Phoenix (2014)

 

A disfigured Holocaust survivor sets out to determine if the man she loved betrayed her trust.

Intelligently plotted Vertigo-like post-war melodrama with excellent period detail and good cast explores on several levels the effects of Nazism and the war on German society.

Barbara (2012)

 

A doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital.

Finely directed character study draws a well-observed, realistic depiction of Eat German society and life in the 1980s, a somber melodrama with a touching ending; Nina Hoss is fully convincing in the title role as a woman trapped in the restrictions, but also silently fighting against them.

Maltin***: "Quietly absorbing story...Not every questioned is answered in Petzold's intriguing character study, which also evokes the oppressive atmosphere of life under the watchful eye of the secret police at that time." 

Jerichow (2008)

 

Trouble brews when a war veteran has an affair with a married woman.

Interesting variation of the The Postman Always Rings Twice story brings the tragedy realistically into a modern-day German setting, is suspenseful with a good cast, and comes up with its own new kind of twist) ending. 

 

Yella (2007)

 

Yella is estranged from her possessive and violent husband; but he can't quite bring himself to give her up. When their fraught interaction finally comes to dramatic conclusion, Yella's life takes an odd shift.

Coolly atmospheric reimagination of Carnival of Souls in a contemporary German setting shifts its focus onto a world of surreal business dealings and ambiguous personal relationships; Nina Hoss is excellent in the title role as a woman torn between escape and new entanglements.

Maltin***: "Cryptic account...Remake of CARNIVAL OF SOULS is effective as a psychological study and an acute reflection of contemporary business practices." 

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror.

Chilly adaptation of a  John le Carré spy thriller emphasizes the political implications, competently made with a top-notch cast.

Gold (2013)

In the summer of 1898, a small group of German compatriots head into the hostile northern interior of British Columbia in search for gold at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Despite competent direction, great landscape photography and a good cast, this is a heavy-handed, humourless Germanic attempt to emulate Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (complete with a copycat soundtrack of Neil Young's score for that movie).