This is about a poll in my bilingual blog at http://celinejulie.blogspot.com
POLL 50: ACTRESSES IN RECENT GERMAN FILMS
My poll 50 is inspired by THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX (2008, Uli Edel, A+), which stars Martina Gedeck (Ulrike Meinhof), Johanna Wokalek (Gudrun Ensslin), Alexandra Maria Lara (Petra Schelm), Nadja Uhl (Brigitte Mohnhaupt), and Hannah Herzsprung (Susanne Albrecht). Seeing these five actressses in the same film is such a great experience, and it reminds me that I like many actresses in recent German films that I saw, though I have seen very few German films lately.
During the past 5-6 years, the Goethe Institute in Bangkok has shown German films only 3 months a year, instead of 12 months a year like in the past. That means I get to see very few German films now. I can only read about films from the Berlin School, but almost have no chance to see them. If I am going to make a wish list of recent German films that I would like to see, the list may include not less than 100 films.
Though now I can watch only 2-3 new German films a year, I’m still impressed by them and by the actresses in them. I hope my list will inspire other people to watch more German films, so that German films will become more famous. Then some DVD distributors will buy the rights of many German films and release them with English subtitles.
The films in the brackets are the films that I saw, though some of them are not German films, and some of them are the films I don’t like.
You can vote for the actresses you like, though the films are not listed here. If you love Sabine Timoteo in THE FREE WILL, love Martina Gedeck in SUMMER’O4 (2004, Stefan Krohmer), love Nadja Uhl in THE LEGENDS OF RITA (2000, Volker Schlondorff), or love Alexandra Maria Lara in DER FISCHER UND SEINE FRAU (2005, Doris Doerrie), please vote for them.
I LOVE THESE ACTRESSES IN RECENT (GERMAN) FILMS. WHICH ACTRESSES DO YOU LIKE?
1.Alexandra Maria Lara (Romanian) (THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, CRAZY, THE READER, CONTROL)
Actually I don’t like THE READER (B+), and I hate CRAZY (C+).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/3364952933_4f284fdbed_b.jpg
2.Birgit Minichmayr (Austrian) (THE FAREWELL: BERTOLT BRECHT’S LAST SUMMER, CHERRY BLOSSOMS – HANAMI, YOU BET YOUR LIFE)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3364952941_1d8d6d748e_o.jpg
3.Franka Potente (RUN LOLA RUN, IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE, AM I BEAUTIFUL?)
I give IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE only “B”.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3591/3364952949_a5f2e80d07_o.jpg
4.Hannah Herzsprung (FOUR MINUTES, THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, THE READER)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3364952955_e9d29a9717_o.jpg
5.Hannelore Elsner (NO PLACE TO GO, GO FOR ZUCKER!, CHERRY BLOSSOMS – HANAMI)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3567/3364952957_11f813b3b3_o.jpg
6.Julia Hummer (GESPENSTER, THE STATE I AM IN, GIGANTIC)
I give GIGANTIC only “B+”.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3543/3364959849_9c1ef4fc75.jpg
7.Joerdis Triebel (EMMA’S BLISS)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3364959829_fc4b7b3805_o.jpg
8.Johanna Wokalek (THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, BAREFOOT)
Johanna is amazing. I can’t believe that the same actress plays in the two films above, because she is mesmerizing in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, and she looks so stupid in BAREFOOT (C+).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3364959835_f857b9a859_o.jpg
9.Julia Jentsch (SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS, THE EDUCATORS, GETTING MY BROTHER LAID)
I don’t like THE EDUCATORS (B).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3364959843_5c54018036_o.jpg
10.Juliane Koehler (NOWHERE IN AFRICA, ANNALUISE & ANTON)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3364959857_e8c7f58d95_o.jpg
11.Lena Stolze (THE NASTY GIRL, AND ALONG COME TOURISTS, FORGIVENESS)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3364959865_bcae517629_o.jpg
12.Marie-Luise Schramm (GETTING MY BROTHER LAID)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3365805740_91d5fa73c5_o.jpg
13.Marion Mitterhammer (Austrian) (PINGPONG, FREE RADICALS)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3364978375_42b4f6595d_o.jpg
14.Martina Gedeck (THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, THE LIVES OF OTHERS)
Is she the new Angela Winkler?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3365007875_af90358c1e_o.jpg
15.Monica Bleibtreu (THE FAREWELL: BERTOLT BRECHT’S LAST SUMMER, FOUR MINUTES, AMEN)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3661/3364978381_0c8ab58fbc_o.jpg
16.Nadja Uhl (THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, CHERRY BLOSSOMS – HANAMI, FOUR MINUTES)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3364978383_a0314e172b_o.jpg
17.Nina Hoss (YELLA, THE WHITE MASSAI)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3364978385_970bb56c97_o.jpg
18.Nina Petri (AM I BEAUTIFUL?, RUN LOLA RUN, EMMA’S BLISS)
She usually plays a supporting character, but I like her very much.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/3364978391_7b03fe88c6_o.jpg
19.Sabine Timoteo (Swiss) (GESPENSTER, A FRIEND OF MINE)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3553/3365805744_99102e6981_o.jpg
20.Sandra Hueller (REQUIEM)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/3364978395_c9d141e995_o.jpg
You can cast multiple votes.
