Essential German
by jsb39-1 | created - 30 Sep 2021 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,488 | Gross: $11.49M
2. Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz (1983– )
45 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Franz Muenchinger, called "Monaco", is married to Annette von Soettingen. But he can't take his eyes of young girls and as a police officer he often goes out for "Fahndung". Always at his ... See full summary »
Stars: Helmut Fischer, Ruth-Maria Kubitschek, Christine Kaufmann, Erni Singerl
Votes: 990
3. Go for It, Baby (1968)
79 min | Comedy
A free-wheeling comedy, Zur Sache Schaetzchen chronicles a day in the life of Martin, a witty yet lazy songwriter who'd rather not get out of bed. During the opening sequence, Martin ... See full summary »
Director: May Spils | Stars: Werner Enke, Uschi Glas, Henry van Lyck, Rainer Basedow
Votes: 547
4. Nicht fummeln, Liebling! (1970)
87 min | Comedy
Charly flew home and now lives with his buddy Harry, who lives in a sort of commune of potential department store founders.
Director: May Spils | Stars: Werner Enke, Gila von Weitershausen, Henry van Lyck, Benno Hoffmann
Votes: 81
5. Black Gravel (1961)
113 min | Drama
The story takes place in postwar Germany, following Germany's loss in World War II. For years, people struggled with shortages of everything, housing, water, food, clothing.
Director: Helmut Käutner | Stars: Helmut Wildt, Ingmar Zeisberg, Hans Cossy, Wolfgang Büttner
Votes: 267
6. Opfergang (1944)
98 min | Drama
Idle intellectuals Albrecht, Octavia and Äls, are given to quoting and emulating their philosopher hero, Nietzsche. Albrecht later contracts typhus bringing the foster child gravely ill Äls out of an infected area.
Director: Veit Harlan | Stars: Carl Raddatz, Kristina Söderbaum, Irene von Meyendorff, Franz Schafheitlin
Votes: 751
7. Great Freedom No. 7 (1944)
111 min | Drama, Music, Romance
The film tells the story of the blond "singing sailor" Hannes Kröger who works in a St. Pauli club on the Große Freiheit 7, and falls in love with a girl. But she prefers his rival Willem and Hannes returns to the sea.
Director: Helmut Käutner | Stars: Hans Albers, Ilse Werner, Hans Söhnker, Hilde Hildebrand
Votes: 1,044
8. 48 Stunden bis Acapulco (1967)
81 min | Crime, Romance, Thriller
A young man pays the amateurish attempt to gain wealth by betraying industrial secrets and securing a place in the fascinating world of jet-set life.
Director: Klaus Lemke | Stars: Dieter Geissler, Christiane Krüger, Monika Zinnenberg, Alexander Kerst
Votes: 130
9. Veronika Voss (1982)
R | 104 min | Drama
Partially based on the life of Sybille Schmitz, who found fame under the Nazi regime, but whose career was destroyed afterward. Veronika Voss is a once prominent UFA actress, kept by her doctor, who raises suspicion in a sports journalist.
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Rosel Zech, Hilmar Thate, Cornelia Froboess, Annemarie Düringer
Votes: 7,793
10. Deadlock (1970)
93 min | Thriller, Western
In a deserted mining town at the end of nowhere three desperate men fight over a suitcase full of cash.
Director: Roland Klick | Stars: Mario Adorf, Marquard Bohm, Anthony Dawson, Mascha Rabben
Votes: 1,451
11. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Not Rated | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
In the 16th century, the ruthless and insane Don Lope de Aguirre leads a Spanish expedition in search of El Dorado.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Ruy Guerra, Helena Rojo, Del Negro
Votes: 62,346
12. The Invincibles (1994)
Not Rated | 130 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
The members of a special police task force uncover a conspiracy involving leading politicians, organized crime masterminds and an ex-colleague who was believed dead. When they are to be silenced, they investigate on their own initiative.
