Best german films
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- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsRosel ZechHilmar ThateCornelia FroboessPartially based on the life of Sybille Schmitz, who found fame under the Nazi regime, but whose career was destroyed afterward. Veronika Voss is a once prominent UFA actress, kept by her doctor, who raises suspicion in a sports journalist.
- DirectorMichael VerhoevenStarsLena StolzeHans-Reinhard MüllerMonika BaumgartnerWhen a young woman investigates her town's Nazi past, the community turns against her.
- DirectorMarc RothemundStarsJulia JentschFabian HinrichsAlexander HeldA dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsHanna SchygullaKlaus LöwitschIvan DesnyMaria marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. Alone, Maria puts to use her beauty and ambition in order to find prosperity during Germany's "economic miracle" of the 1950s.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakEdgar G. UlmerRochus GlieseStarsErwin SplettstößerBrigitte BorchertWolfgang von WaltershausenTwo men and two women enjoy a pleasant Sunday at the beach amid the unending toil of the working week.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsNatja BrunckhorstEberhard AurigaPeggy BussieckA teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsBruno GanzSolveig DommartinOtto SanderAn angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsFranka PotenteMoritz BleibtreuHerbert KnaupAfter a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.
- DirectorWolfgang BeckerStarsDaniel BrühlKatrin SassChulpan KhamatovaIn 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
- StarsGünter LamprechtClaus HolmHanna SchygullaIn late-1920s Berlin, Franz Biberkopf is released from prison and vows to go straight. However, he soon finds himself embroiled in the city's criminal underworld.
- DirectorWalter RuttmannStarsPaul von HindenburgThis movie shows us one day in Berlin, the rhythm of that time, starting at the earliest morning and ends in the deepest night.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsEmil JanningsMarlene DietrichKurt GerronAn elderly professor's ordered life spins dangerously out of control when he falls for a nightclub singer.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorWolfgang StaudteStarsHildegard KnefElly BurgmerErna SellmerAfter returning from a concentration camp, Susanne finds an ex-soldier living in her apartment. Together the two try to move past their experiences during World War II.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsDavid BennentMario AdorfAngela WinklerIn 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsHarry Dean StantonNastassja KinskiDean StockwellTravis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsOtto SanderBruno GanzPeter FalkA group of angels in the German capital look longingly upon the life of humans.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiClaudia CardinaleJosé LewgoyThe story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsAdam BousdoukosMoritz BleibtreuPheline RogganIn Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsBirol ÜnelSibel KekilliGüven KiraçWith the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
- DirectorCaroline LinkStarsJuliane KöhlerMerab NinidzeMatthias HabichDue to Hitler's threat, Walter Redlich, a Jewish lawyer, immigrates to Kenya with his wife Jettel and daughter Regina. Things take a turn when the family is ordered to move by the British officers.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsBaki DavrakGürsoy GemecCengiz DanerA Turkish man travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
- DirectorJan-Ole GersterStarsTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerJustus von DohnányiAn aimless university dropout attempts to make sense of life as he spends one fateful day wandering the streets of Berlin.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsRudolf ForsterLotte LenyaCarola NeherThe Gangster Macheath secretly marries the daughter of beggar king Peachum. When Peachum finds out, he instructs the police chief Brown to arrest and hang Macheath. If not, all the beggars of Soho will disturb the upcoming coronation.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsBrigitte MiraEl Hedi ben SalemBarbara ValentinA lonely widow meets a much younger Moroccan worker in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsBarbara SukowaArmin Mueller-StahlMario AdorfA seductive cabaret singer-prostitute pits a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, launching an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything-and everyone-is for sale.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffMargarethe von TrottaStarsAngela WinklerMario AdorfDieter LaserA young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsMartina GedeckMoritz BleibtreuJohanna WokalekA look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
- DirectorJochen Alexander FreydankStarsJulia JägerCedric EichTamay Bulut ÖzvatanA German mother lies to her son about where the Nazis are sending their Jewish neighbors.
- StarsMarita BreuerRüdiger WeigangKurt WagnerThe village of Schabbach experiences the shifting fortunes of Germany from 1919 to 1982.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- DirectorEdgar ReitzStarsJan Dieter SchneiderAntonia BillMaximilian ScheidtJakob longs for a new life for himself and his troubled family in Brazil.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftMax HillerAn aging doorman is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbors and society after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksFritz KortnerFrancis LedererThe rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeAud Egede-NissenGertrude WelckerArch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsAlbert SteinrückElse HellerGustav FröhlichJoe May's sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German filmmaking in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentially melodramatic story and turn it into something more complex and inherently cinematic.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- DirectorJuliano Ribeiro SalgadoWim WendersStarsSebastião SalgadoWim WendersLélia Wanick SalgadoThe life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsRüdiger VoglerHanns ZischlerLisa KreuzerA traveling projection-equipment mechanic works in Western Germany along the East-German border, visiting worn-out theatres. He meets with a depressed young man whose marriage has just broken up, and the two decide to travel together.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsCompay SegundoIbrahim FerrerRubén GonzálezAging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsDennis HopperBruno GanzLisa KreuzerTom Ripley, who deals in forged art, suggests a picture framer he knows would make a good hit man.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsHans HirschmüllerIrm HermannHanna SchygullaHans Epp is a self-destructive man who lives a dissatisfied life. He tries to find meaning as a fruit vendor, but a heart attack impedes his ability to work, which turns his dissatisfaction into despair.
