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Das Sonntagskind (1956)
The tailor Wibbel,
played by Heinz Rühmann, tries to make life for him and his wife as good as it is possible during the time of Allied occupation in post-war Germany. He makes friends with a Scots soldier, Walter Giller, and is caught wearing his friend's uniform, which earns him some 30 days of jail. Of course now, he has not the slightest intention to go there ...
"Das Sonntagskind" is a comedy that represents the "small man"- not, like more "sophisticated" movies would do, as a mean-spirited "Mitläufer", but as someone, who has just survived the war- and is now eager, to get likewise through "peace". This is not a film, which advocates of "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" will like. But it is a film for people who whistle "Lust for Life" under the shower ... and who want to hear, how Wibbel demonstrates his American-ness: "Well, well ... mehr so ... Bierbrauer."
Novecento (1976)
The magic of acting
The magic of acting is, I would say, to make the viewer forget that he is a thinking being and swallow the crap. And if that is the magic of acting, this one is the Dumbledore of film history. The actors, the scenes, just everything is so brilliant that you need quite a time to realise that a political message is hammered into your head. This movie is about a society, in which the master's power is a total on to use his "slaves"- and to abuse them (Lancaster in the stable). When the "slaves" discover socialism, the masters invent fascism as antidote and hire the worst of society to bring the "slaves" back in line. (This is Donald Sutherland's part, and probably his greatest performance- he is the only fascist in town, and at the same time a child violator and murderer.) This movie is a marxist propaganda film (on one occasion Depardieu speeks directly into a camera and accuses the masters pretty much of what I wrote earlier), which, of course, doesn't make it a bad movie, as long as you are alert. (Or as long as you are a marxist yourself.) But give it a try anyway, Sutherland's big bad wolf is worth it.
Dellamorte dellamore (1994)
You couldn't expect more
First of all this isn't a horror movie. I would define horror as an unexpected, strange and (most certain)enemy attack on a normal, even idyllic situation, but in "Dellamorte" Francesco knows about what's going on on his cemetery, it's his daily routine and the people around the cemetery seem to be at least as haunting and dangerous as the living dead, not at least Francesco himself.
It isn't really a horror movie, but you can expect a LOT of violence and naked skin, too. After all, it's still an Italian one, isn't it? It's the best example of an ambitious movie, that manages not to be boring, yet.
Night on Earth (1991)
Give it a try
When I first heard about "Night on Earth" I thought it was one of the typical award-winning Arthaus- movies your girlfriend forces you to watch. I mean, 120 minutes watching people in taxis? But it was really entertaining, especially the scenes with Roberto Benigni and Armin Mueller-Stahl. I could Benigni watch for the whole 120 minutes talking to himself. (Talking? Singing, screaming, yelling, poking fun, ... and his interlocutor, the deserted, silent, dark, somewhat morbid streets of a beautiful Roman night) So, if your an Arthaus-sceptic like me, give this one a try. Buy the DVD and, if your girlfriend wants you to watch anything that sounds boring, suggest that one in response, you'll not be disappointed.
The Life of David Gale (2003)
At least dubious
First of all, this film is thrilling and exciting, the actors are good and so on and the outcome is a real surprise, there are plenty of touching scenes, even haunting, when you see her choke. But, about half an hour of depression after the last pictures, you start to think, and you start to wonder what this is all about. Was it an anti-death-penalty movie? Or wasn't it rather a movie against the "deathwatch"-activists? The problem is that the filmmakers don't seem to realise that what their heroes do proves nothing- they found David Gale guilty because every indication pointed at him. They found his semen, and they found her, cruelly killed- by her own hand, but without a death note, naked, with a method nobody would use to commit suicide. If you want to make an anti-death-penalty movie you shouldn't let your heroes be a punch of pranksters, but anyway, it's well played, well produced. If you don't believe it, you might enjoy it.
Dead Men Don't Die (1990)
Hoodoo trouble
During the first minutes you think that this movie is terrible, and Gould must have gotten himself into something really bad- but from the moment on he becomes a zombie it's certainly one of the funniest flicks in history, IMHO. I would give him a 7 to 8 out of 10, but it's impossible to rate such a film with anything else than "awful" or "excellent". You will hate it, if you expect blood and gore. You will hate it, if you expect realism or a reasonable storyline. You will hate it, if you hate Voodoo/hoodoo-clichés or Eliott Gould stumbling around and uttering silly sounds.
But if you don't hate it, you'll love it. Just as I do.