1. You can watch these movies in the LRC.

2. Check your course's CTools sites for additional movies you can watch online for Language Learning Journals etc.

3. Check out the excellent collection of German films available at the Askwith Media Library. These are available for students to check out and watch at home. To see what's available:

• go to MIRLYN
• choose "Advanced Search"
• write "German" in the "Word(s) anywhere" box
• choose "German" from the "Language" pull-down menu
• choose "Visual Materials (all)" from the "Format" pull-down menu
• choose "Askwith Media Library" from the "Location" pull-down menu
• click "Search"!

4. The Language Resource Center has an impressive catalogue of German titles, but they can't all be on reserve. You can look at the catalogue in 2009 MLB or check it out online (Type "German" in the "Language" box and leave the rest blank to get a complete listing of German movies, or type in a specific search item). If you see a film you're interested in, ask your instructor to have it put on reserve so you can watch it in the LRC.

Possibly: Talk to your instructor about the possibility of writing about one of these movies to compensate for late or missing homework assignments.

They all have subtitles except as noted.

Alles Gute Tapes A through F (Langenscheidt, 1989). A total of 26 lessons designed for elementary instruction.

Challenges of German Pronunciation 30 minute video

Deutsch Direkt Series Tapes A through E. Series of 20 25-minute lessons designed to help students through standard situations encountered in everyday conversation. Based on documentary footage shot by the BBC in Germany and Austria. The films, combined with graphics and music, give a feel for the language, culture and locations visited.

DiscoDeutsch: An Interactive German Language and Culture Program DiscoDeutsch was designed to be used as a supplement to regular classroom instruction at the intermediate level of German. Its principal focus is listening comprehension and culture. The students can observe as native speakers of German interact with each other in numerous authentic situations. The program offers a variety of features to assist the student in understanding the dialogue. German culture is learned primarily through exposure to the context in which the situations occur, e.g. a market place, a hotel, a restaurant, a train station, etc. ***Instructions, documentation, and computer software available.

Redaktion D Tapes 1 and 2. This is the video we are showing in German 101 and 102. Each 20-minute episode consists of a "Spielfilm" [=movie], in which Paul and Laura solve a mysteryand Paul annoys Laura by trying to flirt with her, followed by a grammar lesson ("Deutsch mit Professor Leicht"), and finally a subtitled "Reportage" [=report] that provides some cultural information and footage related in some way to the "Spielfilm." There are 12 episodes altogether on the two tapes. If you've watched this in German 101/102, come watch it in the LRC for additional practice!

Talk German (Recommended for German 101 Language Learning Journals) Instructional video series produced by the BBC, consisting of 6 15-minute DVDs. This series is intended to be an introduction to the basics of German language and culture, and focuses on Bayern (Bavaria) and specifically München (Munich). You will hear a fair amount of authentic German, with an emphasis on some basic expressions needed for everyday interactions (no grammar instruction), and get some interesting cultural information. Since this series is really very basic, it is not recommended for students beyond the 101/beginning 103 level. If you're in 101, worksheets on the videos in this series are included in your coursepack; if you're not and would like a copy of the worksheets, you can click here to download them.

Treffpunkt Österreich Tapes A through E (BBC, 1988). Designed for second and third year students. Features Austrian teenagers and adults in a variety of everyday situations.

Unterwegs This is the videotape accompanying our 101/102 textbook Vorsprung.  We are using a different video in class, but you may want to work with this video and the accompanying exercises in your Vorsprung Arbeitsbuch for additional practice.

Was ist los in Hauptsraße 117? Of the choices listed here, this is probably the best, and would work well as an accompaniment to or review of German 101. It's aimed at beginners, and starts slowly. You hear a lot of useful, basic vocabulary and expressions, see authentic situations and images (though there are outdated elements like rotary phones and German Marks instead of Euros), and follow a reality based "soap opera"-style plot. The video is accompanied by a website, where you can download the complete transcript of the video, and do various accompanying exercises. Note: the video as a whole is structured very confusingly, and the acting looks rather corny. The video is divided into a "Start" episode, followed by 10 "Lektionen" [lessons] alternating with 10 "Episoden." The "Lektionen" are a confusing mix of excerpts from upcoming and previous "Episoden," language samples, brief clips of the actors describing who they really are, scenes with an older man, Mike, who is play-acting in various ways, and out-takes which are not identified as out-takes. If you use the printed dialogue to help you follow what's being said and treat the Lektionen as a series of language samples rather than trying to figure out their logic, you can get a lot out of them. The "Episoden" are easier to follow, and follow a logical sequence, though the plot is somewhat sparse.