- DirectorMichael FenglerRainer Werner FassbinderStarsLilith UngererKurt RaabAmadeus FenglerWith slicked-down hair and three-piece suits, dependable Herr Raab is a technical draftsman. He gets along with his colleagues although his boss wants him to go beyond technical cleanliness to problem solving. He's a dutiful husband; his wife's a social climber and pushes him to seek a promotion, but they also share sweet moments. He's a caring father, helping his son with homework. His parents visit; his mother criticizes his wife. Old School friends drop by, as do neighbors. Some comment on Raab's wife's expensive tastes. His promotion may be a long shot, especially after he gives a dull and tipsy toast at an office dinner. But why would Herr Raab run amok?
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsSimon SrebnikMichael PodchlebnikMotke ZaïdlClaude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
- DirectorRoland Suso RichterStarsHeino FerchNicolette KrebitzSebastian KochDuring the Cold War, Germany was divided into two states - East and West. This epic story tells about their dramatic connections.
- DirectorDennis GanselStarsJürgen VogelFrederick LauMax RiemeltA high school teacher's experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.
- DirectorRay MüllerStarsLeni RiefenstahlMarlene DietrichArnold FanckA documentary about the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl, a German film director most notorious for making the most effective propaganda films for the Nazis.
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsVolker BohnetFritz WepperMichael HinzIn 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.
- DirectorCaroline LinkStarsSylvie TestudTatjana TriebHowie SeagoSince the earliest days in her childhood Lara has had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice versa when her parents want to communicate with other people. Getting older and more mature she becomes interested in music and starts to play clarinet very successfully. However her parents are deaf, they cannot share Lara's musical career. The day comes when Lara has to decide between her parents and her own ambitions.
- DirectorFeo AladagStarsSibel KekilliNizam SchillerDerya AlaboraUmay is a young woman of Turkish descent, fighting for an independent and self-determined life in Germany against her family's resistance. Her struggle initiates a dynamic that results in a life-threatening situation.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiRuy GuerraHelena RojoIn the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAsta NielsenGreta GarboÁgnes EszterházyIn post-WWI Vienna, Greta (Greta Garbo), her kid sister, and retired dad try to make it through tough times.
- DirectorLeontine SaganCarl FroelichStarsDorothea WieckHertha ThieleEmilia UndaAt an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with a teacher, to terrific consequences.
- DirectorHans WeingartnerStarsDaniel BrühlJulia JentschStipe ErcegThree activists cobble together a kidnapping plot after they encounter a businessman in his home.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsAlexander GranachFritz KampersErnst BuschPlea against war and for friendship between peoples, through the story of French miners rescued by German colleagues after a firedamp explosion.
- DirectorDoris DörrieStarsElmar WepperHannelore ElsnerAya IrizukiAfter Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsMathieu CarrièreMarian SeidowskyBernd TischerIn a boarding school, a student observes in passive disgust as his two friends manipulate, humiliate and torture a fellow student, justifying their every act.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsHermann PichaRosa ValettiAndré MattoniA young man shows his millionaire grandfather a film based on Molière's Tartuffe, in order to expose the old man's hypocritical governess who covets his own inheritance.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsAnne ChevalierMatahiHituOn the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.
- DirectorPaul WegenerCarl BoeseStarsPaul WegenerAlbert SteinrückErnst DeutschIn 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
- DirectorHelmut KäutnerStarsHannelore SchrothCarl RaddatzGustav KnuthTwo barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsMargarete SchönGertrud ArnoldTheodor LoosPrincess Kriemhild vows to avenge her husband's murder but must overcome her brothers who swore allegiance to Hagen. She marries Etzel, King of the Huns, and persuades his army to attack Hagen, but she loses more than she bargained for.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPaul RichterMargarete SchönTheodor LoosSiegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, sets off on a treacherous journey to the Kingdom of Burgundy to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Princess Kriemhild.
