ESSENTIAL GERMAN FILMS

By: Kenji

_~

A simple basic list designed to cover a gap when it was made. Now we have some superb lists- see links below- by people who know their stuff

I’m including White Ribbon and The Counterfeiters, both Austrian-German films. The list includes films from both East and West Germany

Year order

Not on the site:

Heimkehr
The Rest is Silence
Sylvester (Pick)

Kings of the Road

my favourites:

Alice in the Cities
Paris Texas
Metropolis
Kings of the Road
Aguirre Wrath of God
Nosferatu
The White Ribbon
Madchen in Uniform
Pandora’s Box
People on Sunday
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Spies
M
Liebelei

Lists
Germany: 12 × 21 Films, by Grey Daisies
Apursansar’s German Film Canon
New German Cinema, by Apursansar
Weimar Cinema by Apursansar
Third Reich: 1933-1945, by Kolar

Article
Cinema of Germany, wikipedia

Suggestions welcome

• 01
  Live Sculptures
  Oskar Messter
• 02
  The Great Moment
  Urban Gad
• 03
  The Student of Prague
  Stellan Rye
• 04
  Engelein
  Urban Gad
• 05
  The Oyster Princess
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 06
  Madame DuBarry
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 07
  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
  Robert Wiene
• 08
  From Morning to Midnight
  Karl Heinz Martin
• 09
  According to Law
  Willy Grunwald
• 10
  The Golem: How He Came into the World
  Carl Boese
• 11
  Destiny
  Fritz Lang
• 12
  The Wildcat
  Ernst Lubitsch
• 13
  Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler
  Fritz Lang
• 14
  Phantom
  F.W. Murnau
• 15
  Downfall
  Ludwig Wolff
• 16
  Nosferatu
  F.W. Murnau
• 17
  The Street
  Karl Grune
• 18
  Warning Shadows: A Nocturnal Hallucination
  Arthur Robison
• 19
  Earth Spirit
  Leopold Jessner
• 20
  Siegfried
  Fritz Lang
• 21
  Kriemhild's Revenge
  Fritz Lang
• 22
  Waxworks
  Paul Leni
• 23
  The Last Laugh
  F.W. Murnau
• 24
  Symphonie diagonale
  Viking Eggeling
• 25
  The Mysteries of a Hairdresser's Shop
  Bertolt Brecht
• 26
  The Joyless Street
  Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• 27
  Our Heavenly Bodies
  Hanns Walter Kornblum
• 28
  Variety
  Ewald André Dupont
• 29
  The Adventures of Prince Achmed
  Lotte Reiniger
• 30
  The Student of Prague
  Henrik Galeen
• 31
  Faust
  F.W. Murnau
• 32
  Film Study
  Hans Richter
• 33
  Metropolis
  Fritz Lang
• 34
  Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
  Walter Ruttmann
• 35
  Pandora's Box
  Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• 36
  Spies
  Fritz Lang
• 37
  Diary of a Lost Girl
  Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• 38
  White Hell of Pitz Palu
  Arnold Fanck
• 39
  Asphalt
  Joe May
• 40
  Mother Krause's Journey to Happiness
  Phil Jutzi
• 41
  The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna
  Hanns Schwarz
• 42
  People on Sunday
  Curt Siodmak
• 43
  The Blue Angel
  Josef von Sternberg
• 44
  Mädchen in Uniform
  Leontine Sagan
• 45
  Emil and the Detectives
  Gerhard Lamprecht
• 46
  M
  Fritz Lang
• 47
  The Threepenny Opera
  Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• 48
  Comradeship
  Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• 49
  The Brothers Karamazov
  Fyodor Otsep
• 50
  The Blue Light
  Leni Riefenstahl
• 51
  Congress Dances
  Erik Charell
• 52
  Vampyr
  Carl Theodor Dreyer
• 53
  To Whom Does the World Belong?
  Slatan Dudow
• 54
  Liebelei
  Max Ophüls
• 55
  The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
  Fritz Lang
• 56
  Viktor and Viktoria
  Reinhold Schunzel
• 57
  Shock Troop
  Ludwig Schmid-Wildy
• 58
  Triumph of the Will
  Leni Riefenstahl
• 59
  Composition in Blue
  Oskar Fischinger
• 60
  The Steel Animal
  Willy Zielke
• 61
  Olympia Part One: Festival of Nations
  Leni Riefenstahl
• 62
  Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty
  Leni Riefenstahl
• 63
  Bel Ami
  Willi Forst
• 64
  The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
  Josef von Báky
• 65
  The Great Sacrifice
  Veit Harlan
• 66
  Under the Bridges
  Helmut Käutner
• 67
  The Kaiser's Lackey
  Wolfgang Staudte
• 68
  The Lost One
  Peter Lorre
• 69
  The Murderers Are Among Us
  Wolfgang Staudte
• 70
  The Hooligans
  Georg Tressler
• 71
  The Devil Strikes at Night
  Robert Siodmak
• 72
  Stars
  Konrad Wolf
• 73
  Aren't We Wonderful?
  Kurt Hoffmann
• 74
  The Bridge
  Bernhard Wicki
• 75
  The Divided Sky
