 19th century France and travels in an elite social circle. But Swann has become obsessed with Odette (Ornella Muti), a courtesan who cares more for money than Swann's passion for her. In time they marry, but Swann soon realizes his desire for her is based purely on physical lust for someone with whom he has no rapport, or even much affection, and the relationship begins to erode the social acceptance Swann struggled to achieve. Meanwhile, the Baron de Charlus (Alain Delon) finds himself similarly attracted to a young man who does not share his desires. Un Amour de Swann was much praised for its production design and the cinematography of frequent Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist, though many felt director Volker Schlondorff failed to capture the narrative depth and complexity of Proust's novel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Bruno Ganz plays a West German journalist whose frequent assignments to war-torn nations have left him jaundiced. He is assigned to cover the civil war in Beirut. The combination of his harrowing experiences on the job and his after-hours relationship with widow Hannah Schygulla affects Ganz deeply, in spite of the wall he's built around himself. He suffers a crisis of conscience when he is forced to commit himself to someone--and something--for the first time in his life. The plot of Circle of Deceit was based on the reminiscences of novelist Nicolas Born; the picture's realism is grotesquely enhanced by the decision to film on location in Beirut, surrounding the actors with genuine wartime carnage--bodies and all. Originally titled Die Falschung, Circle of Deceit is not a comfortable experience, but few will stop watching once the film has started. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In Volker Schlöndorff's award-winning adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass' allegorical novel, David Bennent plays Oskar, the young son of a German rural family, circa 1925. On his third birthday, Oskar receives a shiny new tin drum. At this point, rather than mature into one of the miserable specimens of grown-up humanity that he sees around him, he vows never to get any older or any bigger. Whenever the world around him becomes too much to bear, the boy begins to hammer on his drum; should anyone try to take the toy away from him, he emits an ear-piercing scream that literally shatters glass. As Germany goes to hell during the 1930s and '40s, the never-aging Oskar continues savagely beating his drum, serving as the angry conscience of a world gone mad. The intense and visceral Tin Drum was one of the most financially successful German films of the 1970s and won the 1979 Oscar for Best Foreign Film and the 1979 Golden Palm (which it shared with Apocalypse Now). In the late '90s, the film became the center of a censorship controversy when some U.S. videotapes were confiscated because of the film's supposed violation of a child pornography statute. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi