From Caligari to Hitler

May 28, 2015

1h 54m

★ 7.4

What does Cinema know, that we don't?

Overview

Film journalist and critic Rüdiger Suchsland examines German cinema from 1919, when the Republic of Weimar is born, to 1933, when the Nazis come into power. (Followed by Hitler's Hollywood, 2017.)

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

ZDF

LOOKSfilm

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung

ARTE

From Caligari to Hitler Trailers

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Rüdiger Suchsland

Self - Narrator (voice)

Hans Henrik Wöhler

Self - Filmmaker

Volker Schlöndorff

Self - Filmmaker

Fatih Akin

Self - Film Historian

Thomas Elsaesser

Self - Historian

Eric D. Weitz

Self - Cultural Critic

Elisabeth Bronfen

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Fritz Lang

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Ernst Lubitsch

Self - Politician (archive footage)

Friedrich Ebert

Self - Politician (archive footage)

Joseph Goebbels

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.

7.6

The Last Emperor

Oct 4, 1987

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

6.9

Michael Collins

Oct 25, 1996

Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.

7.2

Nanking

Feb 10, 2007

The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.

7.1

12 Mighty Orphans

Jun 18, 2021

Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.

7.0

Seabiscuit

Jul 22, 2003

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

7.0

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Feb 4, 2002

In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a trek across the Outback.

6.7

Public Enemies

Jul 1, 2009

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

6.5

Genius

Jun 10, 2016

New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, a literary editor is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius.

5.2

La ruta de don Quijote

Jan 1, 1934

A poetic journey through the paths and places of old Castile that were traveled and visited by the melancholic knight Don Quixote of La Mancha and his judicious squire Sancho Panza, the immortal characters of Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a candid depiction of rural life in Spain in the early 1930s and illustrates the first sentence of the first article of the Spanish Constitution of 1931, which proclaims that Spain is a democratic republic of workers of all kind.

0.0

The Last Dinner

Oct 26, 2023

The movie takes place in the kitchen of Cankaya Mansion on Sunday night, October 28, 1923, a day before the proclamation of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey and formally marking the end of the Ottoman Empire.

7.2

QT8: The First Eight

Oct 21, 2019

A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.

8.0

Lenin and the Other Story of the Russian Revolution

Jun 10, 2018

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is remembered as the instigator of the October Revolution of 1917 and, therefore, as one of the men who changed the shape of the world at that time and forever, but perhaps the actual events happened in a way different from that narrated in the history books…

7.5

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

Jul 2, 2009

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

6.5

Fabian: Going to the Dogs

Aug 5, 2021

In 1930s Berlin, Dr. Jakob Fabian, who works by day in advertising for a cigarette company and by night wanders the streets of the city, falls in love with an actress. As her career begins to blossom, prospects for his future begin to wane.

8.5

Sarabha

Nov 3, 2023

Young revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha fights for Indian Independence in the early 1900s.

5.7

Amelia

Oct 22, 2009

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

0.0

Blue Sky

Apr 21, 2006

In 1920, a combat flight training school named "Willows" is founded in California. People who want to fight for Korea’s independence from Japan gather at the school. Their mission is to bomb the palace of the Japanese emperor. The pilots’ ardent desire for Korea’s independence grows, but as they prepare for their mission, a spy in the school ruins their plans. However, KIM Ja-jung and the other pilots manage to get on board for what will most likely be their last flight.

0.0

The Living

Jan 1, 2009

Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

7.1

John Rabe

Apr 2, 2009

A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.