San Sebastian Film Festival ::

Volker Schlöndorff

Louisiana, at the end of the seventies. Someone has shot white farmer Beau Bouton before the house of Mathu, the old black tenant, who instantly becomes the main suspect. Young Candy Marshall tries to impede his lynching by gathering the old black men who subsist precariously in the neighbouring huts. Eighteen possible authors of the action therefore await the sheriff's arrival...

Louisiana, at the end of the seventies. Someone has shot white farmer Beau Bouton before the house of Mathu, the old black tenant, who instantly becomes the main suspect. Young Candy Marshall tries to impede his lynching by gathering the old black men who subsist precariously in the neighbouring huts. Eighteen possible authors of the action therefore await the sheriff's arrival.

Baal (TV)

Volker Schlöndorff

Lyric poet Baal lives off others. Although he regards women as mere ornaments in the life of the he-man, is rude, rough, self-centred and astonishingly ugly, his skill at putting poems together keeps the girls on a string. He despises publishers and drinks like a fish. Only Eckart, his loyal comrade and friend, seems to understand him and tolerate his mood changes.

Billy, How Did You Do It?/Billy Wilder, wie haben Sie's gemacht? (TV) / Billy, How Did You Do It?

Volker Schlöndorff, Gisela Grischow

Germany - (TV Series)

Schlöndorff made this six-part documentary, based on a marathon interview with Billy Wilder about his life and work, between 1988 and 1992. The dialogue between the two filmmakers is complemented with fragments of films and Schlöndorff's erudite comments. The result: a pleasant portrait accurately depicting the talent and vitriolic personality of the man who made The Apartmen...

Schlöndorff made this six-part documentary, based on a marathon interview with Billy Wilder about his life and work, between 1988 and 1992. The dialogue between the two filmmakers is complemented with fragments of films and Schlöndorff's erudite comments. The result: a pleasant portrait accurately depicting the talent and vitriolic personality of the man who made The Apartment.

Death of a Salesman

Volker Schlöndorff

Willy Loman is an ageing and unsuccessful travelling salesman who always leaves his home in Brooklyn loaded down with two crumpled suitcases containing samples in the hope of convincing someone of his talent for selling. But he always returns with his wares unsold. Finally, Willy acknowledges that he has misspent his life. The two children who once respected him now consider hi...

Willy Loman is an ageing and unsuccessful travelling salesman who always leaves his home in Brooklyn loaded down with two crumpled suitcases containing samples in the hope of convincing someone of his talent for selling. But he always returns with his wares unsold. Finally, Willy acknowledges that he has misspent his life. The two children who once respected him now consider him to be a failure.

Der Fangschuss

Volker Schlöndorff

1919, in the Baltic of the Civil War years. Prussian officer Erich von Lohmond arrives at Kratovice castle together with other volunteers to advance against the red rebels. There he meets the Countess Sophie von Reval. Falling in love with Lohmond, Sophie finally confesses her feelings to him. But Erich's rejection caused by his desire to preserve his independence drive her to ...

1919, in the Baltic of the Civil War years. Prussian officer Erich von Lohmond arrives at Kratovice castle together with other volunteers to advance against the red rebels. There he meets the Countess Sophie von Reval. Falling in love with Lohmond, Sophie finally confesses her feelings to him. But Erich's rejection caused by his desire to preserve his independence drive her to flirt openly with other mercenaries.

Der junge Törless / Young Törless

Volker Schlöndorff

The early 20th-century Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Törless, a young boarding school student, spends his time with class ringleaders Beineberg and Reiting. One day, discovering that a fellow student named Basini has stolen money from Beineberg, the latter comes up with a scheme together with his cohort Reiting according to which they oblige the boy to do what they want rather th...

The early 20th-century Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Törless, a young boarding school student, spends his time with class ringleaders Beineberg and Reiting. One day, discovering that a fellow student named Basini has stolen money from Beineberg, the latter comes up with a scheme together with his cohort Reiting according to which they oblige the boy to do what they want rather than report him. Törless becomes the innocent bystander of these humiliations.

Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach / The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach

Volker Schlöndorff

The year 1822. In a pass not far from the village of Kombach in the Upper Hessian region, six peasants assault the carriage transporting the duke's tax money. It's the seventh time that the impoverished peasants have tried to pull off the hold-up, always having seen their efforts frustrated for different reasons. But when they finally achieve what they set out to do they are in...