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Videos/DVDs of English-Language Movies/Shows Dubbed in German--on Reserve All Term (1/5/09-4/21/09) The list below includes: Star Wars IV, V & VI, the three Monty Python movies, Shrek, Terminator 1, The Big Lebowski, The Simpsons, Bugs Bunny, The Fugitive, Jurassic Park, A Few Good Men, and many others--take a look!

Auf der Flucht [=The Fugitive] Classic Harrison Ford movie. VHS--no subtitles

Austin Powers: Goldständer [=Goldmember] Yeah Baby: Austin Powers auf Deutsch. VHS--no subtitles

Austin Powers: Spion in geheimer Missionarsstellung [=The Spy Who Shagged Me] Kann Austin Powers sein Mojo finden? VHS--no subtitles

Batman und das Phantom [=Batman: Mask of the Phantasm] Dubbed cartoon feature film in the "dark deco" style. VHS--no subtitles

The Big Lebowski DVD with English subtitles available

Die Braut, die sich nicht traut [=Runaway Bride] Romance w. Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. VHS--no subtitles

Bugs Bunnys Meisterwerke DVD with English subtitles available

Bugsy Gangster movie with Warren Beatty, Annnette Benning, Ben Kinglsley. VHS--no subtitles

Chicken Run--Hennen rennen Cartoon. VHS--no subtitles

Detroit Pistons 2003-2004 NBA Championship DVD--English subtitles not available

Die fabelhaften Baker Boys Michelle Pfeiffer stars with Jeff and Beau Bridges in this movie about two piano players whose act is getting old and the trouble that arises when they try to spice it up by getting Michelle Pfeiffer to join them. VHS--no subtitles

Eine Frage der Ehre [=A Few Good Men] VHS--no subtitles

Die Firma [=The Firm] Tom Cruise thriller based on a John Grisham novel. VHS--no subtitles

Für eine handvoll Dollar [=A Fistful of Dollars] Classic Clint Eastwood Western. VHS--no subtitles

Gefährliche Liebschaften [=Dangerous Liaisons] Classic movie starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer; remade as the crappy teen movie Cruel Intentions. VHS--no subtitles

Indiana Jones: Jäger des verlorenen Schatzes [=Raiders of the Lost Ark] Cool archaeologist, evil Nazis, brilliant drinking scene, effective use of guns and whips. VHS--no subtitles

In the Line of Fire: Die zweite Chance Clint Eastwood thriller. VHS--no subtitles

Jurassic Park VHS--no subtitles

Lethal Weapon 2: Brennpunkt L.A. VHS--no subtitles

Lethal Weapon 3: Die Profis sind zurück VHS--no subtitles

Mars Attacks! Either you love this star-studded Tim Burton movie, or you really hate it. VHS--no subtitles

Matrix Experience "the One" auf Deutsch. VHS--no subtitles

Matrix Reloaded Experience the sequel auf Deutsch. VHS--no subtitles

Maverick Lighthearted Western about a $1 million poker tournament, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster & James Garner. VHS--no subtitles

Monty Pythons Die Ritter der Kokosnuss [=Monty Python and the Holy Grail] DVD with English subtitles available

Monty Pythons Das Leben des Brian [=Life of Brian] DVD with English subtitles available

Monty Pythons Der Sinn des Lebens [=The Meaning of Life] DVD with English subtitles available

Mr. Jones Crappy romance with Richard Gere & Lena Olin. VHS--no subtitles

Ohne Ausweg [=Nowhere to Run] Action movie featuring the limited but energetic talents of Jean-Claude van Damme. VHS--no subtitles

Rambo III VHS--no subtitles

Scary Movie DVD--English subtitles not available

Das Schweigen der Lämmer [=The Silence of the Lambs] VHS--no subtitles

Shrek DVD with English subtitles available

Die Simpsons: Die komplette Season Three 2 DVD set with English subtitles available

