Best Movies Directed By German Directors
by thomas-sawicki | created - 09 Dec 2021 | updated - 09 Dec 2021 | PublicA List of my favourite german movies directed by german directors
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1. 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: 17,524 | Gross: $0.15M
2. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 410,403 | Gross: $11.29M
3. Wings of Desire (1987)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois
Votes: 76,988 | Gross: $3.33M
4. Berlin Blues (2003)
105 min | Comedy, Drama
Barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called "Herr Lehmann", is part of a lethargic West Berlin-microcosm. His lifestyle is disturbed when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with his girlfriend and his best friend acts strange.
Director: Leander Haußmann | Stars: Christian Ulmen, Katja Danowski, Detlev Buck, Janek Rieke
Votes: 7,630
5. The Captain (2017)
118 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In the last moments of World War II, a young German soldier fighting for survival finds a Nazi captain's uniform. Impersonating an officer, the man quickly takes on the monstrous identity of the perpetrators he's escaping from.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Max Hubacher, Alexander Fehling, Sebastian Rudolph, Max Thommes
Votes: 21,569 | Gross: $0.11M
6. Amour (2012)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama
Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud
Votes: 105,675 | Gross: $6.74M
7. Never Look Away (2018)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
German artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR-regime.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl
Votes: 25,335 | Gross: $1.30M
8. Balloon (2018)
PG-13 | 125 min | Drama, History, Thriller
East Germany, 1979. After initially failing to flee from the East to the West in a self-built hot-air balloon, two families struggle to make a second attempt, while the East German State Police are chasing them.
Director: Michael Herbig | Stars: Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, David Kross, Alicia von Rittberg
Votes: 13,319 | Gross: $0.01M
9. The Silent Revolution (2018)
PG | 111 min | Drama, History
A group of twelfth-grade pupils in East Germany decide to show their solidarity with the victims of the 1956 Hungarian uprising by staging two minutes of silence during lessons.
Director: Lars Kraume | Stars: Leonard Scheicher, Tom Gramenz, Lena Klenke, Isaiah Michalski
Votes: 6,012
10. Soul Kitchen (2009)
99 min | Comedy, Drama
In Hamburg, German-Greek chef Zinos unknowingly disturbs the peace in his locals-only restaurant by hiring a more talented chef.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, Pheline Roggan, Anna Bederke
Votes: 40,429 | Gross: $0.27M
11. In the Fade (2017)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Katja's life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Numan Acar, Adam Bousdoukos, Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto
Votes: 35,626 | Gross: $0.32M
12. Head-On (2004)
R | 121 min | Drama, Romance
With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli, Güven Kiraç, Zarah Jane McKenzie
Votes: 57,657
13. The Edge of Heaven (2007)
Not Rated | 122 min | Drama
A Turkish man travels to Istanbul to find the daughter of his father's former girlfriend.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Baki Davrak, Gürsoy Gemec, Cengiz Daner, Tuncel Kurtiz
Votes: 33,515 | Gross: $0.74M
14. Goodbye Berlin (2016)
93 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Two young teenage boys steal a car and embark on a road trip that will probably change their lives.
Director: Fatih Akin | Stars: Tristan Göbel, Aniya Wendel, Justina Humpf, Paul Busche
Votes: 11,025
15. Labyrinth of Lies (2014)
R | 124 min | Drama, History
A story that exposes the conspiracy of prominent German institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during World War II.
Director: Giulio Ricciarelli | Stars: André Szymanski, Alexander Fehling, Friederike Becht, Johannes Krisch
Votes: 13,992 | Gross: $0.79M
16. Berlin Calling (2008)
109 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A man tours clubs around the globe with his manager and girlfriend. On the eve of their largest album release he is admitted to a psychiatric clinic after overdosing at a gig.
Director: Hannes Stöhr | Stars: Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch, Araba Walton
Votes: 15,204
17. Before the Fall (2004)
110 min | Drama, Sport, Thriller
Friedrich's boxing skills gets him in an elite Nazi high school in a castle in 1942. He enrolls against his dad's wish as it promises a brighter future. It's not what he expected.
Director: Dennis Gansel | Stars: Max Riemelt, Tom Schilling, Devid Striesow, Jonas Jägermeyr
Votes: 17,125 | Gross: $0.14M
18. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 152,621 | Gross: $4.06M
19. When We Leave (2010)
Unrated | 119 min | Drama
Umay is a young woman of Turkish descent, fighting for an independent and self-determined life in Germany against her family's resistance. Her struggle initiates a dynamic that results in a life-threatening situation.
Director: Feo Aladag | Stars: Sibel Kekilli, Nizam Schiller, Derya Alabora, Settar Tanriögen
Votes: 5,562 | Gross: $0.02M
20. The Wave (2008)
Not Rated | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
A high school teacher's experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own.
Director: Dennis Gansel | Stars: Jürgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich
Votes: 115,090
21. Paris, Texas (1984)
R | 145 min | Drama
Travis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Sam Berry
Votes: 118,860 | Gross: $2.18M
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