FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Christian Petzold - Yella 

Yella (Nina Hoss) is a reserved young woman, whose depth, whose intelligence no one has ever really sensed. But we know there is passion and the willingness to commit crime. Deep inside Yella. When all this breaks out, the thriller begins. Right at the beginning, Yella is pursued by her husband in the street. He's supposed to stalk her throughout the film. Only to escape him, Yella leaves her home in the so-called new federal states, the former territory of the GDR. She moves to the west to Hannover. Yella's mistake: Her husband gets to accompany her to the train station and that's how he finds out where she's going. It is a dangerous man who tries to kill them both. But Yella has courage, escapes and flees to the station. In Hannover Yella discovers the world of business. The man who hired her is himself locked out of his office and fired. She meets Philipp (Devid Striesow) in the hotel lobby and he asks Yella if she likes spreadsheets. Yes. Yella is an accountant. He teaches her the job of bending over close to the client, murmuring something in his ear. But Yella actually studies the spreadsheets. She points out deceptions and false values. Finally, she discovers that Philip is a fraud. Yella doesn't mind, but penetrates deeper into the business of the financial industry. (My friend Philip, who works there, confirms to me that everything in Yella is real). Yella seems ready for a career. But then there is her ex-husband Ben (Hinnerk Schoenemann). Of course he followed her. Sometimes Yella has such a noise in her head. Her ears are ringing, she hears the cry of a bird. Intuitively. They are inexplicable things, which are never explained. Because Christian Petzold never shows more than necessary. Instead, we must read Yella's mind. When she looks at Philip, she smiles almost imperceptibly. Then we see gloomy trees moving in the wind again. We hear the cries of birds. In the foreground, the business deals of the financial world. Philipp tests Yella, bequeathing her 25,000 euros too much. Will she pocket the money? Yes. Yella steals. She passed the test. It's also scary that she's attracted to a certain type of man, because Jørgen looks almost exactly like Ben. Both are ruthless and effective. But the cardinal question I get from a lot of our video store customers is: Did we just watch a horror movie without realizing it? (It was my colleague Thomas Groh who told me that Yella was an unofficial remake of "Carnival Of Souls").

My 80s Feelgood Movies 

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Romantic Comedy: Peter Weir - Green Card 

In romantic comedies such as Hollywood, the lovers must collide as unusually as possible. For example, both are loaded with Christmas parcels and collide outside the shopping mall, so that all parcels fly in a jumble. Afterwards they get into conversation... Green Card makes fun of such formulas and uses them as an alibi. The truth is, a Frenchman here is marrying an American woman to get a green card. Officially, however, both explain their story with the Christmas packages as the reason why they are married. Frenchman Georges is played by Gerard Depardieu. He needs a work permit. The American woman Bronte, this is Andie McDowell. She wants to move into a luxury apartment with a roof garden, but this is only rented to married couples. But since the immigration authorities are finding out about them, they both have to live together for a few days, study the "partner's" habits and compare their stories. A film like Green Card can now deliver on two promises: Either the formulas of romantic comedy are preserved or destroyed. Director Peter Weir decides to preserve old principles: At first, the pair is very different, even opposite. Then they make enemies and finally they fall in love. And that's not all: they deny themselves, split up and... We know all the steps, but Weir has added some nice moments and of course the charming characters themselves. Gerard Depardieu was undoubtedly France's biggest star in the early 90s: Bulky, shaggy and rather deranged. He succeeded in each of his roles with effortless charm and it was always so that one could no longer imagine another actor in this role. Green Card was even written by Weir on Depardieus' body with influences from his biography. It's hardly surprising that someone like Georges, aka Depardieu Bronte. She is an ethereal beauty, self-confident and intelligent. But would such a woman marry a stranger just to get an apartment? Green Card argues: That's a possibility in Manhattan. I'm willing to swallow that, although I think the plot has yet to be explained. Green Card works very well with the two actors and the right shooting in a lot of scenes. The passage in which Georges unexpectedly meets Bronte's parents, for example, ignores the standards that Hollywood would now play out: there is no great scandal, Georges and the "in-laws" get along wonderfully. Bronte's father sees through the situation immediately and uses it to test George's character. I also liked the scene where Georges was introduced to Bronte's friends at a party. Of course they are snobbish and of course Georges, after he was introduced as a composer, has to play something on the piano. But what follows is the best scene in the movie! Green Card runs like clockwork and is brilliant in some places. But best of all: Green Card is not part of the Romantic Comedies canon and can still be discovered!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Richard Linklater - Surburbia 

