hard to argue with that
Great list. I’ve definitely only seen a small percentage of these films so thanks for the recommendations.
No Fox and his Friends? No Stroszek? Good inclusions but two huge exclusions. Both films are my favorite films from my favorite New German Cinema directors.
Don’t miss Helmut Käutner’s films, the greatest German filmmaker after Lang and Murnau. No words can do justice to Unter den brücken.
Isn’t Paris Texas considered German?
Wait, no Farocki, no Handke, no Schamoni, no Petzold, no Schanelec, no Mikesch, no Treut, no Roehler, no Ottinger, no Zadek, no Vilsmaier, no Verhoeven, no Syberberg, no Sander, no Sanders-Brahms, no Schröter, no Schlingensief, no Von Praunheim, no Thome, no Lemke, no Graf, no Akin …?
Wow, this list sucks big time!
Well you know German cinema a lot better than most of us, Syberberg and Sanders-Brahms strike me as most surprising omissions you’ve listed, most of which i’ve not seen, they are sadly overlooked elsewhere in general film circles..
Haha I sound a little bit like Dimitris, no? ;-)
The problem is, most of the “non mainstream” German cinema is almost impossible to watch in an English friendly format (apart from attending film festivals). German DVD Labels like Arthaus or Absolut Medien have a lot of the mentioned directors covered, but unfortunately they are idiots who don’t bother with any subtitles.
So little time, so much to learn, so much to see.
I miss also Rudolf Thome in this list, who is for my side one of the most important german filmmaker.
And it is quite funny fow very few documentaries are on the list. When german cinema has one strong field than it is documentary.
For example Peter Nestler who made one of the best doocumentaries I ever saw. As well Eastgermany had a very strong documentary movement.
Grey Daisies is right, most of german DVD which are released have no english subs.
Just some of the few releases of films by Thome have english, or sometimes even french subtitles.
But the biggest scandal is until now no DVD of Max Ophuls finest film LIEBELEI, the last film he made in Germany before he had to escape from germany.
Why isn’t there Syberberg’s Parsifal or Hitler: A Film from Germany? That is shameful.
Also, I don’t see much Herzog and no absolute Schroter.
Agree with Rüdiger, Liebelei is one the greatest films of all time and all countries. The comparison between German Liebelei and French version Une histoire d’amour is fascinanting (you can find some pictures in Cine-Clasico.com)
I’m a bit with Gray Daisies and Rüdiger on this one, though I think the list is quite good. 100 films is a very limited number, and like AFI’s Top 100 there should be a lot of discussion. The problem is probably naming the list 100 most SIGNIFICANT German films. That sounds very arrogant.
A list I would personally enjoy would have some other films by some directors already mentioned, and of course the inclusion of Thome, Schanelec, Farocki, Graf, Schlingensief and Zadek, among others. But 100 really is a very limited number, and I really think the list is good.
Why doesn’t “I WAS NINETEEN” by Konrad Wolf have a profile on The Auteurs? That’s just ridiculous. It’s one of the defining pieces of cinema in my life.
no “Triumph of the Will”?
no “Jew Suss”?
“no Verhoeven”
Grey is right but i thought Verhoeven was Dutch? ;)
↑ no he isn’t.
I wish I could edit my original post, it should read Schroeter of course, argh..
“no “Triumph of the Will”?
no “Jew Suss”?”
are you kidding?
“Olympia” is beautiful(but horrifying), triumph of the will is disgusting junk. oh, and btw: oskar roehler sucks. he just made a feature film, about “Jud Süss” which is the worst trash to come out of german mainstream cinema in years. “Jud Süss” is absolutely out of discussion.just to compare: you wouldn’t grace a film made by the ministry of apartheid as one of the most significant to come out of south africa right?
i mean, it’s not a movie. it’s just a row of antisemitic stereotypes.
agree on “Ich war Neunzehn”, imo one of the 10 best german films ever made.
aaaaaaaaa, Michael Verhoeven, sorry Grey, you have to specify you know ;)
certainly a list to be explored and investigated !
