Martin Hellberg

Young lovers Hero and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well.

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This film takes place during the Seven Years' War. The Prussian Major von Tellheim has become engaged to the Saxon noblewoman Minna von Barnhelm. After the war, the King - in an unwarranted move - deprives the major of his honor. Von Tellheim becomes impoverished and, filled with shame, breaks off his relationship to Minna. An innkeeper in Berlin, who is a police informer, makes the Major move to a shabby little attic because he cannot pay his debt. In the meantime, Minna has also arrived at the inn. She and her lady's maid Franziska are questioned and spied on by the nosy innkeeper. Minna has followed her beloved Tellheim and she now cunningly manages to elicit a new declaration of love from him...

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Antwerp at the end of the 16th century. For the second time, the city falls into the hands of the plundering and murdering Spaniards. Jan and Myga are just ten years old. While Myga's father tries to come to terms with the Spaniards, Jan leaves the occupied country with his father. When Jan has grown into a young man, he joins the Geusen and is entrusted with the best ship as helmsman, the "Black Galley". He survives numerous battles and dangers, but one day he is captured by the Spanish. He frees not only himself but also his beloved Myga from the hands of the enemy. In 1609, the Spaniards are forced to finally recognize the independence of the northern provinces.

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Ferdinand is an army major and son of President von Walter, while Luise Miller is the daughter of a middle-class musician. They fall in love with each other, but both their fathers urge them to end the affair.

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The magnificent cow Senta has escaped from an LPG. Matuschek, a single farmer, joins the search. However, the valuable animal is not found and is believed to have strayed across the border into Poland. Meanwhile, Senta is in Matuschek's barn. His maid Mathilde and neighbor Dattelmann have captured her and brought her there. Matuschek conceals a letter to Poland because of the supposedly border-crossing cow and is embarrassed when the cattle farmer Franze Flohr discovers the cow in his barn. Nevertheless, Matuschek and Franze become a couple who also become closer to the LPG.

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Kurt Kars, the young, enthusiastic but rather inexperienced captain of a fishing vessel, lets his ambition drive him into a risky venture. According to a newspaper report, there are excellent fishing grounds in the Arctic Ocean. Against the orders of the combine, he heads for them. A collision with drift ice puts the crew and ship in extreme danger. Kurt proves his worth in this emergency situation, but is called to account on his return. Initially, he wants to resign out of defiance, but then comes to his senses, realizing his guilt. The older captains, who have always kept their fishing grounds a secret and hardly ever passed on their experiences to the collective, realize that they too were not entirely innocent in the "Kars case".

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The Prince of Guastalla falls in love with the young citizen Emilia Galotti, who is soon to marry Count Appiani. In order to win Emilia, the prince tries to send the count on an "honorable" journey on his behalf with the help of his chamberlain Marinelli. However, after the Count refuses this offer, Marinelli decides to have the wedding carriage robbed on his own initiative in order to have Emilia abducted to the Prince's nearby pleasure palace. But he has not thought of the prince's mistress, Countess Orsina, and Emilia's shaken father Odoardo, both of whom soon arrive at the castle, one to meet the prince, the other to look after his daughter...

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Berlin, 1936. Athletes and visitors from all over the world have come to the city to take part in the Olympic Games. Anti-Fascists use the opportunity to tell the foreign guests about the situation in Germany by distributing leaflets. Being cornered by the Gestapo, the wounded resistance fighter Jakob manages to go into hiding with the help of the Swiss doctor Thea. They fall in love with each other and when Jakob joins the International Brigades in Spain to fight against Franco, Thea follows him and becomes a dedicated fighter against Fascism. The enduring battle, however, keeps preventing them from becoming a real couple.

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French milliner Yvette has a small fashion salon in Düsseldorf. The young gentlemen of society fall at her feet, but she is not accepted into their circles. That's why her former lover Maurice Daurignac manages to persuade her to pull off a big coup to get revenge on "high society". She pretends to be the heiress to ten million gold francs. A notary arrives from Paris accompanied by two supposed policemen and delivers the alleged money in a sealed parcel to the Bleichstetter bank in Düsseldorf, where it remains until the end of the inheritance process. The case drags on, and in the meantime the two are living large. When the bombshell bursts, Yvette has the young lawyer Dr. Hellmer to thank for the fact that she cannot be thrown to the angry citizens.

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In 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.