Director: Dominik Graf | Stars: Herbert Knaup, Katja Flint, Hansa Czypionka, Heinz Hoenig
Votes: 786
13. Die Katze (1988)
118 min | Crime, Thriller
Two bank robbers hold the clerks hostage and demand 3 million German marks as ransom. What the police do not realise is that the true criminal mastermind watches them from outside the bank, anticipating every move.
Director: Dominik Graf | Stars: Götz George, Gudrun Landgrebe, Joachim Kemmer, Heinz Hoenig
Votes: 974
14. Der Felsen (2002)
122 min | Drama, Thriller
Katrin and Jürgen spend their holidays in Corsica. Katrin is in her mid-thirties, working as a tracer at Jürgen's company who suddenly remembers he's married -- but not with Kathrin. So ... See full summary »
Director: Dominik Graf | Stars: Karoline Eichhorn, Antonio Wannek, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Ralph Herforth
Votes: 365
15. The Devil Strikes at Night (1957)
97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A serial killer strikes again during World War II in Germany. The wrong man is arrested and a detective hunts down the real killer, but justice in Nazi Germany is not so easily administered.
Director: Robert Siodmak | Stars: Claus Holm, Mario Adorf, Hannes Messemer, Peter Carsten
Votes: 1,585
16. Supermarket (1974)
84 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Willi is a street kid trying to make a living with petty crimes. He befriends both a journalist who wants to help him make an honest living and an older petty criminal looking for a quick buck.
Director: Roland Klick | Stars: Charly Wierczejewski, Eva Mattes, Michael Degen, Walter Kohut
Votes: 1,005
17. Theo gegen den Rest der Welt (1980)
106 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Theo is having some bad luck. His barely paid-for truck has been stolen, and credit collectors are after him. The chase leads him across Europe.
Director: Peter F. Bringmann | Stars: Marius Müller-Westernhagen, Guido Gagliardi, Claudia Demarmels, Carlheinz Heitmann
Votes: 728
18. Under the Bridges (1946)
99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two barge skippers fall in love with the same woman.
Director: Helmut Käutner | Stars: Hannelore Schroth, Carl Raddatz, Gustav Knuth, Margarete Haagen
Votes: 866
19. 23 (1998)
99 min | Drama, Thriller
When the orphaned Karl Koch and his friend David start breaking into government and military computers, an acquaintance senses that there is money in computer cracking - and travels to east Berlin to try to contact the KGB.
Director: Hans-Christian Schmid | Stars: August Diehl, Fabian Busch, Dieter Landuris, Jan-Gregor Kremp
Votes: 7,290
20. The Nightmare (2015)
92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After attending a rave party, a teenage girl forms a bond with a strange monster as she suffers a slow chaotic mental breakdown.
Director: Akiz | Stars: Carolyn Genzkow, Sina Tkotsch, Wilson Gonzalez, Arnd Klawitter
Votes: 3,183
21. The Fan (1982)
Unrated | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Music
The hero-worship that Simone has for a pop singer is built to a crescendo until she passes out when she finally sees him up-close in a crowd of fans. She is later shocked when he lets her know that he does not love her.
Director: Eckhart Schmidt | Stars: Désirée Nosbusch, Bodo Staiger, Simone Brahmann, Jonas Vischer
Votes: 1,925
22. Der Totmacher (1995)
110 min | Crime, Drama
Fritz Haarmann, who has killed at least 27 boys, is questioned by a psychology professor in order to find out whether he is sane and can be held responsible for his crimes. During this ... See full summary »
Director: Romuald Karmakar | Stars: Götz George, Jürgen Hentsch, Pierre Franckh, Hans-Michael Rehberg
Votes: 2,349
23. Schtonk (1992)
115 min | Comedy, Crime
The slightly fictionalized story of an art forger, a journalist desperate for a big story, and the biggest press scandal in German history: the Hitler Diaries.
