All posts by Karl

Soul Kitchen
7.3

Soul Kitchen

Rarely we can find a film which is not oversaturated with visual effects or with hidden symbols and which has a twisted surrealistic plot. In this short movie, Akin Fatih, could put in the lives of several ordinary people, with their aspirations, fears, and feelings. The viewer does not need to think over every scene and look for the hidden meaning – all morality lies on the surface, like in our real life.

The protagonist is Zinos, the owner of a small restaurant, or rather, the “Soul Kitchen” on the outskirts of Hamburg, where he prepares a simple cheap meal, which is liked by regular guests. They know a small menu which consists of several dishes by heart and does not want any changes and innovations. We cannot say that his business is flourishing, but the restaurant is kept afloat and brings a small income.

All the heroes of the film are ordinary people, with their own problems and hobbies. They quarrel, make peace, fall in love with each other and, no matter what, remain good friends. They are always sure that they can come to their native place called “Soul Kitchen”, where everything seems not so hopeless, to get together and feel – there is still hope.

In my mind, the film shows people who are ready to go to the end, change and adjust to any difficult life situations. This movie gave me a lot of positive emotions, inspired me and made me believe in good.

The characters in a movie disclosed with a twist of irony to show how they spoil and improve their lives. The film will be very easy to perceive, it is not overloaded with dramatic or comedic moments. A successful combination of good music and appetizing food significantly improves the mood from viewing. But it’s hard to watch it on an empty stomach because the presented dishes cause a strong desire to try them immediately. While I was watching this film, I realized that my soul was resting, blooming and relaxing. And I definitely enjoyed every moment of this wonderful movie.


Casino Royale (1967)
7.3

Casino Royale (1967)

Casino royal is a 1967 spy parody starring Peter Sellers in the lead role. Yes, it’s not really German movie, but many scenes were shoot in Berlin. So let’s get to it 🙂

The plot focuses on an aging James Bond who comes out of retirement, along with his estranged daughter to take on SMERSH. Both then travel to East Berlin after picking up clues, where they investigate and solve the mystery around the deaths of international spies.

The movie was written by 11 writers and had a total of 5 directors. Each directed his own part and worked independently. The Berlin scenes are exclusively directed by Ken Hughes. Out of all these scenes, the one with the war room in Berlin got extreme popularity by the fans and critics alike. Some of the amusing gags are credited to Peter Sellers himself. After a breakpoint and a load of humor clichés, the movie plot ceases to make sense.

A significant portion of the Casino Royale film (1967) involves playing casino poker in high stakes. This adrenaline rushing game is portrayed as risky, daring and costly in Berlin. The baccarat master Evelyn Tremble (James Bond under the pretense) is highly skilled in playing card games at casinos. The main casino, Casino Royale, on which the title of the movie is also made, is shown to be run by secret agents. In the climax, this casino gets destroyed from the explosion of an atomic pill, killing everyone inside. While Sir James and Co appear in heaven, Jimmy Bond descends to hell. Yeah, that’s not what I would expect from gambling in a luxury place) By the way, today there are a lot of trusted online websites where you can play whatever you want. For example, there is a Svenskkasinon casino list with wide range of  different gambling operators. So you can relax and don’t be afraid of being exploded))

Casino Royale garnered more than $40 million and was considered a huge financial success. This has mainly to do with the tag “Bond” associated with it. Critical reception, however, was mostly negative. Most critics to date regard it as the worst “Bond” movie and a chaotic, baffling affair. Audiences too initially liked the movie, but later reviews were not of much help. Till date, Casino Royale holds a 29% score on Rotten tomatoes, with most users describing it as disorganized, clichéd and an absurd disaster. The movie was a pitiful spoof which earned on clever marketing techniques and the “James Bond” brand name.

Mostly a one-time watch, Casino Royale is worth seeing only if you’re a big fan of James Bond, or like to watch dangerous casinos hosting card games. Or even if you like to watch late 1960s/early 1970s comedies which are so bad that they are good.


The Door
9.5

The Door

David achieved anything what he wanted in his life on his own: he became a very successful painter, and he has a wonderful daughter. But now he is having a difficult time. His seven-year-old daughter died and he blames himself for everything, since it happened because he made wrong desision. Since that tragic episode David got terribly depressed and doesn’t want to live anymore. But one day he discovers a mysterious door, which completely changes his life. The point is this door makes it possible to go back to the past and correct the mistakes made. But what seemed to be a happiness  and an opportunity to change everything,  turns to be a real horror, leading to irreversible consequences.