Star Wars IV: Eine neue Hoffnung [=A New Hope] DVD with English subtitles available

Star Wars V: Das Imperium schlägt zurück [=The Empire Strikes Back] DVD with English subtitles available

Star Wars VI: Die Rückkehr der Jedi-Ritter [=Return of the Jedi] DVD with English subtitles available

Terminator 1 VHS--no subtitles

Viel Lärm um nichts [=Much Ado About Nothing] Shakespeare adaptation with Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson. VHS--no subtitles

Wolf Horror movie starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. VHS--no subtitles

Zwei glorreiche Halunken [=The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] Classic Clint Eastwood Western. The German title means: "Two glorious scoundrels." VHS--no subtitles

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972) A drama set in the jungles of 16th century Peru, which converns a group of Europeans led astray in a vain attempt to find El Dorado by a crazy conquistador from Pizarro's 1560 South American expedition. Starring Klaus Kinski as the mad Aguirre.

Anatomie (Ruzowitzky, 2000) "Horror-thriller" about medical students in an "anti-Hippocratic society" performing some gruesome cexperiments; starring Franka Potente (from Lola rennt) as a potential victim.

Angst Essen Seele Auf (Fassbinder, 1974) Moving story of the relationship between an older German woman and a Moroccan "Gastarbeiter." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED--NO SUBTITLES but lots of clear German.

The Blue Angel (von Sternberg, 1930) The movie that made Marlene Dietrich famous. An aging, authoritarian, but also pathetically lovable gymnasium professor follows his students to a night club in order to expose them, but instead falls himself for Lola Lola (played by Dietrich).... HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: a movie classic.

Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1982) Multiple Oscar nominations; gripping story of a German submarine in WW II. Petersen has since made Hollywood movies like Air Force One, Outbreak, and In the Line of Fire. The LRC has the original 150 minute version, not the recently released, even longer version.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Crazy (Hans-Christian Schmid, 2000) Popular movie based on a successful novel written by a 16 year old disabled boy (Benjamin Lebert) about his experiences in school. A relatively typical coming of age story, except that this one was written by someone who's actually still coming of age :) By the director of Nach fünf im Urwald! NO SUBTITLES but some clear German, and you can turn on the German subtitles on the DVD.

Fidelio Performance of Beethoven's only opera recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Gardens, in 1990.

Fitzcarraldo (Herzog, 1982) An eccentric and hardly rich Irish rubber baron hopes to fulfill his dream of opening an opera house in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. First, however, he must haul a massive steamship over a mountain in order to create a shipping route. Stars Klaus Kinski and Claudia Cardinale.

Tatort: The Campaign 1995 episode of the Tatort mystery series. A child has been murdered, and the parents become suspects.

Der Untergang [=Downfall] (Hirschbiegel, 2004) Dramatization of Hitler's last days in his bunker, based on the diaries of his personal secretary, Traudl Junge.

Movies on Reserve 1/31/09-2/27/09

Baron Münchhausen (von Baky, 1943) An older German movie based on the adventures of the "lying baron"--compare it to the more recent Terry Gilliam movie, or to the book you may have read for your free reading! Münchhausen is called to court in St. Petersburg. He becomes a favorite with the Tsarina, duels with the jealous Potemkin and receives the gift of eternal youth from the diabolical Cagliostro. Includes the ride on a cannonball into the camp of the Turkish army, the rescue of the beautiful Isabella, blissful days in Venice, and finally a trip to the moon.

Burning Life Two women randomly become Robin Hood-style bank-robbers--echoes of Thelma and Louise.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for entertainment value :)

Der Rosenkavalier (1961) Production of the Strauss opera with the Vienna Philharmoic at the 1961 Salzburg festival. ONLY ON RESERVE FEB 5-19.

Der Schuh des Manitu (Michael "Bully" Herbig, 2001) This movie was a surprise hit, and became the most commercially successful German-language movie ever (in Germany; Lola rennt probably outdid it in overall sales worldwide). Lots of slapstick and puns. Unfortunately, the movie is primarily a parody of German "Westerns" based on the novels of Karl May (which used to be very popular among German boys), and if one doesn't know those movies and those novels, much of the humor will be hard to understand, and might seem gratuitously offensive.