Director: Helmut Dietl | Stars: Götz George, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Christiane Hörbiger, Dagmar Manzel
Votes: 4,031
24. Fandango (2000)
94 min
Director: Matthias Glasner | Stars: Nicolette Krebitz, Moritz Bleibtreu, Richy Müller, Lars Rudolph
Votes: 192
25. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975)
108 min | Drama
Frau Kusters is preparing dinner late one seemingly-ordinary afternoon in her seemingly-ordinary kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany. She wants to add canned sausages to the stew; her annoying ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Stars: Brigitte Mira, Ingrid Caven, Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Böhm
Votes: 2,202
26. 08/15 - Zweiter Teil (1955)
110 min | War, Drama
Winter 1942: Like thousands of other German soldiers, Asch and Vierbein have ended up at the Eastern front.
Director: Paul May | Stars: O.E. Hasse, Rolf Kutschera, Emmerich Schrenk, Rainer Penkert
Votes: 334
27. Der Engel mit dem Saitenspiel (1944)
101 min | Romance
A man meets a girl in an Alpine Lodge and decide to make the relation permanent, but they lose each other, each thinking the other to be disloyal. When the meet again, both are engaged, to others, and she is mother of his child.
Director: Heinz Rühmann | Stars: Hertha Feiler, Hans Söhnker, Hans Nielsen, Susanne von Almassy
Votes: 91
28. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)
Not Rated | 100 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, sets off on a treacherous journey to the Kingdom of Burgundy to ask King Gunther for the hand of his sister, the beautiful Princess Kriemhild.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Theodor Loos, Gertrud Arnold
Votes: 6,561
29. Titanic (1943)
TV-PG | 85 min | Action, Drama, History
Third Reich's Nazi propaganda epic about a heroic fictional German officer on board of the RMS Titanic. On its maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable ship hits an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean and starts to go down.
Directors: Herbert Selpin, Werner Klingler | Stars: Sybille Schmitz, Hans Nielsen, Kirsten Heiberg, Ernst Fritz Fürbringer
Votes: 1,810
30. Silvester Countdown (1997)
86 min | Drama
A young Berlin couple travel to a friend's place for the celebration of Silvester and New Year's Eve. During that period, we witness today's juvenile sub-culture, especially the ways of keeping a partnership - or breaking it up in between.
Director: Oskar Roehler | Stars: RP Kahl, Marie Zielcke, Robert Viktor Minich, Juliane Werner
Votes: 145
31. U-Boote westwärts! (1941)
100 min | Drama, War
This Nazi propaganda film follows the exploits of a German submarine as it prowls the North Atlantic.
Director: Günther Rittau | Stars: Herbert Wilk, Heinz Engelmann, Joachim Brennecke, Wilhelm Borchert
Votes: 82
32. Rape on the Moor (1952)
90 min | Drama
In a small German village in the middle of large moors, there is an old legend of a young woman having sunk in the wetland after being raped by a Swedish intruder of the Thirty Years' war. ... See full summary »
Director: Hans H. König | Stars: Ruth Niehaus, Hermann Schomberg, Armin Dahlen, Gisela von Collande
Votes: 96
33. As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)
TV-G | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A German Army officer is captured by the Soviets in World War II and sent to a labor camp in Eastern Siberia. After five years of enormous hardship he escapes, commencing an incredible, arduous, danger-filled journey.
Director: Hardy Martins | Stars: Bernhard Bettermann, Iris Böhm, Anatoliy Kotenyov, Michael Mendl
Votes: 8,097
34. Du darfst nicht länger schweigen (1955)
96 min | Drama, Romance
A Nordic fishermen's village surrounded by the raging sea. This is were fisherman Haldor (Wilhelm Borchert) is living. His marriage with the proud Salvör (Heidemarie Hatheyer) is going to ... See full summary »
Director: Robert A. Stemmle | Stars: Heidemarie Hatheyer, Wilhelm Borchert, Werner Hinz, Ingrid Andree
Votes: 25
35. Auf Wiedersehn, Franziska! (1941)
89 min | Drama, Romance
Michael and Franziska's relationship suffers from the separations brought on by his photojournalism. Only after Michael's colleague lay dying in his arms does he decide to go home, but is asked by Franziska to join the war: as a soldier.
