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Reviews
Death Train (2003)
Yawn
A waste of time indeed, terribly bad villains, people get shot and no blood flows. Ryan walks over the train and only one passenger hears him. A thin wooden bar offers enough protection against a machine gun. A pregnant woman, a priest,always good for the sake of emotion. By the end another big goof with the train on the bridge, with the imminent collision: Weaver is lying on an open train wagon at about the end of the train, then the train is filmed with only closed wagons but when the train collides, the first wagon is open again. For the rest, not even worth mentioning, it's more exciting to play a shoot-em-up computer game.
Polizeiruf 110: Thanners neuer Job (1991)
A sad fate for Fuchs
It's after 'Die Wende' the DDR no longer exists, the old Polizeiruf team is being joined by BRD's / Tatort's Thanner. Neonazism is growing in a time when economical crisis and unemployment are becoming mayor issues. When a bank is robbed Hauptmann Fuchs volunteers for being a hostage but finally is abused and mocked by his hostagetakers. The old ways of the 'Volkspolizei' are only a laugh for the Neonazis and respect is the last thing Fuchs gets. The demise of the police career of Fuchs is a sad and nasty one and one of the worst things about it is that his fellow policemen just don't know how to deal with the old Fuchs who can only admit that this time he was really scared.
Pervola, sporen in de sneeuw (1985)
Battle of characters
Very odd movie, 2 brothers, Hein, a dominant successful businessman, and Simon, an artist, sensitive and gay, find out their father died and wants to be buried in Pervola in Norway. The take a ship to Norway and from their with their guide Aapo over land through the snow. It's interesting to see the gradual change in character where in the end Simon ends up being the stronger one. The barren climate and the traveling together in the snow makes the scenes extra intimate. Hein beating Aapo and throwing Simon out doesn't get much sympathy but later on it's not all that black and white. Trivia: The boat journey was filmed on the ramship "de buffel" which can be found in Rotterdam in the maritime museum.
Kaos (1984)
Makes you want to hold your breath
Which, unfortunately is impossible for three hours. I've seen it two times in the cinema. The characters are so good, and are given all the time and space to develop starting with MariaGrazia. I really can't think of a movie that's made with more love and dedication. La Giara is a rare but welcome break and watch how Franchi and Ingrassia interact, watch the beauty of baby Bata's eyes in Mal di Luna. Just find out all those details and you won't be disappointed. Having seen Italy after watching KAOS was a feast of recognition, it's really like that, the villages where time stands still, the people, go and see it and you won't be disappointed.
Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
A true goodbye
The idea is already original, the mother of Alex regains consciousness after "die Wende" in 1989 but the doctors say any shock can harm her. So the children create a fake world in her bedroom. Meanwhile they are busy finding tin cans, and other original food packages from the DDR, make their own newsflashes where a real hilarious one is where they claim Coca Cola is a DDR invention, while being harassed by security guards the reporter says hey, you're hindering the free DDR-press.
For dramatic reasons, Lenin has a very special role in the movie, but the locations are quite well chosen, still Eastern European, but slowly becoming the West. And what's never revealed is whether Alex's mother knows what Alex does for her. Her expression seems to say yes but that, as another charm of the movie, is never revealed.
Before seeing it, take a look at some nostalgic, or Ost-algic websites to get to know the "Sandmannchen" etc. and watching it will be a lot more rewarding.