Bernhard Minetti Movies

A group of aging friends, foes, and former colleagues gather to celebrate and deride the life of 80-year-old actress Francesca on her birthday. The distinguished thespian appeared on both stage and screen, but was best known for appearing in Fellini's films, particularly her one starring role in Frances Degli Angeli. A true woman of mystery Francesca was an orphan who was discovered by a depressed countess. Her domineering, cruel husband forced his wife to give the baby to a convent. There, some of the good nuns found in her purity and natural goodness, while others found her to be conniving and sly, opposing viewpoints that would dog the enigmatic Francesca for the rest of her life. The fun of this off-beat, satirical German exercise in cinema verite comes from the fact that Francesca is completely fictional. The former Fellini film veterans are not though. Many of the others are not professional actors, and almost all involved were encouraged to improvise by first-time feature film director Verena Rudolph, lending a further illusion of reality ( or surrealism depending on your viewpoint) to the film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mourning for a lost relationship can be every bit as devastating as mourning for someone who has died. In this drama based on the director's own novel, a couple with an unhappy marriage agree to a trial separation. They try to patch things up, and at the same time other relationships begin to develop for them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Sabine Sinjen and Bruno Dietrich star as two young lovers who only wish to continue their idyllic tryst and ignore interference from the outside world in this drama from director Ulrich Schamoni. The two live together but never consider marriage. When Hilde gets pregnant, she does not tell Manfred and searches for a doctor to perform an abortion. Watch for Marcel Marceau in a brief appearance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

After spending the 1930s as the Third Reich's principal cinematic chronicler, Leni Riefenstahl returned to fictional films with Tiefland. According to Riefenstahl, she had refused to make any more propaganda pictures--"for good reasons," she explained enigmatically--choosing instead to direct a period romance, based on an old Spanish play and opera by Eugen d'Albert. Riefenstahl cast herself as the central character, Marta, a Spanish dancer who becomes the romantic bone of contention between humble shepherd Franz Eichberger and imperious marquis Bernhard Minetti. While the material seems to cry out for music, Riefenstahl plays the story straight, though much of the acting can certainly be described as operatic. In one scene, the director utilized a band of gypsies as atmosphere extras; as soon as their scenes were completed, the gypsies were returned to their Nazi concentration camp--where most of them were doomed to extermination. Personally financed by Riefenstahl, Tiefland was filmed between 1942 and 1944, which explains the presence of Maria Koppenhofer (who died in 1948). Final editing was not completed until around 1953, at which time Riefenstahl personally accompanied her print of the film to selected showings in Germany and Austria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The story of Johann August Sutter, the Swiss printer who came to California, and it was on his land that gold was discovered and that set off the California Gold Rush of 1848. ~ All Movie Guide

This is a loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky's classic The Brothers Karamazov. It chronicles the story of Dimitri who gave up his high social standing and his fiance to pursue a love affair with a whore. Dimitri's father is also in love with her. When the father turns up dead, Dimitri is convicted for the crime and is sent to Siberia with the prostitute who refuses to leave her side. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide