Recommend me 5 great German films

[porphy]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Another good one is Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. Yeah, Klaus Kinski is bonkers, but still.

One more vote for Herzog!
I'm not sure Mr Herzog is totally sane either... considering what they did with that ship filming the movie.

"Das Leben der Anderen" (the lifes of others) <- that one is a must. My personal favorite.

"Der Untergang" (the downfall) <-Should be known enough by now

"Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex" <- About 60ies/80ies left wing terrorism in Germany. Very good movie, topics's not to everybodys taste, however.

"Goodbye Lenin" -> kinda sad humor, critizised for ostalgie (painting the GDR as a better place then it was, but that aside it simply is a wonderful movie)

"Stalingrad" -> as was already mentioned. Meet Das Boot's little cousin on the Ostfront.

If you like older movies as well, I sugest "Der blaue Engel" (the blue angel, with Marlene Dietrich) and "Im Westen nichts neues" (all quite on the western front)

For Miniseries, aside "Das Boot", check out "Berlin Alexanderplatz", following the survival of a Berlin criminal in the 30ies, also showing the rise of the Nazis and what it ment to the common man.

There are lots more good movies, but it really depends what you like and prefer subject wiese.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Bewolf

"Im Westen nichts neues" (all quite on the western front)

I think the 1930 version was an American one.

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

I think the 1930 version was an American one.

It was, and the 1979 version was British

Still a bloody good movie (And the 1979 version is pretty good too)

[Camaero]

Sophie Scholl. See it!

[Skybird]

A bit difficult to give a representative view of good German movies I liked, since many good films are Tv productions that hardly made it to international DVD-releases.
For example recently I saw "Herz im Kopf", a very good, sensible portrait of a rebelling teenager kicked around by his emotions for a Polish girl, with extremely good actors (the Polish girl played by a Polish girl who at that time did not speak a single word of German and just learned the German text: but you do not realise that!),
or "Machen wir's auf Finnisch", a comedy that served any Finnish cliche you could have - but nevertheless made me laughing tears.
Or "Nana", the story of a girl becoming lethally ill, but still living her days to their fullest, was a film I never forgot, because it was so encouraging despite her death and the despair of her father (and again some very good acting even by debutants) - it never was made available on DVD.
And there are quite some more.

In general Germans sometimes can do good German movies - but imo it does not happen as often as with for example British movies. It is somewhat an exception to the rule of mediocrity, still. Most of those movies of the past years that gained international fame, I do not like, also I would disagree on the majority of movies being mentioned here so far. German film making last but not least often is populistic film making.

The German director of the present to watch out for is Tom Tykwer, now working internationally. See "Winter Sleepers" below, and the already mentioned "Run Lola Run". Also, "The Princess + The Warrior" and "Heaven are absolutely brilliant movies, showing that filmmaking can be a form of highly developed art, and an expression of human nature, beauty and vulnerability.

These four German movies come to my mind without meditating an hour about your question, all of them are available either in English translations, or sub-titles, and are quality movies by any standard you can compare against:

Winterschläfer
(Winter Sleepers) - highly recommended, one of my all-time-favourites, and a masterpiece of almost magic story-telling http://www.tomtykwer.com/03_filmogra...er/index.shtml ). Awarded.

Die Brücke
(The Bridge, old version from 1959 in b/w, by Bernhard Wicki, amongst other awards it won a Golden Globe. do not mistake it with the remake last year - that one was simply bad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke_(film)

Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage (The final days)
I mentioned that before. Extremely moving and troubling, but not kitschig. Quite some awards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_...The_Final_Days

Nosferatu
The original by Murnau, dating back to 1922
No need to say anything on that.

Originally Posted by Skybird

"Machen wir's auf Finnisch", a comedy that served any Finnish cliche you could have - but nevertheless made me laughing tears.

Hmm? Going to have to check that one out.

Die Brücke
(The Bridge, old version from 1959 in b/w, by Bernhard Wicki, amongst other awards it won a Global Globe. do not mistake it with the remake last year - that one was simply bad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke_(film)

+1. Just a great film that encapsulates so much about the horrors of WW2. Definitely not Rambo but...well you'll see.

Btw, Stalingrad was partly filmed not far from where I used to live, up in Lapland, the winter scenes near the end of the film.

If you're ready for some 'out of the ordinary but considered cult classic' - type of stuff, there's always Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His Berlin Alexanderplatz is considered a pretty significant work (and long).

Also, if not yet mentioned, M (1931) with Peter Lorre. Fritz Lang and Peter Lorre both escaped Nazi-Germany and the film could be seen as a metafor about the rise of the Nazis. Fritz Lang alledgedly had a meeting with Goebbels but this could be just a rumour.

From new movies, I recently re-watched The Tunnel (2001).

One of Herzog's best documentaries IMHO is Little Dieter Needs To Fly (1997). The story was made into a movie with Christopher Bale but the documentary is better.

[Seeadler]

Head-On ( Gegen die Wand )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347048/

Run Lola Run ( Lola rennt )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/

23 ( 23 - Nichts ist so wie es scheint )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/

The Baader Meinhof Complex ( Der Baader Meinhof Komplex )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765432/

We children from Bahnhof Zoo ( Christiane F - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082176/