"Don't tell us about private property--this is America!''; one of them yells at the couple from Pakistan who run the shop. Maybe they find it business damaging when the same "slackers" hang out with them every day and drink half a dozen beers? Because the life of the "slackers" stands still. There is no idea for the future. That's why they sit in the Mini Mart. Waiting becomes the principle of life. Richard Linklater gave this generation a name with his debut "Slacker". He hit the right note in "Dazed And Confused" (although it plays in the 70s). In Surburbia he now expresses the desperation of this waiting for Godot. Suburbia is a dark and disturbing movie (that's why it's so hard to get, I think). Everything takes place during one night in the parking lot. One of the group of losers made it. That night he will "return". His name is Pony (Jayce Bartok). The last time they saw each other he was still the geek who played folk songs. Now suddenly he is surprisingly a rock star and has promised to stop by after the concert with his old friends. Friends? The leader of the "Slackers" is Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi). A sardonic, intelligent guy. He lives in his parents' garage. Jeff left with Sooze (Amie Carey), but that should be over soon. Sooze will move to New York and attend an art school. The fact that she has plans is considered a crime in Jeff's world. Sooze's friends will stay in the parking lot. Tim (Nicky Katt), an alcoholic. Bee-Bee (Dana Spybey), who just got out of rehab. And Buff (Steve tooth), the loser. They sit on a bar and sometimes have word fights with the Pakistani, who in turn represent classic American values. In the parking lot there is nothing to do. Except speeches. With a dramatic flair. Their suburb is called Burnfield, which fits quite well. Then comes Pony. Contrary to our assumption he is a nice guy who is now successful. A decent guy who just wants to hang out with his old friends. But his chances to be one of them are immediately spoiled by Pony's limousine. This challenges Jeff with his inferiority complex. "It's just airport, hotel, show, airport, hotel..." The poor rock stars. Whether he still lives with his parents, asks Jeff of all people. Like Linklater's first three films, the plot takes place over a period of about 24 hours. The plot? The non-action, because the characters are in a kind of waiting loop. Linklater examines the waiting. Life without a goal. And waiting can make you pretty mean. P.S. a nice 90s soundtrack underlines the sense of time: Sonic Youth, Stephen Malkmus & Elastica, Girls Against Boys, Beck, U.N.K.L.E., Boss Hog, Skinny Puppy, Superchunk...

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Zulawski - La Femme Publique (engl. subt.) 

When I founded our video store, Zulawski was basically still an insider tip. You could only tell by how difficult his work was to access on DVD. Fortunately, that is different today. All of his films can be found next to each other on our authors' shelves. After all, this Polish intellectual is practically unsurpassed in his very own way of making cinema! Zulawski was Andrzej-Wajda's assistant director during the 60s until he made his debut in 1971 with his first feature film. His films never take place in our reality, rather they seem like feverish nightmares! His films are always personal, violently symbolic and sensitive. Dreams, visions or reality - it is difficult to keep all that apart. From the beginning Zulawski was controversial in Poland. Eventually he was thrown out of the country - because in atheistic communist Poland Zulawski was much too catholic and mythical! Zulawski always elicits tremendous performances from his actors. He is particularly fascinated by women, whom he perceives as more sensual and mystical than men. Zulawski, a woman director! La Femme Publique is about an outrageously beautiful woman from Paris named Ethel (Valérie Kaprisky). Her father is always drunk, her mother depressed. She avoids contact with both of them. Ethel builds a modest life for herself. Naked, she interprets dances for a taciturn photographer. This seems scary, but not sexy. But Ethel hopes for more from life and auditions for a Dostoyevsky adaptation. The story of self-discovery - but since we are in a Zulawski film, bombs explode and sometimes people are pushed through panes of glass. A fight for passion and life and death - not just acting. We admire Ethel, because she finds a way to survive, learn and express herself. Is there a difference between a life to the fullest and a role to the fullest? No. Not with Zulawski.