Maybe not the most appropriate thread to throw that but a few years ago I read a book on New German Cinema and one of the names discussed was Vlado Kristl, of particular interest to me is his ‘’The Letter’‘, at least the way its Kafkaesque plot was presented in the book, however, he seems to be a rather obscure name, and ’’The Letter’’ I guess impossible to find outside Germany…
Vlado Kristl is a very underrated director, and virtually unknown unfortunately (even in Germany)… I’ve seen only a handful of his films (he has made around 100 films!) but you’re right – they are very hard to find. I should submit more films to the mubi database.
There’s a really great book available about his work (in German) entitled Vlado Kristl. Die Zerstörung der Systeme by Christian Schulte.
kevin hackney
This been out for awhile maybe some of you already seen this compiled by film historian and critics from
Germany publish in a Geman film magazine.
The 100 Most Significant German Films
Emil und die Detektive by Gerhard Lamprecht
Kaninchen bin ich, Das by Kurt Maetzig
Asphalt by Joe May
Mephisto by István Szabó
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The / Muenchhausen by Josef von Baky
Adventures of Prince Achmed, The / Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed, Die by Lotte Reiniger
Aguirre, The Wrath of God / Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes by Werner Herzog
Alice in the Cities / Alice in den Staedten by Wim Wenders
American Friend, The / amerikanische Freund, Der by Wim Wenders
Aren’t We Wonderful? / Wir Wunderkinder by Kurt Hoffmann
Artists Under The Big Top: Perplexed, The / Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: ratlos, Die by Alexander Kluge
Ballad of Berlin, The / Berliner Ballade by Robert A. Stemmle
Berlin – Alexanderplatz by Piel Jutzi
Berlin – Schoenhauser Corner / Berlin – Ecke Schoenhauser by Gerhard Klein
Berlin Alexanderplatz (14 Parts) / Berlin Alexanderplatz (14 Teile) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Berlin, Symphony of a City / Berlin. Die Sinfonie der Grossstadt by Walther Ruttmann
Biographies – The Story of the Children of Golzow / Lebenslaeufe by Winfried Junge, Barbara Junge
Blue Angel, The / Blaue Engel, Der by Josef von Sternberg
Boat, The / Boot, Das by Wolfgang Petersen
Bridge, The / Bruecke, Die by Bernhard Wicki
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The / Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Das by Robert Wiene
Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach / Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach by Jean-Marie Straub
Comradeship / Kameradschaft by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Congress Dances / Kongress tanzt, Der by Eric Charell
Death is My Trade / Aus einem deutschen Leben by Theodor Kotulla
Destiny / muede Tod, Der by Fritz Lang
Devil Strikes at Night, The / Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam by Robert Siodmak
Diary of a Lost Girl / Tagebuch einer Verlorenen by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Divided Sky, The / geteilte Himmel, Der by Konrad Wolf
Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler: Inferno, Men Of Our Time (Part 2) / Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler: Inferno, Ein Spiel von Menschen unserer Zeit (Teil 2) by Fritz Lang
Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler: The Great Gambler, A Picture Of Our Time (Part 1) / Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler: Der grosse Spieler, Ein Bild der Zeit (Teil 1) by Fritz Lang
Effi Briest / Fontane Effi Briest by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The: Every Man for Himself and God Against All / Jeder fuer sich und Gott gegen alle by Werner Herzog
Faust – A German Folk-Tale by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Fears Eats the Soul / Angst essen Seele auf by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Germany in Autumn / Deutschland im Herbst by Alexander Kluge, Edgar Reitz, Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, Volker Schloendorff, Alf Brustellin, Bernhard Sinkel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Maximiliane Mainka, Peter Schubert, Hans Peter Cloos, Katja Rupé