Director: Helmut Käutner | Stars: Marianne Hoppe, Hans Söhnker, Fritz Odemar, Rudolf Fernau
Votes: 107
36. Wild (I) (2016)
97 min | Drama, Mystery
An anarchist young woman breaks the tacit contract with civilization and fearlessly decides on a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net.
Director: Nicolette Krebitz | Stars: Lilith Stangenberg, Georg Friedrich, Silke Bodenbender, Saskia Rosendahl
Votes: 1,625
37. Long Hello and Short Goodbye (1999)
95 min | Thriller
When Ben is released from prison, undercover police agent Melody picks him up at the gate. Kahnitz, her sinister and ambitious boss, wants to see Ben convicted of another crime as soon as ... See full summary »
Director: Rainer Kaufmann | Stars: Nicolette Krebitz, Marc Hosemann, Sunnyi Melles, Axel Milberg
Votes: 323
38. The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929)
75 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A man climbs a 12,000-foot mountain to search for his wife, who was lost on their honeymoon. Another couple makes the dangerous climb with him.
Directors: Arnold Fanck, Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Gustav Diessl, Leni Riefenstahl, Ernst Petersen, Ernst Udet
Votes: 1,109
39. Next Year, Same Time (1967)
87 min | Drama
The advertising editor Hannes Lücke spends the Christmas holiday every year with his family in Münster. He has his new girlfriend, Inge, in a hotel waiting.
Director: Ulrich Schamoni | Stars: Ulla Jacobsson, Sabine Sinjen, Hans-Dieter Schwarze, Johannes Schaaf
Votes: 52
40. Spieler (1990)
105 min | Comedy
Director: Dominik Graf | Stars: Peter Lohmeyer, Anica Dobra, Hansa Czypionka, Adele Neuhauser
Votes: 88
41. Yella (2007)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, Horror, Romance
Yella is estranged from her possessive and violent husband; but he can't quite bring himself to give her up. When their fraught interaction finally comes to dramatic conclusion, Yella's life takes an odd shift.
Director: Christian Petzold | Stars: Nina Hoss, Devid Striesow, Hinnerk Schönemann, Burghart Klaußner
Votes: 4,283
42. Ghosts (2005)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Nina, an end-of-teenage orphan with mental problems, starts a new job as a garden cleaner when she meets Toni. They fell in love with each other, but soon Toni starts betraying Nina. In the... See full summary »
Director: Christian Petzold | Stars: Julia Hummer, Sabine Timoteo, Marianne Basler, Aurélien Recoing
Votes: 1,628
43. Anatomy (2000)
R | 103 min | Horror, Thriller
A cute med student starts a summer course at Heidelberg University. David's on her dissection table. She met him the day before on the train. Something's wrong.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Franka Potente, Benno Fürmann, Anna Loos, Sebastian Blomberg
Votes: 14,040 | Gross: $0.01M
44. Herbstmilch (1989)
111 min | Drama, War
This cinematic adaptation of the autobiography of Anna Wimschneider depicts her life's experiences and workaday routines as a woman born on a farm in lower Bavaria, Germany in the 1920s. ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Vilsmaier | Stars: Dana Vávrová, Werner Stocker, Claude-Oliver Rudolph, Eva Mattes
Votes: 477
45. The Experiment (2001)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring
Votes: 96,127 | Gross: $0.14M
46. The Endless Night (1963)
85 min | Drama
A thick fog force the travelers to persevere on the ground for many hours at Berlin-Tempelhof airport. Among them is a businessman who is facing ruin and not shy away, throwing his girlfriend to another man's neck in order to save himself.