My 00s Feelgood Movies 

During the 00s we looked back wistfully to the 90s in Berlin (while today we look back wistfully to the 00s). Where were the techno bunkers that could only be found if you were a party archaeologist and went deep enough down into the city's catacombs? Instead there were beach bars and open air festivals in the surrounding area. And there was the very first film art bar Fitzcarraldo. We simply called it film art. I rented 71 square meters in Revaler Strasse 8, in Friedrichshain 10245. With a view of the industrial wasteland of the RAW area. South side. Always sunny. While I was renovating the store, a wish box was already hanging outside in the shop window. Which DVDs should we buy? You, the customers, write a lot of titles on slips of paper, which I hung in the shop window. "Have we already" or "Are we still buying" or "Absolutely not"! And while we were renovating, they screwed a kilometer up the Spree on a kind of wagon barge called Bar 25. Even with simple tools. Soon we were to open our open air cinema there (initiated by my partner Skulli) - but in month 1 we were allowed to make experiences with dunning customers: When the DVDs are left in the beach bar, somewhere in the caravan... All this was accompanied by films, which are summarized here in the list. Such films that give you a pleasant feeling, which is guaranteed to last an hour after the end credits! Guaranteed. 

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Say Anything 

The first time Lloyd Dobler calls Diane Court, he stands in front of the mirror, strokes his hair and tries to make the best impression. Her father answers; Lloyd stammers down his text (the father is already used to such calls). But a little unusual is Lloyd's call:'She's pretty great, isn't she?''''What?''. An important motive in Cameron Crowes Say Anything is that of honesty. Maybe in a worse movie, Diane would have answered the phone directly. Crowe, however, introduces her father first. Diane lives with him since the divorce and promises his daughter she can tell him anything. Lloyds Karrie intentions are quite childish: he wants to become a professional kickboxer. But that's just vague. No university education is planned at Lloyd, his life planning seems to correspond to that of a failure. Diane, on the other hand, is planning to study in London. She is beautiful and the best of her high school year - the joy of her father, who runs an old people's home and puts everything on her daughter. Diane doesn't date often because she intimidates the other students. After Lloyd confessed to his best friend Corey (Lili Taylor) who he's after, her answer sounds simple: ''She's too smart for you.'' Diane seldom laughs; she misses high school jokes in her life. That's probably why she agrees after Lloyd asks her to come to a party with him. Although she initially reacts reluctantly, Lloyd finally manages to get Diane to love him: ''He made me laugh.'', Diane argues to her little enthusiastic father. In Mr. Court's eyes, Lloyd's biggest problem is his lack of career planning. He only knows what he doesn't want:'I don't want to buy anything, sell anything, or process anything as a career.'' Most of us watch teenage romances because we want to identify with the lovers. Most of the time this doesn't work so well, because films rarely play in life. Say Anything is real, Cameron Crowe has the gift to project her own desires and memories from her teenage years onto the screen. It is a bit surprising that only the following directors of the Slacker generation claimed exactly that for themselves! Crowe's romance is very gentle and tactful with her characters, especially John Cusack's face stands for the value that is most important to Say Anything: sincerity. If Diane's father is her confidant, Lily Taylor acts as Corey in this role for Lloyd. Corey has already composed over 60 angry songs about her ex - and perhaps for this reason cannot understand the true love of Lloyd and Diane. Diane's separation makes John Cusack feel to us through his play. It is the burning intensity of young love, the will to do the right thing and stay true to yourself that makes Say Anything so great. Cameron Crowe's movie can still dream!