Every Man for Himself and God Against All (Herzog, 1974) Worth seeing just for the great title.... The incredible story, based on a historical event, of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in a German town in the 1820s, unable to speak, read or write. A non-actor, Bruno S., with a personal history remarkably similar to Hauser, plays the title role in this acclaimed movie. Some very clear German in this movie, and lots to think about.

Rossini (Helmut Dietl, 1997) An entertaining combination of romantic comedy and murder mystery.  One of Ulrike's favorite movies :)  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for entertainment value :)

Sugarbaby (Percy Adlon, 1985) By the director of Baghdad Café (a fantastic movie you should all run to rent at your video store starring Marianne Sägebrecht and Jack Palance, among others, in which Sägebrecht plays a huge German woman stranded with her husband's suitcase and a container of stunningly strong coffee in the Nevada desert whose hostile relationship with the proprietor and her family is transformed when she starts working as a waitress and learns to perform magic tricks). Sägebrecht stars as an overweight woman whose dull life as a mortician's assistant is transformed when she falls in love with the voice of the subway driver. She systematically pursues him and an off-beat romance ensues when his wife goes on a trip. There's a more mainstream US TV movie remake of this movie called Babycakes, starring Ricki Lake. ONLY ON RESERVE FEB 5-19.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919) Classic expressionist silent film; beautiful sets; forerunner of the horror movie genre. Click here to see the cubicle of Dr. Caligari. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: a movie classic.

Vienna 1900 A lecture in English by George Steiner on Vienna around 1900, the site of an intellectual flowering in music, language, philosophy, politics, economics, architecture and other arts. In this Vienna also, the seeds of anti-Semitism were sown, which influenced Adolf Hitler and led to the Holocaust.  (47 minutes) ONLY ON RESERVE FEB 5-19.

Wir können auch anders [=No more Mr. Nice Guy] (Detlev Buck, 1993) Deadpan comedy set shortly after reunification.  Kipp leaves a mental institution and joins his brother Most in the old family Diesel on an expedition to the eastern part of Germany, where an inheritance awaits them.  Along the way, a Russian deserter from the disbanding occupation forces (who speaks no German) hijacks their truck, and the three of them reach their various goals, accidentally killing a few people along the way.  Delightful, lovable stupidity--but you need to pay attention to catch it all!

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl Recent interviews with the filmmaker in her 90s, interspersed with flashbacks and excerpts from her films, in English and German with subtitles. Riefenstahl is notorious and barely apologetic for her propaganda films for Hitler, such as Triumph of the Will and her documentaries of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin (in two parts: 1 and 2); she was also a pioneering filmmaker who developed many cinematographic techniques still in use today in documentaries and sports films.
 

Aimée und Jaguar (Max Färberböck, 1999) Here's the plot summmary from the Internet Movie Database: Berlin 1943/44 ("The Battle of Berlin"). Felice, an intelligent and courageous Jewish woman who lives under a false name, belongs to an underground organization. Lilly, a devoted mother of four, though an occasional unfaithful wife, is desperate for love. An unusual and passionate love between them blossoms despite the danger of persecution and nightly bombing raids. The Gestapo is on Felice's trail. Her friends flee, she decides to sit out the war with Lilly. One hot day in August 1944, the Gestapo is waiting in Lilly's flat... Based on a successful novel.

Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (Käutner, 1956) Comedy based on a true story in which a turn-of-the-century cobbler impersonates an army officer and takes hilarious advantage of the awe and respect uniforms inspired in German society. ONLY ON RESERVE MARCH 5-19.

Der Untertan (Staudte, 1951) Famous satire on authoritarianism in early 20th century Germany: the story of Diederich Hesseling, a lower middle-class weakling who rises in the world by deferring to those above him and tyrannizing those below.

Die Ehe der Maria Braun (Fassbinder, 1978) Classic of the New German Cinema. Parallels Germany's economic miracle following WWII with the story of an upwardly mobile woman who will do anything to gain wealth and power, but does it all in the service of her true love for her husband, with whom she had only a few hours of marital bliss before the war and subsequent events tear them apart. Mixes soap opera, sexual politics, epic romance and political satire. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: a movie classic.

