The Kraut Pack

[Fausto]

Lately, I've found myself watching a lot of independent German movies. I dont know why, other than that foreign films in general tend to be more interesting than the typical crap that hollywood puts out. One thing I've noticed is that I keep finding the same group of actors in different roles. I've even given this group the title of the "Kraut Pack". I should note that I would highly recommend any of the films posted here. What I've been watching:

Anatomie (Franka Ponette, Benno Furmann): Granted, its an old fashioned slasher flick, yet with a few twists thrown in. A young med student (Ponette) has been accepted into the prestigious Heidelberg Academy, the alma mater of both her father and grandfather. On the way, she happens to save the life of a young man with a rare heart condition...who later turns up as a corpse on her dissecting table. How did he die, and why? American viewers may recognize Furmann from his brief cameo as Inspector Detector in the recent Speed Racer film. Ponette has appeared in several American films, most notably Blow and The Bourne Supremacy.

Das Experiment (Moritz Bleibtreu): Thriller based on the actual 1971 Stanford Prision experiment. Several young men sign up to paricipate in a psychological experiment, in which half are made to live as prisioners and the other half as guards. Very quickly things get out of hand, as the prisioners, who have really done nothing wrong, are subjected to increasingly sadistic abuse. Bleibtreu also made an appearance in Speed Racer as the Grey Ghost.

The Princess and the Warrior (Franka Ponette, Benno Furmann, Joachim Krol): A young woman (Ponette) feels her life stagnating as a nurse in an asylum. One day, she is hit by a truck and is saved from death by a mysterious stranger (Furmann). Convinced that this person is her knight in shining armor, she sets out to find him, only to discover that he has serious issues of his own.

Gloomy Sunday (Joachim Krol): Based on an actual song (and the eerie legend that follows it), the film tells the story of a restaurant owner (Krol) and his extremely beautiful wife. When they hire a young piano player, a love trangle develops between the three, but the wife refuses to choose and insists they share her. The sadness of the situation leads the piano player to compose his greatest work, a song so depressing it causes its listeners to commit suicide.

Run Lola Run (Franka Ponette, Moritz Bleibtreu, Joachim Krol): Havent seen this one yet, but its arguably the most familiar to western audiences. A young woman (Ponette) must retrieve 100,000 deutschmarks before her boyfriend (Bliebtreu) robs a bank.

[The Burgomaster]

Run Lola Run (Franka Ponette, Moritz Bleibtreu, Joachim Krol): Havent seen this one yet, but its arguably the most familiar to western audiences. A young woman (Ponette) must retrieve 100,000 deutschmarks before her boyfriend (Bliebtreu) robs a bank.

A very enjoyable movie . . . although the dubbed version has really terrible dubbing if my memory serves me.

[Jack]

I got a kick out of DVD Verdict's review of Anatomy:

There is also a scene where a sexy blonde gets up on an autopsy table and does an erotic strip dance.

I know that after that last sentence it's tempting to run out and rent this movie RIGHT NOW, but please, have some dignity and finish the review first.

LOL 

[frank]

My chance to be a smart-a$$ and I'll go for it:

It's Franka Potente (not Ponette) and Benno Fürmann - although some keyboards might lack the ü - which would make Fuermann the correct spelling.

[Fausto]

My chance to be a smart-a$$ and I'll go for it:

It's Franka Potente (not Ponette) and Benno Fürmann - although some keyboards might lack the ü - which would make Fuermann the correct spelling.

My bad. I copied "Ponette" from another review. As for "Fuermann", I didnt hve the accent on my keyboard and didnt really think it was necessary.