The story of a journalistic imposter, the continuation of an animal adventure, a moving anti-war film and eight times Anke Engelke: the films of the week.
Michael “Bully” Herbig on a counterfeiting scandal
Berlin – When the “Spiegel” published a forgery scandal in its own ranks almost four years ago, the news went around the world. Director Michael “Bully” Herbig was inspired by the case for his new film. For “A Thousand Lines” he used the book by the reporter Juan Moreno, who uncovered the story at the time, as a guide. In Herbig’s version, Elyas M’Barek plays a journalist named Juan Romero who exposes the lies of his colleague Lars Bogenius (Jonas Nay).
A thousand lines, Germany 2022, 93 min., FSK from the age of 12, by Michael “Bully” Herbig, with Elyas M’Barek, Jonas Nay, Marie Burchard, Michael Ostrowski and Jörg Hartmann
“The School of Magical Animals 2”: The adventure continues
Hamburg (dpa) – With 1.7 million visitors, “The School of Magical Animals” was the most successful German cinema film last year. Now the sequel to the fairytale family film based on the children’s and youth book series by Margit Auer is coming to the big screen. This time, Miss Cornfield’s (Nadja Uhl) class is planning the performance of a musical for the 250th anniversary of the Winterstein School. But numerous challenges put class cohesion to the test. With the help of the magical animals, the children learn what really matters: teamwork. There are again Ida (Emilia Maier), Jo (Loris Sichrovsky), Milan Peschel as Mortimer Morrison and Justus von Dohnányi as the headmaster.
The School of Magical Animals 2, Germany 2022, 103 min., FSK from 0, by Sven Unterwaldt, with Nadja Uhl, Milan Peschel, Justus von Dohnányi
“Nothing New in the West”: A Young Soldier’s War Horrors
Berlin (dpa) – The atrocities of the First World War are described in this harrowing war epic from the point of view of the young soldier Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer). While the teenager volunteers for military service, he and his friends Albert (Aaron Hilmer) and Frantz (Moritz Klaus) quickly catch up with the horrible reality on the western front. The euphoria is followed by brutal fights, crushing pain and sheer desperation. The sobering image of the “Lost Generation” stands in contrast to the unrealistic arrogance of the Prussian generals, who mercilessly send the youth into battle – and into death. Daniel Brühl plays the liberal politician Erzberger, who strives for peace. The film is Germany’s candidate in the race for the foreign Oscar.
Nothing new in the west, Germany 2022, 147 minutes, FSK oA, by Edward Berger, with Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, Daniel Brühl, Devid Striesow
“Mother”: Eight times Anke Engelke in a film experiment
Berlin (dpa) – Anke Engelke proved by 2021 at the latest that she can be quite strong in the acting portrayal of a mother: in the short film “My Son”, which unfortunately also received little attention because of Corona. Now the actress, singer and comedian, born in 1965 in Montreal, Canada, is allowed to embody eight women.
The film, designed as a kind of experiment, is located somewhere in the not exactly defined border area between documentary and feature film. It is about the roles that women and mothers play in our society, about the complex issue of motherhood. Eight women between the ages of 30 and 75 report on their lives in this film. The special trick of this highly idiosyncratic experimental arrangement: Even if we always see Anke Engelke in the film image and it is her mouth that moves, we still hear the original voices of the eight women mentioned.
Mother, D 2022, 88 min, FSK from 0, by Carolin Schmitz, with Anke Engelke dpa