The year 1822. In a pass not far from the village of Kombach in the Upper Hessian region, six peasants assault the carriage transporting the duke's tax money. It's the seventh time that the impoverished peasants have tried to pull off the hold-up, always having seen their efforts frustrated for different reasons. But when they finally achieve what they set out to do they are incapable of keeping their sudden wealth under cover.

Der Unhold / The Ogre

Volker Schlöndorff

Abel Tiffauges is a naive, introverted man, who gets along much better with children than he does with adults. Falling prisoner to the Nazis during WWII, he enters the service of Hermann Göring before winding up in a military camp for young Germans, which gives him the job of going out to ?gather? new children for the reformatory.

Deutschland im Herbst / Germany in Autumn

Volker Schlöndorff , Rainer Werner Fassbinder , Alf Brustellin , Hans Peter Cloos, Alexander Kluge, Maximiliane Mainka, Edgar Reitz, Katja Rupé, Peter Schubert, Bernhard Sinkel

The kidnapping and murder of the Chairman of the Employers' Organisation, Hans Martin Schleyer, the hijacking by Palestinians of the Lufthansa aeroplane ?Landshut? or the suicide of the terrorists Andreas Baader, Jean-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin are some of the events which shook life in Germany in the Autumn of 1977, and which are brought together in this documentary shot by...

The kidnapping and murder of the Chairman of the Employers' Organisation, Hans Martin Schleyer, the hijacking by Palestinians of the Lufthansa aeroplane ?Landshut? or the suicide of the terrorists Andreas Baader, Jean-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin are some of the events which shook life in Germany in the Autumn of 1977, and which are brought together in this documentary shot by Schlöndorff alongside another ten directors.

Die Blechtrommel / The Tin Drum

Volker Schlöndorff

Danzig, 1927. On his third birthday, the astonishingly intelligent little Oskar Matzerath stubbornly declares that he has decided not to grow any more in reaction to a world he doesn't like; a world which is on the verge of discovering Nazism. The child directs his protest against the world of adults with his attention-grabbing red and white drum and his strident glass-shatteri...

Danzig, 1927. On his third birthday, the astonishingly intelligent little Oskar Matzerath stubbornly declares that he has decided not to grow any more in reaction to a world he doesn't like; a world which is on the verge of discovering Nazism. The child directs his protest against the world of adults with his attention-grabbing red and white drum and his strident glass-shattering screams.

Die Fälschung / Circle of Deceit

Volker Schlöndorff

Journalist Georg Laschen is sent to Beirut as war correspondent for a Hamburg newspaper, leaving his family behind for an indefinite period of time. In the ruined city he meets a German embassy employee and passionate Arabist, with whom he has a short affair bringing him to the obvious conclusion that both his marriage and his professional life are based on lies and self-decept...

Journalist Georg Laschen is sent to Beirut as war correspondent for a Hamburg newspaper, leaving his family behind for an indefinite period of time. In the ruined city he meets a German embassy employee and passionate Arabist, with whom he has a short affair bringing him to the obvious conclusion that both his marriage and his professional life are based on lies and self-deception.

Die Stille nach dem Schuss / The Legend of Rita

Volker Schlöndorff

The 70s. West-German terrorist, Rita Vogt, crosses the Iron Curtain and disappears into the GDR, where the Stasi give her a new identity. In the years to come she tries to live her dream in the country that has taken her in, but the threat of being discovered, not helped by the changes in political events, hangs constantly over her head.

Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum / The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum

Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta

Germany

During a carefree carnival party, discreet young housekeeper Katharina Blum meets wanted deserter Ludwig Götten. Falling in love at first sight, they spend the night together, only to be rudely awakened the following morning when the police burst into her house. While Götten slips their net without trace, the Inspector's suspicion falls upon the innocent woman.

Ein Produzent hat Seele oder er hat keine

Volker Schlöndorff

Documentary made for TV of an interview by Schlöndorff with the veteran German director Horst Wendlandt, who had produced over 80 films, in which the two filmmakers discuss German cinema past and present, expounding two completely different points of view of the nature and purpose of cinematographic art.