Gegen die Wand (Head On) (Fatih Akin, 2005) Please note: this movie includes a great deal of graphic violence and some disturbing sexual scenes--but these are essential to the plot, and this is a very highly regarded movie and has won numerous prizes around the world. Cahit is a Turkish German in his 40s who drives his car into a wall ("gegen die Wand") in an attempt to kill himself. He is briefly institutionalized, and there he meets Sibel, a much younger woman who has repeatedly attempted to kill herself. She abruptly asks him to marry her, hoping this marriage of convenience can free her from her family's control. For a time, their relationship develops against all odds through an increasingly brutal series of events....

Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003) Here's the plot summary from the IMDB for this internationally successful, thoughtful and entertaining movie: East Germany, the year 1989: A young man protests against the regime. His mother watches the police arresting him and suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. Some months later, the Berlin Wall has fallen, the GDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the GDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed a lot...

Happy Birthday Türke (Doris Dörrie, 1992) This movie was directed by Doris Dörrie, whose movie Männer changed the German film scene by demonstrating that one could make witty popular movies in German. Here's the plot summmary from the Internet Movie Database: Kemal Kayankaya, a private detective, was hired by a Turkish women, Ilter, to search for his husband, Amend, who has been missing since the death of her father, Vassif. Unknownst to him, he was about to unravel the secrets of his client's family, as well as their various dealings with the underworld and the police. Moreover, being a Turk raised in a German foster family, he has also begun to understand and accept his own ethnicity.

Hasenjagd - Vor lauter Feigheit gibt es kein Erbarmen (Andreas Gruber, 1994) Please note: this movie, based on actual events, includes a great deal of violence (shootings) throughout but is a poignant and realistic portrayal of courage. It is the beginning of 1945 during WW2 in Austria. 500 Russian prisoners of war who have refused to fight on the side of the Germans against their country were brought to the concentration camp in Mauthausen awaiting certain execution. One winter night the Russian prisoners decide they have nothing to lose and make an escape. The German Nazis convince the inhabitants of the village to hunt the prisoners "like rabbits". One courageous family defies this decree, and repeated visits by the SS, by hiding several soldiers at their homestead.

Maybe, Maybe Not (Der bewegte Mann) (Sönke Wortmann, 1994) Formerly the biggest grossing German movie of all time. Attractive but dumb Axel, an open-minded heterosexual, cheats on his girlfriend Doro one too many times and she kicks him out. Axel ends up staying with Norbert, who is interested in more than friendship, and as Axel fails to pick up on this and Doro reenters the picture, a variety of comic complications ensues. Campy mainstream adaptation of two popular gay comic books by Ralf König.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for entertainment value.

Men (Männer) (Doris Dörrie, 1985) The first internationally successful postwar German comedy, initiating a more light-hearted and accessible trend in German cinema. Julius Armbrust, a successful young executive, has been cheating on his wife for years, but his ego is nevertheless shattered when he discovers on his birthday that his wife has a lover of her own, the bohemian artist wannabe Stefan. Insanely jealous, he becomes Stefan's roommate under false pretences and begins transforming his wife's toy into a version of himself.

Vienna 1900 A lecture in English by George Steiner on Vienna around 1900, the site of an intellectual flowering in music, language, philosophy, politics, economics, architecture and other arts. In this Vienna also, the seeds of anti-Semitism were sown, which influenced Adolf Hitler and led to the Holocaust.  (47 minutes)

Yasemin (Hark Bohm, 1988) Here's the plot summmary from the Internet Movie Database: 20 year old Casanova Jan falls in love with the 3 years younger Turkish girl Yasemin, who lives in Germany with her family. She's well protected by her father, who believes in the Turkish traditions. She has to struggle for every little freedom that's natural for her German friends, but still respects and loves her father and keeps the appearance of an honorable Turkish girl. Her love to Jan however disturbs this fine balance. So it's not hate or quarrel that interferes with their love, but the differences of their cultures.

