Explore film with these posts on Reverberations.
Heiner Lauterbach is a veteran. He has more than forty years in the film industry so it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s already crossed your path. The actor has an impressive array of television and films on his resume, not to mention theater.
And his resume is growing regularly. From comedy to drama, Heiner Lauterbach has done it all. This month’s featured German film recommendations for German learners is Heiner Lauterbach!
Since her big film debut in the 2000 film Crazy (which also starred prior German-language film recommendation Robert Stadlober in the lead role), Berlin actress Karoline Herfurth has been awful busy. In addition to several theater productions and made for television movies, she has got quite a list of film credits to her name. Not to mention that Herfurth made her directorial debut with a short film in 2012
This month’s German film recommendations for German language learners include three more recent films with Herfurth all of which are rather different: Fack Ju Göhte, Beat, and SMS für Dich!
Nora Tschirner has experience in many different areas. After getting her start in the early 2000s as a moderator and VJ for German MTV, she transitioned to acting. In the subsequent years, Tschirner has taken on additional roles as director, producer, writer, and musician. She has graced both the silver screen and the small screen, showing off her talent has no limits.
But let’s focus on the films and use them to practice German language skills! This month, get to know Nora Tschirner better with her films Soloalbum, Keonohrhasen, and Gut gegen Nordwind!
Robert Stadlober is a talented guy whose creative abilities seem to know no boundaries. The Austrian-born Stadlober may be known primarily as an actor to some. But his involvement in films goes further, with him working behind the camera as both a director and as a film producer. As though that was not enough, he is also an accomplished musician. He has set poets to music and rocked out with indie pop.
While still only in his thirties, Stadlober has quite a list of credits to his name. So let us better get to know this multi-talented German speaker and learn German while doing so. Watch, practice, and enjoy these three films starring Robert Stadlober.
With roles in The Baader Meinhof Complex, Elementarteilchen, and Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga, a made for television mini-series about the famous hotel in Berlin and its founding family, you may already be familiar with German actor Tom Schilling.
Schilling has a remarkable number of titles to his name and his star continues to rise rapidly. There is nothing that can stop him. And he isn’t merely an actor. Schilling is also a talented musician who records music with his band Tom Schilling & The Jazz Kids.
In this month’s German-language film feature, I’m highlighting some exciting and interesting films that Schilling has lead roles in — Tod den Hippies!! Es lebe der Punk!, Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter, and Oh Boy!.
You may already be familiar with Wim Wenders’ work from award-winning documentary films like The Buena Vista Social Club and Pina or English language dramas like Paris, Texas. The longtime filmmaker seems unattached to any single language or particular style. He conveys stories in many different ways.
But that’s not to say all of his films are in English. Far from it. Wenders also released quite a few films in his native German language. Alongside filmmakers like Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, Wenders is a major part of the New German Cinema movement in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. And he helped shape independent film in the process.
This month’s feature of German-language films for German learners highlights some of Wim Wenders’ most notable German-language films.
Filmmaker Werner Herzog does it all. He is perhaps best known as a director but he is also a writer, a producer, and, from time to time, an actor. Since directing his first short in the early 60s, he helped shape the New German Cinema movement along with the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Wim Wenders, and Volker Schlöndorff. Herzog has been incredibly prolific with both feature films and documentaries on his resume.
How is all of that for a sales pitch? If you’re not already familiar with the films of Werner Herzog, now is a great time to get to do so and practice some German along the way!
With piercing blue eyes, if you have already seen actor Benno Fürmann in a film, you would probably remember him. And with over 100 acting credits to his name in film and television, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.
For this month’s German film recommendations to help you learn German, let’s better get to know Benno Fürmann with three great films: North Wall (Nordwand), Jerichow and The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin).
Martina Gedeck is an acclaimed actress who is well respected and has dozens of awards to her name. Gedeck’s trademark is not being pigeonholed: she’s appeared in comedies, dramas, and everywhere in between. And she is known for major roles in German films including The Lives of Others and The Baader Meinhof Complex. If you are not already familiar with Martina Gedeck, now is most definitely the time to become familiar with this talented actress.
This month’s German film recommendations for practicing your German skills are Jew Suss: Rise and Fall (Jud Süss – Film ohne Gewissen), The Elementary Particles (Elementarteilchen) and Mostly Martha (Bella Martha).
For nearly forty years, actor Ulrich Tukur has been appearing in television and films. And in that time, he has not allowed himself to be pigeonholed. He has starred in dramatic films retelling important moments of history, clever comedies, and everywhere in between. So this month, let’s get to know the award-winning actor Ulrich Tukur and learn German with film!
If you’re a fan of German cinema or the art house scene of the 1970s, then you’re likely already familiar with Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The German director, writer, and actor is considered to be an important figure in the New German Cinema movement that took place from the 1960s until the 1980s.
The Criterion Collection has honored a number of his films. The works are typically low budget, filmed quickly, and full of gritty realism along with commentary on society. Although Fassbinder died in 1982 at the age of 37, he made an astonishing 40 full-length films.
This month, let’s better get to know Rainer Werner Fassbinder and practice the German language at the same time.
While it certainly is not as fun as being there in person, you can immerse yourself in all that Munich and Bavaria have to offer from your sofa. Or wherever you prefer to watch!
That is right: I am talking about movies filmed in Munich and around the state of Bavaria. You can fill an afternoon with a romantic comedy or learn something new with a historical drama. There are options for whatever strikes your fancy, although the options are more limited if you do not speak German.
If you want to experience Bavaria without seeing a film that is set in the German state, keep reading! I have some honorable mentions that might surprise you.
So, go ahead, grab a Bavarian Bier (or your favorite beverage) plus some popcorn, and check out these movies filmed in Munich (and Bavaria)!
If you prefer television shows to movies, check out these TV shows set in Munich and Bavaria.