The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I

Jan 1, 1998

1h 1m

★ 0.0

Overview

In this film essay, critic Peter Buchka explores the German cinema of the 1920s, ranging from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Dietrich in Die Blaue Engel. The program provides an introduction to Weimar cinema, with Buchka's essay narrated over the images from film clips of 1920s era German films.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Kick Film

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Greg Benzow

July, 1944. As WWII raged on, a group of conspirators, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, plotted to assassinate Hitler and end his reign of terror. Using rare color footage, painstakingly recreated dramatizations, detailed CG reconstructions and exclusive interviews with leading historians, this thrilling documentary presents the definitive record of what happened before, during and after these pivotal events.

10.0

The Tea Coffee Experiment

Dec 27, 2017

A group of friends come up with the brilliant idea of testing the non-existent drink known as "Tea Coffee".

5.7

Who was Hitler

Nov 16, 2017

Hitler's biography told like never before. Besides brief historical localizations by a narrator, only contemporaries and Hitler himself speak: no interviews, no reenactment, no illustrative graphics and no technical gadgets. The testimonies from diaries, letters, speeches and autobiographies are assembled with new, often unpublished archive material. Hitler's life and work are thus reflected in a unique way in interaction with the image of the society in the years 1889 to 1945.

7.9

Downfall

Sep 16, 2004

In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

7.4

From Caligari to Hitler

May 28, 2015

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.)

6.5

Mário Eloy - A Runaway Painter

Mar 13, 1998

Documentary about the life and work of Mário Eloy, one of the greatest painters of the second generation of modernism in Portugal.

6.9

Triumph of the Will

Mar 28, 1935

A showcase of German chancellor and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.

0.0

The Eichmann Trial

Oct 22, 2025

In 1961, history was on trial... in a trial that made history. Just 15 years after the end of WWII, the Holocaust had been largely forgotten. That changed with the capture of Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi officer hiding in Argentina. Through rarely-seen archival footage, The Eichmann Trial documents one of the most shocking trials ever recorded, and the birth of Holocaust awareness and education.

6.9

Schtonk!

Mar 12, 1992

Schtonk! is a farce of the actual events of 1983, when Germany's Stern magazine published, with great fanfare, 60 volumes of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler – which two weeks later turned out to be entirely fake. Fritz Knobel (based on real-life forger Konrad Kujau) supports himself by faking and selling Nazi memorabilia. When Knobel writes and sells a volume of Hitler's (nonexistent) diaries, he thinks it's just another job. When sleazy journalist Hermann Willié learns of the diaries, however, he quickly realizes their potential value... and Knobel is quickly in over his head. As the pressure builds and Knobel is forced to deliver more and more volumes of the fake diaries, he finds himself acting increasingly like the man whose life he is rewriting. The film is a romping and hilarious satire, poking fun not only at the events and characters involved in the hoax (who are only thinly disguised in the film), but at the discomfort Germany has with its difficult past.

0.0

The Two Deaths of Adolf Hitler

Apr 30, 1975

No overview available.

5.7

Breakthrough

Mar 1, 1979

Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.

7.2

Is Paris Burning?

Oct 26, 1966

Near the end of World War II, Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz receives orders to burn down Paris if it becomes clear the Allies are going to invade, or if he cannot maintain control of the city. After much contemplation Choltitz decides to ignore his orders, enraging the Germans and giving hope to various resistance factions that the city will be liberated. Choltitz, along with Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling, helps a resistance leader organize his forces.

7.3

Hitler & Stalin: Portrait of Hostility

Apr 8, 2009

A double portrait of two dictators who were thousands of miles apart but were constantly fixated on each other.

6.7

Pollock

Sep 6, 2000

In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.

0.0

Blondi

Aug 14, 2025

Can a dog still be man’s best friend if that man is the Führer? Blondi explores the bizarre bond between Hitler and his beloved German Shepherd. From eating the crumbs under the table at the Führer’s birthday, to living in the confinement of the bunker, this film presents intimate glimpses of the dog’s daily life intertwined with the realities of war, depicting the oblivious pet's surreal impact on the Reich.

4.5

100 Years of the UFA

Aug 28, 2017

The intricate history of UFA, a film production company founded in 1917 that has survived the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, the Adenauer era and the many and tumultuous events of contemporary Germany, and has always been the epicenter of the German film industry.

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Haunted Screen: German Film After World War I Trailers