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Historical drama set during the reign of Philip II of Spain. The royal troops have taken up quarters in the village of Zalamea. Captain Don Alvaro is staying with the farmer Pedro Crespo. His daughter Isabel behaves very coldly and dismissively toward the captain, which irritates him. Finally, he takes her by force and humiliates her father. The captain is put on trial in the village. Pedro is appointed judge and, despite all the threats from General de Lope, sentences the captain to death. De Lope then wants to deny him his judicial authority. Surprisingly, King Philip II appears in the village and confirms the harsh sentence, but wants to pardon the offender. However, the sentence has already been carried out.

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On a pasture in Bavaria, an ox frightens members of the American occupying forces. Farmer Alois, the owner of the animal, is sentenced to thirty days in prison for this "political" offense. While Alois begins his sentence, the ox runs riot in the prison yard. No one can tame him, and all the farmers refuse to take the ox into their care. The helpless administration comes up with a crazy solution: Alois must split his person. As inmate Alois, he is assigned to field duty with the livestock owner Alois to supervise the ox, while as livestock owner Alois he has to supervise inmate Alois. The bill he is subsequently presented with for twice the work is enormous.

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Schwalk, the new shaft foreman of a road construction brigade, is a go-getter and used to success - both at work and with women. But this time things don't go so smoothly. Although he initially has an easy time with the brigadier Erika, who falls in love with him, things come to a head at work. His ambition to win a competition causes him to slip up during road construction. Erika is outraged by his selfish behavior and suspects that he is just looking for an erotic adventure with her. She turns her back on him. However, Schalk recognizes his mistakes and does everything he can to make up for the damage - to the building site and to Erika. The road is handed over on schedule.

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In the Werra valley near the border is one of the five soda factories of the GDR that once belonged to the powerful Solvay group. After the war, they moved the headquarters from Berneburg to Frankfurt, but some people loyal to the groups bosses remained to sabotage the production in the now nationally owned factory.

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East German propaganda film about an American army base trying to take away land from a West German village.

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The series begins with a story from 1717: At the court of Augustus the Strong in Dresden, the French organ virtuoso Louis Marchand was said to have passed away. Convinced of his “unique” abilities, he announced a music competition. Bach was the only competitor to enter.

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Signs and wonders are said to be happening in Trutzlaff, a small village in Mecklenburg. The party secretary of the local LPG, Mattes Mathias, has the "second face", which has been passed down from generation to generation in his family and is first mentioned in the witches' church chronicle in 1681. This special bond with the church lives on to this day. Mattes engages in a constant but creative competition with Pastor Himmelknecht. But it is not only his weather forecasts that come true every day. With his miraculous powers, Mattes tracks down lost things and heals the sick. Mattes' reputation reaches far beyond the village of Trutzlaff to the district town. A letter from the village cobbler has even reached the Vatican. Both here and there, people have pricked up their ears and want to get to the bottom of the matter. ... The only one who keeps a clear head is Mattes. But then there is "The crazy smell of fresh hay"!

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was the author of Werther, the romantic novel that was transformed into a play during Goethe's lifetime and which initiated the whole German romantic movement. The book's story tells of young love and suicide. In this East German film, based on a book by Thomas Mann, Lotte (Lilli Palmer) was the woman who served as the model for the heroine in the novel Werther. She comes to Goethe's hometown for a visit, and her experiences there eerily re-create episodes from the book. Goethe comes across as a pompous old bore, and his friends as pandering sycophants, in this very proper communist party-sponsored, anti-heroic movie.

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Young lovers Hero and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well.

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This film takes place during the Seven Years' War. The Prussian Major von Tellheim has become engaged to the Saxon noblewoman Minna von Barnhelm. After the war, the King - in an unwarranted move - deprives the major of his honor. Von Tellheim becomes impoverished and, filled with shame, breaks off his relationship to Minna. An innkeeper in Berlin, who is a police informer, makes the Major move to a shabby little attic because he cannot pay his debt. In the meantime, Minna has also arrived at the inn. She and her lady's maid Franziska are questioned and spied on by the nosy innkeeper. Minna has followed her beloved Tellheim and she now cunningly manages to elicit a new declaration of love from him...

Open details →

Antwerp at the end of the 16th century. For the second time, the city falls into the hands of the plundering and murdering Spaniards. Jan and Myga are just ten years old. While Myga's father tries to come to terms with the Spaniards, Jan leaves the occupied country with his father. When Jan has grown into a young man, he joins the Geusen and is entrusted with the best ship as helmsman, the "Black Galley". He survives numerous battles and dangers, but one day he is captured by the Spanish. He frees not only himself but also his beloved Myga from the hands of the enemy. In 1609, the Spaniards are forced to finally recognize the independence of the northern provinces.

Open details →

Ferdinand is an army major and son of President von Walter, while Luise Miller is the daughter of a middle-class musician. They fall in love with each other, but both their fathers urge them to end the affair.

Open details →