  Konrad Wolf
• 76
  The Parallel Street
  Ferdinand Khittl
• 77
  The Rabbit Is Me
  Kurt Maetzig
• 78
  Not Reconciled
  Jean-Marie Straub
• 79
  Carla
  Herrmann Zschoche
• 80
  Yesterday Girl
  Alexander Kluge
• 81
  Young Törless
  Volker Schlöndorff
• 82
  The Laughing Man
  Walter Heynowski
• 83
  Unsere Afrikareise
  Peter Kubelka
• 84
  I Was Nineteen
  Konrad Wolf
• 85
  Signs of Life
  Werner Herzog
• 86
  Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach
  Danièle Huillet
• 87
  Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed
  Alexander Kluge
• 88
  Katzelmacher
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 89
  I'm an Elephant, Madame
  Peter Zadek
• 90
  Hunting Scenes from Bavaria
  Peter Fleischmann
• 91
  Fata Morgana
  Werner Herzog
• 92
  The Merchant of Four Seasons
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 93
  The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 94
  Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King
  Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
• 95
  Aguirre, the Wrath of God
  Werner Herzog
• 96
  Part-Time Work of a Domestic Slave
  Alexander Kluge
• 97
  Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 98
  Alice in the Cities
  Wim Wenders
• 99
  The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
  Werner Herzog
• 100
  Makimono
  Werner Nekes
• 101
  The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
  Werner Herzog
• 102
  The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
  Volker Schlöndorff
• 103
  Jacob the Liar
  Frank Beyer
• 104
  Kings of the Road
  Wim Wenders
• 105
  Our Hitler: A Film from Germany
  Hans-Jürgen Syberberg
• 106
  The American Friend
  Wim Wenders
• 107
  Private Party
  Frank Beyer
• 108
  Germany in Autumn
  Alf Brustellin
• 109
  The Marriage of Maria Braun
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 110
  The Tin Drum
  Volker Schlöndorff
• 111
  Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night
  Werner Herzog
• 112
  Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness
  Margarethe von Trotta
• 113
  Berlin Alexanderplatz
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 114
  Grabbe's Last Summer
  Sohrab Shahid Saless
• 115
  Christiane F.
  Uli Edel
• 116
  Germany, Pale Mother
  Helma Sanders-Brahms
• 117
  Palermo or Wolfsburg
  Werner Schroeter
• 118
  Solo Sunny
  Konrad Wolf
• 119
  Das Boot
  Wolfgang Petersen
• 120
  Mephisto
  István Szabó
• 121
  Marianne and Juliane
  Margarethe von Trotta
• 122
  Freak Orlando
  Ulrike Ottinger
• 123
  Veronika Voss
  Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• 124
  Fitzcarraldo
  Werner Herzog
• 125
  Utopia
  Sohrab Shahid Saless
• 126
  Turning Point
  Frank Beyer
• 127
  Paris, Texas
  Wim Wenders
• 128
  Class Relations
  Danièle Huillet
• 129
  Homeland: A German Chronicle
  Edgar Reitz
• 130
  Angry Harvest
  Agnieszka Holland
• 131
  Men
  Doris Dörrie
• 132
  Wings of Desire
  Wim Wenders
• 133
  Johanna d'Arc of Mongolia
  Ulrike Ottinger
• 134
  The Nasty Girl
  Michael Verhoeven
• 135
  Europa Europa
  Agnieszka Holland
• 136
  Jonas in the Desert
  Peter Sempel
• 137
  Mind the Gap
  Elfi Mikesch
• 138
  Run Lola Run
  Tom Tykwer
• 139
  No Place to Go
  Oskar Roehler
• 140
  The State I Am In
  Christian Petzold
• 141
  Passing Summer
  Angela Schanelec
• 142
  The Forest for the Trees
  Maren Ade
• 143
  Good Bye Lenin!
  Wolfgang Becker
• 144
  Head-On
  Fatih Akin
• 145
  The Edukators
  Hans Weingartner
• 146
  Windows on Monday
  Ulrich Köhler
• 147
  Nightsongs
  Romuald Karmakar
• 148
  Downfall
  Oliver Hirschbiegel
• 149
  Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
  Marc Rothemund
• 150
  The Free Will
  Matthias Glasner
• 151
  The Lives of Others
  Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
• 152
  Counterparts
  Jan Bonny
• 153
  Yella
  Christian Petzold
• 154
  Respite
  Harun Farocki
• 155
  The Counterfeiters
  Stefan Ruzowitzky
• 156
  Jerichow
  Christian Petzold
• 157
  The Woman with the 5 Elephants
  Vadim Jendreyko
• 158
  The Baader Meinhof Complex
  Uli Edel
• 159
  Materia Obscura
  Jürgen Reble
• 160
  The White Ribbon
  Michael Haneke
• 161
  Everyone Else
  Maren Ade
• 162
  In Comparison
  Harun Farocki
• 163
  Postcard to Daddy
  Michael Stock
• 164
  Pina
  Wim Wenders
• 165
  The Letter
  Doroteya Droumeva
• 166
  Stopped on Track
  Andreas Dresen