Movies on Reserve 3/26/09-4/21/09

Bandits (Katja von Garnier, 1997) Sort of a German Thelma and Louise: four tough women in a German penitentiary form a band and make an impromptu escape when they get a chance to play at a police ball. They become cult heroes as they manage to give a series of concerts all over Germany (and kidnap an American exchange student boy-toy along the way), despite the efforts of the sadistic and sexist police officer in charge of catching them. Behind the fun are the sadder stories of how these women ended up in prison in the first place.

Das Experiment (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2001) This movie is based on the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, in which a group of college students was randomly divided into guards and inmates, and the guards very rapidly became stunningly sadistic and perverse in their treatment of the inmates, encouraged by the experimenters' efforts to create a situation that would simulate the anonymity and degradation in real prison settings. The experiment had to be abandoned after six days, but not before both the prisoners and the guards were dehumanized by the suffering and humiliation they respectively suffered and inflicted, and the experimenters themselves had lost all sense of compassion for their subjects, let alone any kind of scientific objectivity. Philip Zimbardo, the chief experimenter, was elected President of the American Psychological Association in 2002. He complains bitterly that the movie exaggerates what happened, and indeed it does, but if you compare the movie to Zimbardo's own website, you'll find how much abuse really did occur, and you may be shocked at how little genuine regret Zimbardo expresses about what he did to his subjects (let alone what could have happened had his eventual wife not succeeded in persuading him to end the experiment). What must be said in Zimbardo's defence, however, is that his experiment has indeed provided an invaluable and shocking lesson about the power of situations to change human behavior, and furthermore, that Zimbardo himself, as well as others involved with the experiment, including one of the most traumatized "prisoners," have devoted a great deal of energy to fighting what has unfortunately been a losing battle for improved conditions in prisons (and also in mental health institutions, and a variety of other settings), and against a continuing trend to emphasize punishment over rehabilitation, and to save money on the hiring and training of prison guards. Zimbardo was frequently quoted in explanations of the atrocious prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, pointing out that, contrary to the official attributions of the problem to "a few bad apples," the problem was in fact "a bad barrel," in which even the guards were in a certain sense victims.

Lola und Bilidikid (E. Kutlug Ataman, 1999) This is the ultimately tragic story of Murat, a 17-year old boy realizing he is gay while his father and older brother are doing everything they can to get him to lose his virginity with a woman, and of Lola, a transvestite whose macho hustler boyfriend "Bilidikid" wants her to get a sex change operation so that they can have a "normal" heterosexual relationship.

The Magic Flute 1978 performance of Mozart's opera by the Glyndebourne Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Nasty Girl (Das schreckliche Mädchen) (Michael Verhoeven, 1990) Ironic/Sarcastic movie based on the true story of a girl who enters an essay contest on the topic of "My Hometown During the Third Reich." Initial enthusiasm from the townspeople quickly turns into obstruction, harrassment and brutality. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin) (Tom Tykwer, 2000) A slower movie by the director of Lola rennt, also exploring the themes of fate and true love, and starring Franka Potente (Lola from Lola rennt). She plays a shy nurse in a mental institution who is nearly killed in an accident caused by Bodo, an ex-soldier and drifter. He saves her life in a gruesome scene at the scene of the accident, but then runs off, and she becomes convinced that they are destined to love each other....

Stadtgespräch (Talk of the Town) (Rainer Kaufmann, 1995) Romantic Comedy about the host of a radio call-in show despairing of her chances to find love as she enters her thirties, who suddenly finds herself caught in some hilarious romantic complications. Everyone involved keeps calling into her show, and so the whole city becomes consumed by these affairs.

Das Versprechen (The Promise) (Margarethe von Trotta, 1994) Melodrama about a couple separated by the Berlin Wall: with their friends, they plan a daring escape shortly after the Wall is built in 1961, but in what turns out to be a characteristic gesture, he trips and falls and is forced to stay behind. Despite many attempts, they don't manage to see each other again until the Wall finally falls in 1989....

Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987) Internationally acclaimed film about angels in Berlin. They see the world in black and white, and cannot influence the lives of the people they observe, except by hugging them, which occasionally makes them feel a bit better. Their lives are spent observing interesting details of people's behavior, until one day one of them falls in love with a trapeze artist and wants to become human. Cool cameo by Peter Falk, playing himself, but as a former angel.  City of Angels (with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan) is a Hollywood remake of this movie; it might be fun to compare the two.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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