Germany Year Zero / Deutschland im Jahre Null by Roberto Rossellini
Girl Rosemarie, The / Maedchen Rosemarie, Das (1958) by Rolf Thiele
Girls in Uniform / Maedchen in Uniform by Leontine Sagan
Golem, The / Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, Der by Paul Wegener
Great Freedom No. 7 / Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7 by Helmut Kaeutner
Heimat by Edgar Reitz
Heimat II / Zweite Heimat, Die by Edgar Reitz, Robert Busch
Hooligans, The / Halbstarken, Die by Georg Tressler
Hunting Scenes from Bavaria / Jagdszenen aus Niederbayern by Peter Fleischmann
I Was Nineteen / Ich war 19 by Konrad Wolf
Jakob The Liar / Jakob, der Luegner by Frank Beyer
Kaiser’s Lackey, The / Untertan, Der by Wolfgang Staudte
Katzelmacher by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Kings of the Road / Im Lauf der Zeit by Wim Wenders
Last Laugh, The / letzte Mann, Der by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Legend of Paul and Paula, The / Legende von Paul und Paula, Die by Heiner Carow
Liebelei by Max Ophuels
Lola Montez by Max Ophuels
Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, The / verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum, Die by Volker Schloendorff, Margarethe von Trotta
Lost One, The / Verlorene, Der by Peter Lorre
M – A Town Is Looking For A Murderer / M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Moerder by Fritz Lang
Marianne and Juliane / Die Bleierne Zeit by Margarethe von Trotta
Marriage in the Shadows / Ehe im Schatten by Kurt Maetzig
Marriage of Maria Braun, The / Ehe der Maria Braun, Die by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Merchant of Four Seasons, The / Haendler der vier Jahreszeiten, Der by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Metropolis by Fritz Lang
Mother Krausen Goes to Heaven / Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glueck by Piel Jutzi
Murderers Are Among Us, The / Moerder sind unter uns, Die by Wolfgang Staudte
Mysteries of a Hairdresser’s Shop, The / Mysterien eines Frisiersalons, Die
Nosferatu by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Not Reconciled or Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules / Nicht versoehnt oder Es hilft nur Gewalt, wo Gewalt herrscht by Jean-Marie Straub
Olympia I + II by Leni Riefenstahl
Pandora’s Box / Buechse der Pandora, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Passion / Madame Dubarry by Ernst Lubitsch
People On Sunday / Menschen am Sonntag by Robert Siodmak
Prozess, Der by Eberhard Fechner
Romance in a Minor Key / Romanze in Moll by Helmut Kaeutner
Roses for the Prosecutor / Rosen fuer den Staatsanwalt by Wolfgang Staudte
Rotation by Wolfgang Staudte
Seven Journeys / In jenen Tagen by Helmut Kaeutner
Solo Sunny by Konrad Wolf
Stars / Sterne by Konrad Wolf
Street of Sorrow, The / freudlose Gasse, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Street, The / Strasse, Die by Karl Grune
Student of Prague, The / Student von Prag, Der by Stellan Rye
Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The / Testament des Dr. Mabuse, Das by Fritz Lang
Three From the Filling Station / Drei von der Tankstelle, Die by Wilhelm Thiele
Threepenny Opera, The / Dreigroschenoper, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Tin Drum, The / Blechtrommel, Die by Volker Schloendorff
To Whom Does The World Belong? / Kuhle Wampe by Slatan Dudow
Traces of Stones / Spur der Steine by Frank Beyer
Under The Bridges / Unter den Bruecken by Helmut Kaeutner
Vampire, The / Vampyr by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Varieté by Ewald André Dupont
VIktor and Viktoria / Viktor und Viktoria by Reinhold Schuenzel
Waxworks / Das Wachsfigurenkabinett by Paul Leni
Western Front 1918, The / Westfront 1918 by Georg Wilhelm Pabst
White Hell of Pitz Palu, The / weisse Hoelle vom Piz Palue, Die by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Arnold Fanck
Wings of Desire / Himmel ueber Berlin, Der by Wim Wenders
Wintergartenprogramm by Max Skladanowsky
Yesterday Girl / Abschied von Gestern by Alexander Kluge
Young Toerless / junge Toerless, Der by Volker Schloendorff