Director: Will Tremper | Stars: Karin Hübner, Louise Martini, Harald Leipnitz, Hannelore Elsner
Votes: 290
47. Tattoo (I) (2002)
R | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Two police detectives, a grizzled veteran and one fresh-faced rookie, hunt a ritualistic serial killer murdering people with tattoos and skinning them.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: August Diehl, Christian Redl, Nadeshda Brennicke, Johan Leysen
Votes: 3,297
48. Christiane F. (1981)
R | 138 min | Biography, Drama
A teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auriga, Peggy Bussieck, Lothar Chamski
Votes: 29,460
49. Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)
R | 102 min | Drama
Set in Brooklyn during the 1950s against a backdrop of union corruption and violence. A prostitute falls in love with one of her customers. Also a disturbed man discovers that he is homosexual.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stephen Lang, Burt Young, Peter Dobson
Votes: 6,961 | Gross: $1.73M
50. Jede Menge Kohle (1981)
100 min | Comedy
Pitman Katlewski is fed up with his conventional life: a wife, small apartment, nice living room furniture - and DM 9150 in debt to pay for all of the former. One day at work, he walks ... See full summary »
Director: Adolf Winkelmann | Stars: Detlev Quandt, Uli Heucke, Hermann Lause, Martin Lüttge
Votes: 227
51. Attention, Papa Arrives! (1991)
89 min | Comedy, Family
After ordering enough typewriting paper for 40 years, just to get discount, Heinrich Lohse is forced to retire. The former manager has plenty of time now to spend with his wife and their 16... See full summary »
Directors: Vicco von Bülow, Renate Westphal-Lorenz | Stars: Evelyn Hamann, Vicco von Bülow, Irm Hermann, Hans-Peter Korff
Votes: 5,947
52. Praxis Dr. Hasenbein (1997)
94 min | Comedy
An eccentric doctor tries as best he can to lead a pleasant life, despite the bad tricks played by the residents of an orphanage.
Director: Helge Schneider | Stars: Helge Schneider, Peter Berling, Andreas Kunze, Horst Mendroch
Votes: 1,967
53. Der alte Affe Angst (2003)
92 min | Drama, Romance
Angst is the story of a sensitive stage director, Robert, and his beautiful girlfriend Marie, a doctor in a children's clinic. Their different attitudes toward life lead the two to constant... See full summary »
Director: Oskar Roehler | Stars: André Hennicke, Marie Bäumer, Vadim Glowna, Hilde Van Mieghem
Votes: 508
54. Sources of Life (2013)
174 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
This is a family story that covers 30 years in the life of the Freytag family, narrated by grandson Robert. When his grandfather returns from Russia in 1949, he becomes part of the German "... See full summary »
Director: Oskar Roehler | Stars: Jürgen Vogel, Meret Becker, Moritz Bleibtreu, Lavinia Wilson
Votes: 522
55. A Coffee in Berlin (2012)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Drama
An aimless university dropout attempts to make sense of life as he spends one fateful day wandering the streets of Berlin.
Director: Jan-Ole Gerster | Stars: Tom Schilling, Katharina Schüttler, Justus von Dohnányi, Andreas Schröders
Votes: 17,540 | Gross: $0.15M
56. Dawn (1933)
75 min | Drama, War
In 1915, Captain Liers, commander of a submarine is leaving his hometown, where he, his 2nd officer and the radio-operator, who is married there, spend their shore leave. Liers two brothers... See full summary »
Director: Gustav Ucicky | Stars: Rudolf Forster, Fritz Genschow, Adele Sandrock, Camilla Spira
Votes: 163
57. Der Postmeister (1940)
92 min | Drama
A troubled father, working as a postmaster in province, worries about his daughter taken to the capital by a rich officer.
Director: Gustav Ucicky | Stars: Heinrich George, Hilde Krahl, Siegfried Breuer, Hans Holt
Votes: 216
58. Barbara - Wild wie das Meer (1961)
96 min | Drama
Director: Frank Wisbar | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Maria Sebaldt, Carl Lange, Helmut Griem
Votes: 40
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