Recommended Reading:
1.Andrew Tracy on films from the Berlin School
http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/569
2.Peter Nellhaus on THE FREE WILL
http://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.com/archives/2008/07/the_free_will.html
–I just realized that I messed up about the alphabetical order of the names. The name of Julia Hummer should have come after Joerdis Triebel and Johanna Wokalek.
–I like some actresses very much, but I exclude them from the list because they haven’t played in many films. They are Verana Jasch (NIGHTFALL), Isa Hochgerner (NIGHTFALL), Anna Schmidt (FROST), and Sophie Kempe (SCHOOL TRIP).
Limitless Cinema in Broken English 
This is my reply to Vespertine in my bilingual blog:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2009/03/poll-50-actresses-in-recent-german.html
–It’s sad and shocking about what happened to Natasha Richardson. Thanks for telling me about it. I hope she hadn’t suffered long before she died. This new reminds me of my friend who had a skiiing accident in the 1980’s. She was “ขาฉีก” (I don’t know how to write it in English.) I heard that my friend had to use wheelchairs for a while, before she could walk again.
Your point about the differences between Natasha and Joely is interesting. I have watched very few films by these two actresses. I can’t remember their faces. If I come upon their pictures on the internet, I won’t recognize them. I saw Joely in THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE (2001, Charles Shyer, B+/B), in which she plays Marie-Antoinette, but she is not outstanding in this role.
The tragic death of Natasha reminds me of other actors who passed away too soon, such as Marie Trintignant and Sergei Bodrov Jr.
I haven’t heard of PAINTED LADY before, but it sounds very interesting. I once saw the film ARTEMISIA (1997, Agnes Merlet, A). I think it is as good as many good biography films about artists. But I can’t remember its details now.
I haven’t watched many films by Franco Nero. I haven’t even watched TRISTANA or DJANGO (1966, Sergio Corbucci).
I haven’t watched THE WHITE COUNTESS, but the story about the fate of Russian princess is interesting. I remember that I read a column in a magazine when I was a child. It said that a Russian princess tried to escape from Russia during the Communist revolution. She lost everything. She had no money left. She just tried to escape to save her life. Then she arrived at a hotel in a foreign country. I can’t remember in which country the hotel was. Maybe it was in Greece. She tried to beg the employees at the hotel to let her rest there for a while. But the employees said that she could certainly rest there for the rest of her life, because she was the owner of that hotel. What really happened is that when she was very rich, she once travelled to that hotel many years ago. She had a party with her friends, got very drunk, and decided to buy the hotel when she was very drunk, and forgot what she had done when she woke up in the next morning.
She was very lucky to find this hotel again by accident. The fates of some human beings are very interesting. I feel very ambiguous with this story. I feel very glad that she survived and found happiness again, but the story is interesting because the story also implies that the Communist might not be totally wrong to try to pursue all these princes and princesses who used to spend the treature of the Russian country without thinking.
I can’t remember the name of this Russian princess and the name of the hotel. Do any of you know about this thing?
Comment by celinejulie — March 19, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
This is my reply to my friends in my bilingual blog:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2009/03/poll-50-actresses-in-recent-german.html
–Vespertine, the story of THE WHITE COUNTESS reminds me of the film THE FLIGHT (1970, Aleksandr Alov + Vladimir Naumov, Soviet Union, A+), which presents the downfall of the Russian aristocracy in funny, exciting, and poignant ways. I love this film very much, though I think the film is still propaganda by the Soviet Union, because the film ends with some Russian refugees optimistically returning to the Soviet Union. THE FLIGHT should be viewed together with EAST-WEST (1999, Regis Wargnier, A), so that the viewers will know exactly what awaits the characters in THE FLIGHT when they return to the Soviet Union. (The answer is Stalin.)
Talking about the pairing between films to get a more balanced view, I also think about the last scene in RUSSIAN ARK. It presents the extravaganza in the Czar court. Maybe THE RUSSIAN ARK should be viewed together with MOTHER (1926, Vsevolod Pudovkin), so that the viewers can both see the lives of the rich and the poor in Russia who lived in about the same period.