A Coffee In Berlin
9

A Coffee In Berlin

This film is an ironic story about one day and one night in the life of Nico Fischer. Niko is almost thirty, he had not finished the university, his girlfriend dumped him, his father denies financial support, and the psychiatrist confirms that his mentality is unstable. Looking for a solution and any amount of money, at least for a cup of coffee, Nico wanders through the streets of Berlin, what becomes a series of random meetings with familiar people and unfamiliar. Nico Fischer has no special thoughts, as well as life goals, and only dream of the day is to get a cup of coffee. Nico is an ambiguous character, whose behavior provokes incessant chain of comic situations…


One Way
8

One Way

The film tells us about a selfish liar Eddie (Til Schweiger), everything is going well in his life – he has a beautiful bride, and his business is good, and a lot of mistresses. And at the same time we can see a woman named Angelina (Lauren Lee Smith) with a difficult fate – she was raped by four thugs, when she was young and innocent. And how could this happen? Son of the owner of the advertising agency, where Eddie works, becomes her nightmare – he rapes her how he wants.

This is where the fun begins. Eddie is prevented from interceding for the girl, he is blackmailed with his love affairs. And it means the collapse of the everything, that a talented liar Eddie has achieved  – a happy marriage, a profitable business, peaceful sleep… and then Eddie agrees to the blackmailer conditions, who is the raper of Angelina… and gives false statement in court.


Sun Alley
7.5

Sun Alley

Michael (or ‘Micha’) is a 17-year-old boy, who lives with his friends near the Berlin Wall, that separates the, city on the eastern side of the Sun Alley. The same street that starts in West and ends in East Berlin. There are “Stasi” agents and political slogans in the east,and  bananas, dirty magazines, “Rolling Stones” CDs and nylon tights in the west. But Micha and his friends are not interested in fundamental differences between the “proletarian” East and “bourgeois” West. They just care about rock music, drinking and girls. Especially Miriam – incomparable girl who can stop a traffic making her grand entrance. Micha is willing to do anything for her. Love to unattainable Miriam, a dramatic change in the fate of his best friend Mario and civil disturbances on the street make Micha to think about his future…


The Tunnel
8.5

The Tunnel

Berlin, Germany, 1961. It is time of building of the Berlin Wall. GDR swimming champion Harry Melchior illegally moved to West Berlin. But his beloved sister Lotte and his family stayed in the East. His friends also had relatives in the GDR, who are waiting to be taken to the West. Harry offers to his friend, an engineer Matthias Hiller, to design and build the tunnel to East Berlin. Young girl Friederike ‘Fritzi’ Scholz joins them, wanting to “get” her bridegroom, but Harry suspects her of betraying. However, he changed his opinion after Fritz saves his life in the tunnel collapse.

Meanwhile, the Stasi never sleeps. Head of the Office for Combating illegal emigration Colonel Kröger recruits Hiller’s girlfriend Carola who was caught while trying to escape to the West (Hiller managed to escape). Carola getting close to Lotte, who has received news from Harry…


Vincent Wants to Sea
8

Vincent Wants to Sea

The main character is a young man named Vincent, who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome and his mother’s last wish is to see the sea. But after mother’s death his father, a successful politician who does not have neither the time nor the desire to bother with his sick son, takes him to the boarding house for people with mental illness. There Vincent meets Marie who has an eating disorder and Alexander, a compulsive young man. After the conflict with Dr. Rose, Marie steals the keys to her car and offers Vincent run away together from the hospital, and they are joined by Alexander by chance. The three of them are going to Italy, to the sea…


Vampire Sisters
8

Vampire Sisters

Two 12-year-old sisters are half-vampires, their father is pureblood vampire, and their mother is an ordinary woman. Both sisters are polar opposites of each other, but, however despite this, they are pretty close. First one is Dakaria (by the way, their names are very unique): dresses in black, has short black hair, she does not want to study at school and wants to become a real purely vampire. Second one is Silvania: she is a blonde with long hair, who dresses in bright light clothes, a diligent student, and she dreams to become a real pure human. They decided to move from Transylvania to a small town in Germany, where their mother is from. There they have to learn what it means to live among ordinary people: to fly only at night, do not walk on the ceiling and hide all of their superpowers.


Guardians
7.5

Guardians

The young girl – an orphan named Nina finds herself in not a very convenient situation: her friend was murdered almost near her, and the murderer is none other than Thomas Backer, an arms dealer, who is known around the world. Backer argues that it was self-defense, nothing more, but when he was told about the unexpected guest, the witness, who claims otherwise, the killer gives a command to find and get rid of the witness. At the same time, Nina is put into Witness Protection program. She is supervised by trained fighters, including a battle-hardened special forces soldier Max. However, after armed mercenaries find “shelter”, it becomes clear only one thing – someone gave them up. Nina and Max, who miraculously survived, start looking for a new shelter…