Georginas Gründe (TV) / Georgina's Reason

Volker Schlöndorff

Raymond Benyon, a naval officer fallen on hard times, looks back over the story of Georgina Gressi, the woman he married in secret against her parents' will on the condition that he never ever spoke about their wedding to anyone. Georgina is the only person who knows the reasons for this undertaking with its serious consequences: she grows increasingly further apart from her hu...

Raymond Benyon, a naval officer fallen on hard times, looks back over the story of Georgina Gressi, the woman he married in secret against her parents' will on the condition that he never ever spoke about their wedding to anyone. Georgina is the only person who knows the reasons for this undertaking with its serious consequences: she grows increasingly further apart from her husband and even refuses to live with him.

Homo Faber

Volker Schlöndorff

Having survived an aeroplane accident in Mexico, engineer Walter Faber takes a transatlantic ship to Europe, finding love on the way in the shape of a young girl called Elisabeth. Unexpectedly running into one another again in Paris, they decide to set off on a long car journey through France and Italy to Elisabeth's house in Athens.

Michael Kohlhaas-Der Rebell / Man on Horseback

Volker Schlöndorff

On his way to Wittenberg market with his faithful servant, Herse, to sell his animals, horse trader Michael Kohlhaas has to stop at the foot of a castle where he is obliged to leave two horses and Herse as a toll fee. While Kohlhaas is at the market, his servant and horses are despicably thrashed. Furious, he makes for the courthouse, only to find the doors closed.

Mord und Totschlag / Degree of Murder

Volker Schlöndorff

Marie is getting ready for bed when the boyfriend she no longer wants to see appears at the door. Although Hans also wants to end their relationship, he also wants to spend a last night together. During the ensuing fight, Marie grabs a pistol and kills Hans. That same night Marie runs into Günther, convincing him to dispose of the corpse in return for a sum of money.

Palmetto

Volker Schlöndorff

After two years in jail, Harry Barber is still trying to keep himself on the straight and narrow when he meets millionaire Malroux' young and attractive wife, who asks him for help in kidnapping her stepdaughter, Odette. As it was the victim herself who invented the story of the abduction, it doesn't seem like a particularly risky undertaking, and Harry accepts the job in excha...

After two years in jail, Harry Barber is still trying to keep himself on the straight and narrow when he meets millionaire Malroux' young and attractive wife, who asks him for help in kidnapping her stepdaughter, Odette. As it was the victim herself who invented the story of the abduction, it doesn't seem like a particularly risky undertaking, and Harry accepts the job in exchange for 50,000 dollars.

Strohfeuer / A Free Woman

Volker Schlöndorff

After years of marriage, the still young Elisabeth Junker divorces her husband in the hope of being able to end her days as a housewife and perhaps find a job as a secretary with languages. While looking for work, she takes singing and ballet classes, dreaming of one day becoming the star of a musical. But it's not long before the job market puts her very smartly in her place.

The Handmaid's Tale

Volker Schlöndorff

In the totalitarian America of the future, young women are selected for their fertility and trained to bear the children so desired by the sterile women of the upper social strata. Kate, one of these ?handmaids?, whose husband was executed and her daughter abducted, is sent to the house of commander Fred to provide him with offspring.

The Michael Nyman Songbook (TV)

Volker Schlöndorff

Four years before turning to the composer of The Piano for the soundtrack of The Ogre, Schlöndorff produced this work for TV, centred on The Michael Nyman Songbook, featuring a concert given in Hamburg. The musician, accompanied by his regular band and the singer Ute Lemper, performs numbers based on poems by Paul Celan, Arthur Rimbaud and William Shakespeare.

Un amour de Swann / Swann in Love

Volker Schlöndorff

Charles Swann is a rich, cultured, leisurely thirty year-old who is always a welcome guest at receptions for the aristocracy in late-19th century Paris. Single and a womaniser, his life changes when he meets the frivolous Odette de Crécy, of doubtful past, and falls in love with her. His obsession for the woman soon has him following her through the Parisian night, driven on b...

Charles Swann is a rich, cultured, leisurely thirty year-old who is always a welcome guest at receptions for the aristocracy in late-19th century Paris. Single and a womaniser, his life changes when he meets the frivolous Odette de Crécy, of doubtful past, and falls in love with her. His obsession for the woman soon has him following her through the Parisian night, driven on by the fear of losing her.