Films & Co. in March
In March, things get turbulent in the cinema and dark on the screen. Persian-American director Maryam Kesharvarz has spiced up her own biography to turn it into the quirky tragicomedy "The Persian Version". Nicolas Cage haunts the dreams of complete strangers. And director Robert Schwentke knits the seven-part thriller series "Helgoland 513" from real-life experiences during the Covid pandemic.
Films & Co. in October
in 2012, historiography in Great Britain had to be corrected somewhat when Richard III's grave was found under a car park. Director Steven Frears turned it into the comedic drama "The Lost King". In "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry", Jim Broadbent wanders the British Isles as the title character. And Prime Video is once again unleashing heaven and hell with a new season of "Good Omens".
Films & Co. of the month
What does it look like, the soul of a person who hides from the world around them? In "The Whale", director Darren Aronofsky has sent Brendan Fraser on course for an Oscar with this question. Through the expressive eyes of Leonie Benesch, we get an insight into "The Staffroom" of a secondary school in turmoil. And the BBC series "The English" offers a Wild West like you've never seen before.
Films & Co. of the month
Tragicomedy is when you can still laugh. This need for a smile behind the tears even seems to be global. In "Broker", Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda finds it in a young mother looking for a new family for babies. In "Red Sky", German filmmaker Christian Petzold follows the self-pity of a young author with one laughing and one crying eye. And Damien Chazelle brings the golden era of Hollywood to a close with a glittering film party on the "Babylon" DVD.
Films & Co. of the month
As the first woman to lead a large orchestra, Lydia "Tár" (Cate Blanchett) is well on her way to becoming a classical music icon. Until her success goes to her head. Empress Elisabeth of Austria has always struggled with her celebrity. In "Sisi & I", director Frauke Finsterwalder gives her a new image. And the reputation of the Italian western hero "Django" is also revamped.
Films & Co. of the month
The cinema year 2023 begins with a big bang, which is also a swan song to Hollywood's golden era of silent films. In "Babylon", director Damien Chazelle lets Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie bathe "in the ecstasy of ecstasy" before they fail because of the soundtrack. With the zombie comedy "Final Cut of the Dead", French director Michel Hazanavicius makes a declaration of love to filmmaking. Things get really spooky at Netflix with Christian Bale and the "Memorable Case of Mr Poe".
Films & Co. of the month
At the turn of the year, you are spoilt for choice when it comes to good cinema. "On a Beautiful Morning" sends the audience to present-day Paris in a light-heartedly tragic way. The Banshees of Inisherin" is dangerously idyllic and darkly nostalgic.
Films & Co. of the month
"Call Jane" takes a critical look at women's rights in the USA in the 1960s. In "She Said", German director Maria Schrader has turned the allegations of abuse against Harvey Weinstein into a gripping documentary thriller. And Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu takes the piss out of male vanity in "Bardo, the fictional chronicle of a handful of truths".
Films & Co. of the month
Sönke Wortmann's family satire "The Surname" provides a high volume of pointed dialogue. A documentary about the writer Elfriede Jelinek vividly describes what it means to "let language off the leash". And the new film adaptation of "Nothing New in the West" is available on Netflix.
Films & Co. of the month
Michael Bully Herbig takes on the case of reportage faker Claas Relotius in "Tausend Zeilen", while Swede Ruben Östlund gets to grips with the rich and beautiful in his "Triangle of Sadness". And British director Danny Boyle sends the irony-laden zeitgeist of punk into the race with six episodes of "Pistol".
Films & Co. of the month
Time and again, cinema likes to take a look at the provincial hinterland, where emotions run high between tradition and modern technology. Like in Kosovo, for example, where in "Hive" a young widow dares to first get a driving licence and then even start her own business. In the flat Holstein countryside in "Mittagsstunde", a son discovers several family secrets while caring for his parents. And if all this is still too close for comfort, you can watch a DVD in search of a "snow leopard" in the breathtakingly beautiful Tibetan highlands.
Films & Co. of the month
Because their peaches are no longer making a profit, solar panels are placed in front of a Spanish fruit-growing family. In her Golden Bear-winning social drama "Alcarràs - The Last Harvest", director Carla Simón tells the story of how this affects the minds of three generations. Marc-Uwe and his hairy flatmate have to deal with confused climate change deniers in "The Kangaroo Conspiracy". Because there is no common thread to help them, author and co-director Marc-Uwe Kling uses all film genres. Meanwhile, Martin Freeman reaches the limits of his nerves as a beat cop in the British six-parter "The Responder".
Films & Co. of the month
The cinema starts the film summer with all its masterful versatility. Baz Luhrmann tells the story of "Elvis", Emma Thompson spends "My Hours with Leo" as a retired teacher in a hotel room and Ryūsuke Hamaguchis masterfully directs Haruki Murakami's short story "Drive My Car".
Films & Co. of the month
"The Worst Person in the World" won the prize for Best Actress in a Leading Role at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Hollywood film producers have begun to doubt Nicolas Cage's "Massive Talent". Not only the action satire of the same name proves how wrong they are, but also a film truffle called "Pig".
Films & Co. of the month
Andreas Dresen and Leander Haußmann are the two names that immediately spring to mind when it comes to film directors from the former GDR. In "Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush", Dresen focusses on the Bremen mother's fight to free her son from Guantanamo. Haußmann revives the East Berlin art scene. Those who need some serious exoticism afterwards are advised to watch the New Zealand gold-digger thriller "The Luminaries" in six parts.
Films & Co. of the month
Less colour, more content - that's the effect of black and white on the big screen. The American comedy "Come on Come on" and the French neo-romance "Where the Sun Rises in Paris" are two fine examples of this in German cinemas. By contrast, the Ukrainian political series "Servants of the People" is quite colourful and turbulent. Comedian and lead actor Volodymyr Selensky laid the foundations for his future presidency in 2015.
Films & Co. of the month
Two great directors use the big screen to take a very personal look back into the past. Kenneth Branagh resurrects his by no means idyllic childhood in "Belfast" in nostalgic black and white. And in "Parallel Mothers", Pedro Almodóvar celebrates the feminism of today while denouncing Franco's fascism of the past.
Films & Co. of the month
Films or series deviate from tried and tested stories with familiar clichés less often than you might think. If it does happen, you are most likely dealing with a masterpiece. You can find evidence of this in "Licorice Pizza" and "Petite Maman". The satirical series "The Good Place" turns nothing less than heaven and hell upside down in 13 episodes.