I think some viewers should also see both THE SUN (2005, Alexander Sokurov) and DON’T CRY NANKING (1995, Wu Ziniu), so they can get a more complete view of the emperor and his army.
Having said that, I didn’t imply that a good film should be balanced, because that would be too difficult for any filmmakers to present 100 sides of a topic in any single film. I think UNITED 93 (2006, Paul Greengrass) is an excellent film, though I don’t say it is perfectly balanced.
–Nanoguy, I think Martina Gedeck really gives a wonderful performance in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX. However, I also like the fact that the film doesn’t give this too much attention to this character. I think Ulrike Meinhof is the most likeable terrorists among RAF (Red Army Faction). She seems to be the most reasonable. She seemed to hesitate to become a terrorist, while others in RAF didn’t hesitate like her. In other words, she seems to stand in the middle between obedient citizens and RAF. That’s why I think if this film was made by other filmmakers, they might have chosen to focus more on Meinhof, because most viewers can sympathize with this character than with Gudrun Ensslin and others. But this film seems to keep the balance very well. It doesn’t try to make the viewers have too much pity on Meinhof and others, and it doesn’t glorify them either.
In my opinion, Brigitte Mohnhaupt (played by Nadja Uhl), which belongs to the second generation of RAF, is very interesting for me. This generation of terrorists seems to act without reasons, or with reasons beyond my understanding. They seem like evil people who believe they are do-gooders, who believe they are martyrs. They are enigmatic for me. They are the most dangerous. They are real. And I think they are the closest to those Thai terrorists who seized the airports last year. That’s why I’m very interested in Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Gudrun Ensslin. These characters made me understand the article in Midnightuniv.org, which is written by Prajak Kongkeerati. This article shows me some similarities between RAF and PAD.
http://www.midnightuniv.org/midnighttext/0009999864.html
–Initial A, I haven’t seen AIMEE AND JAGUAR yet, but I’m sure Juliane Koehler is terrific in it. I think of her as Emma Thompson of Germany. Juliane Koehler is not young, not gorgeous, not elegant. She plays mother roles in NOWHERE IN AFRICA and ANNALUISE AND ANTON, but she still shines in both films. I just noticed that I also saw another of her films. It’s WEISER (2001, Wojciech Marczewski), but I can’t remember her role in it.
Comment by celinejulie — March 24, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
This is my reply to Nanoguy in my bilingual blog:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2009/03/poll-50-actresses-in-recent-german.html
In my opinion, I can’t decide whether RAF or PAD are worse than each other, but after reading your comments, I think RAF might use “extremely wrong” means to achieve “mostly right” or “partially right” ends, while PAD used extremely wrong means to achieve “mostly wrong” ends. Hahaha.
Anyway, the most important difference between RAF and PAD is that RAF members were punished and imprisoned, while PAD members are living happily and one of them is rewarded with the position of a minister in the government. That says a lot about injustice in Thailand.
I think Moritz Bleibtreu’s Andreas Baader is very uninteresting, one-dimensional, unappealing, and uncharismatic. I don’t know why Moritz and Uli Edel decided to present Baader this way. I guess the reason may be one of these things:
1.The director is just lazy.
2.The real Baader is like in the film, so the director presents Baader this way to debunk the myth about Baader.
3.The director does not like Baader.
4.Stefan Aust, the author of the book on which the film is based, does not like Baader.
5.The director has some hidden agenda.
6.The director thought this character had been presented already in many films, including BAADER (2002, Christopher Roth), so there’s no need to pay too much attention to this extremely well-known character.
7.The director is just like me—being interested in female terrorists than male terrorists. Hahaha.
I think the reason why Baader is presented this way in the film is interesting. If I remember it correctly, Moritz Bleibtreu used to play a charismatic, appealing German terrorist in the 1970’s in THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS (2001, Adam Brooks, C+). These two characters he played are very close to each other, but the one in THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX is more unlikeable. He doesn’t look like what I imagined about Baader at all. So I’m very curious to know why this character is presented this way in the film. I don’t know the fact about the real Baader. Was he as unlikeable as the character in this film? I don’t know. Maybe the real Baader was as unlikeable as those PAD leaders. Hahaha
Comment by celinejulie — March 25, 2009 @ 11:27 pm
very nice movie as i think this type of movies shows reality
Comment by SHAFIQ AHMED — July 16, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
I really love this site. I’m only now getting into european films and this is a great resource
Comment by dsi console — July 30, 2009 @ 6:35 am
Excellent site, keep up the good work
Comment by Bill Bartmann — September 4, 2009 @ 5:59 am
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Pingback by 2010 in review « Limitless Cinema in Broken English — January 2, 2011 @ 1:08 pm
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Comment by Lisa — April 20, 2013 @ 11:29 am