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German Classics
Chaos, hostility and murder are, said one of these directors, our common denominator. Another had scandal as a hobby and human nature as a focus.
Their work is the base from which to explore enduring stories, fictional and documentary, of folly and war and so much more.
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Crime1931111 minsDirector: Fritz Lang
Peter Lorre is unforgettable as the compulsive child murderer on the run from both police and criminals alike, in Fritz Lang’s seminal crime film.
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The Marriage of Maria BraunThe Marriage of Maria Braun
Drama1978120 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
With a blazing star performance from Hanna Schygulla in the title role, this was the greatest critical and commercial success of Fassbinder’s career.
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Germany, Pale MotherGermany, Pale Mother
Drama1980151 minsDirector: Helma Sanders-Brahms
Set during the Third Reich and its aftermath, this lyrical, harrowing tale of love and war is a neglected classic of New German cinema.
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von KantThe Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Drama1972124 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder's visual and verbal extravaganza about a successful but lonely fashion designer who falls in love with a beautiful younger woman.
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FitzcarraldoFitzcarraldo
Drama1981157 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
One of Werner Herzog's most acclaimed and audacious films, Fitzcarraldo tells the incredible story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an opera-loving fortune hunter who dreams of bringing opera to the heart of the Peruvian jungle.
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Fear Eats the SoulFear Eats the Soul
Melodrama197493 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder’s international breakthrough, this unconventional love story combines lucid social analysis with devastating emotional power.
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MetropolisMetropolis
Science Fiction1927150 minsSilentDirector: Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang’s expressionist, dystopian vision is one of the first science fiction feature films, and is arguably the most influential.
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Fox and His FriendsFox and His Friends
Drama1975124 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder's brilliantly caustic and cynical drama follows an ex-fairground worker who wins the lottery but is still mocked and exploited by his boyfriend’s family and friends.
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NosferatuNosferatu
Horror192289 minsSilentDirector: F.W. Murnau
This influential Dracula adaptation contains some of the most famous images of expressionist film, and remains shocking and stylish after 100 years.
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Alice in the CitiesAlice in the Cities
Road movie1974113 minsDirector: Wim Wenders
A German writer leaving the USA finds himself unwittingly embarking on a road trip with an eight-year-old girl.
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KatzelmacherKatzelmacher
Drama196989 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
A Greek immigrant unleashes jealousy and xenophobia among a group of Munich neighbours in Fassbinder’s shocking adaptation of his own play.
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WoyzeckWoyzeck
Drama197980 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s adaptation of Georg Büchner’s play about a tormented soldier, filmed mere days after the completion of Nosferatu the Vampyre.
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Aguirre, Wrath of GodAguirre, Wrath of God
Historical drama197294 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
This early masterpiece from Werner Herzog stars Klaus Kinski as a power-crazed explorer in sixteenth-century South America who leads a band of conquistadors through the Amazon in search of El Dorado.
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The Enigma of Kaspar HauserThe Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Biopic1974109 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s poetic account of the historical character who captivated 19th-century Nuremberg after emerging from isolation after 16 years in a cellar.
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Cobra VerdeCobra Verde
Drama1987110 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog’s final collaboration is a typically wild and adventurous story of a bandit who trains an army of women to topple a slave-trading king
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The Merchant of Four SeasonsThe Merchant of Four Seasons
Drama197288 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder’s first foray into melodrama follows an ex-policeman forced to become a fruit-seller, while his wife craves bourgeois respectability and his family despises his lowly status.
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StroszekStroszek
Drama1977108 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s uniquely askew take on Americana follows the journey of Bruno S. as he leaves Berlin for the bleak trailer parks of Wisconsin.
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Nosferatu the VampyreNosferatu the Vampyre
Horror1979107 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
English language version of Herzog’s stimulating take on the Dracula story starring Klaus Kinski, with echoes of Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu.
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The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver SteinerThe Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
Documentary197546 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s moving portrait of a record-breaking ski jumper.
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Fata MorganaFata Morgana
Animation & Artists Moving Image197176 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Herzog’s intense, dreamlike mediation on desert life as if seen by an alien.
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Land of Silence and DarknessLand of Silence and Darkness
Documentary197185 minsDirector: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog’s profound and deeply moving documentary about the experiences of a community of deaf-blind people.
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Love Is Colder than DeathLove Is Colder than Death
Gangster196989 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder stars in his debut feature as a petty criminal whose desire for freedom is undermined by his emotional needs.
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Germany, Year ZeroGermany, Year Zero
War194873 minsDirector: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.
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FearFear
Drama195483 minsDirector: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s film with Ingrid Bergman exploring the inner turmoil of a woman pushed to the edge through the guilt of her infidelity.
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Beware of a Holy WhoreBeware of a Holy Whore
Drama1971104 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
In an elegant Spanish hotel lobby, a film cast and crew outdo one another in displays of professional and sexual rivalry while waiting endlessly for shooting to begin.
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Effi BriestEffi Briest
Drama1974140 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder's exquisitely subtle rendition of Fontane’s great novel, starring the great Hanna Schygulla as the titular 17-year-old who is forced into a socially advantageous marriage with a much older man.
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Chinese RouletteChinese Roulette
Drama197686 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Psychodrama with a vengeance: Anna Karina stars in Fassbinder’s first international co-production; another deadly assault on the institution of marriage.
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Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler Part 1 (The Great Gambler - A Picture of the Time)Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler Part 1 (The Great Gambler - A Picture of the Time)
Crime1922155 minsSilentDirector: Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang's legendary epic of silent cinema, following the diabolical crimes of the titular arch-villain, is a masterpiece of conspiracy, fear and paranoia.
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Dr Mabuse, the Gambler Part 2 (Inferno, A Game for the People of Our Age)Dr Mabuse, the Gambler Part 2 (Inferno, A Game for the People of Our Age)
Crime1922115 minsSilentDirector: Fritz Lang
The second part of Fritz Lang's legendary epic of silent cinema, following the diabolical crimes of the titular arch-villain.
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Woman in the MoonWoman in the Moon
Science Fiction1929170 minsSilentDirector: Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang’s second silent sci-fi classic after Metropolis is a space exploration saga about scheming scientists searching for gold on the moon.
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VampyrVampyr
Horror193273 minsDirector: Carl Th. Dreyer
The first sound-film by one of the greatest of all filmmakers, Carl Theodor Dreyer, is akin to a waking-dream; guiding the viewer on a trance-like journey between reality and the supernatural.