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsWolfgang LiebeneinerCarl EsmondMagda SchneiderVienna in the beginning of the twentieth century. Cavalry Lieutenant Fritz Lobheimer is about to end his affair with Baroness Eggerdorff when he meets the young Christine, the daughter of an opera violinist. Baron Eggerdorff however soon hears of his past misfortune...
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsMartine CarolPeter UstinovAnton WalbrookWhen she is reduced to appearing in a circus, a notorious beauty thinks back on her past loves.
- DirectorEwald André DupontStarsEmil JanningsMaly DelschaftLya De PuttiPrologue: The murderer "Boss" Huller - after having spent ten years in prison - breaks his silence to tell the warden his story. "Boss", a former trapeze artist, and his wife own a cheap side-show that displays ''erotic sensations''. But he longs for his former glamorous life in the circus. When he meets the orphan Berta-Marie, he falls under her spell and leaves his wife and young son behind. He makes Berta-Marie his partner in a new trapeze number. One day, the famous trapeze artist Artinelli takes note of them and engages them for his trapeze show in Berlin. Their salto mortale becomes an immediate sensation. Calculatedly and cold, Artinelli seduces Berta-Marie and destroys "Boss'" happiness.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsYella RottländerRüdiger VoglerLisa KreuzerA German journalist is saddled with a nine-year-old girl after encountering her mother at a New York airport.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsFritz KampersGustav DiesslHans-Joachim MöbisA group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsSheigo AraiJack BeresfordRalf BerzsenyiThe document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin, orchestrated as Nazi propaganda.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsDavid AlbrittonArvo AskolaJack BeresfordThe document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsJulian WestMaurice SchutzRena MandelA drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
- DirectorGeorg Wilhelm PabstStarsLouise BrooksJosef RovenskýFritz RaspAfter falling pregnant by a pharmacist and refusing to marry, a young woman is ejected from her home and sent to a strict girls' reform school.
- DirectorKonrad WolfStarsJaecki SchwarzVasiliy LivanovAleksey EybozhenkoGregor Hecker, who fled Germany with his parents, returns to Germany as a lieutenant in the Red Army.
- DirectorLotte ReinigerCarl KochA handsome prince rides a flying horse to faraway lands and embarks on magical adventures, which include befriending a witch, meeting Aladdin, battling demons and falling in love with a princess.
- DirectorKonrad WolfStarsSasha KrusharskaJürgen FrohriepErik S. KleinThe tragic love of a Jewish girl and a Nazi officer is presented as a symbol of human purity defeated by fascism and racial prejudice.
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsJutta LampeBarbara SukowaRüdiger VoglerTwo sisters both fight for women's rights. Juliane is a journalist and Marianne a terrorist. When Marianne is jailed, Juliane feels obligated to help her despite their differing views on how to live.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsClaus HolmMario AdorfHannes MessemerA serial killer strikes again during World War II in Germany. The wrong man is arrested and a detective hunts down the real killer, but justice in Nazi Germany is not so easily administered.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsSolomon PerelMarco HofschneiderRené HofschneiderA boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsMargarethe von TrottaMatthias HabichRüdiger KirschsteinA countess' unrequited love for an army officer leads to disaster.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnnie GirardotBenoît MagimelA young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.
- StarsKlaus LöwitschBarbara ValentinMascha RabbenSomewhere in the future there is a computer project called Simulacron one of which is able to simulate a full featured reality, when suddenly project leader Henry Vollmer dies. His successor Dr. Fred Stiller experiences odd phenomena. A good friend, Guenther Lause, disappears in the middle of a conversation and a week later nobody has ever heard of him. And those fits of dizzyness - Stiller cannot believe himself to be fool. There has to be an explanation for all this. Could Simulacron have something to do with it?
- DirectorHeinz SchirkStarsDietrich MattauschGerd BöckmannFriedrich G. BeckhausAt the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.
- DirectorSlatan DudowStarsHertha ThieleErnst BuschMartha WolterDuring Great Depression, a family is evicted from their apartment and with no other option they move to a tent camp called Kuhle Wampe.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsLou CastelEddie ConstantineMarquard BohmOn a film set there are two things missing, the film material and the director. So the actors and actresses as well as the crew try to make the best out of the situation. When the director arrives the material is still missing and so they still wait and try to make the best out of the situation. When the material finally arrives all folks involved into the film find themselves in a weird situation. Jealousy, competition and despair are ruling. Nobody seems to be able to break through this atmosphere, so they all still try to make the best out of the situation, but this is probably not the way to finish the film.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJuliette BinocheThierry NeuvicJosef BierbichlerA young man harasses a homeless woman, another man protests, the police arrest both and the woman has to leave the country. What were their various story-lines leading up to this event?
- DirectorWim WendersStarsWim WendersYohji YamamotoWim Wenders talks with Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto about the creative process and ponders the relationship between cities, identity and the cinema in the digital age.