News

Weydemann Bros., the Berlin- based production house behind 2019 sleeper hit System Crasher and this year’s Locarno winner No One’s With the Calves, has teamed up with writer Alexander Dydyna (Young Goethe in Love) and director David Sieveking (David Wants to Fly) for its next project, a climate crisis comedy called Unser Zuhause Brennt (Our House Is Burning).

The plot imagines a comfortable suburban family whose lifestyle, and carbon footprint, are challenged by their daughter Zora, a Greta Thunberg-like climate activist. But her efforts to get everyone on board the mission to save the planet stirs up old conflicts and ends up triggering an ...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they acquired North American rights to Giulio Ricciarelli's directorial debut Labyrinth of Lies from sales agent Beta Cinema. The film, based on a true story, exposes the conspiracy of certain prominent institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during WWII.

Labyrinth of Lies will have its world premiere on Friday at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is produced by Claussen + W&#246bke + Putz Filmproduktion in co-production with Naked Eye Film Production and stars Alexander Fehling (Inglourious Basterds, Young Goethe in Love), Andre Szymanski, Johann von B&#252low and Friederike Becht (The Reader, Young Goethe in Love) and Gert Voss.

In Labyrinth of Lies the economic miracle is changing the life of Germans in post-war Germany 20 years later. Most of them are sick of the war and prefer to push their guilt to the back of their mind.

Before it debuts in Canada, the Germany-set drama “Labyrinth of Lies” has already found a North American home. Also read: Toronto Fest Buyers Beware: Last Year's Pickups Fizzled at the Box Office The specialty label has scooped up Giulio Ricciarelli's directorial debut, a fact-based thriller that “exposes the conspiracy of certain prominent institutions and government branches to cover up the crimes of Nazis during WWII.” Also read: Are Toronto's Big Deals, ‘Top Five’ and ‘While We're Young,’ Worth the Money? The film stars Alexander Fehling (“Inglorious Basterds,” “Young Goethe in Love”), André Szymanski, Johann von Bülow and Friederike Becht (“The Reader,...

In the year that we commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I, the BBC have looked beyond the devastation of this earlier conflict to World War II, and the war on the Eastern Front with original German drama series Generation War.

In the swirling chaos of the World War, Generation War crafts a tragic and intimate story of the lives of five friends who are impacted by the events of the German invasion of Russia.

For part one of our Generation War special feature, HeyUGuys had the privilege to speak with Volker Bruch who plays Wilhelm Winter, one of the tragic five lead characters. Volker looked back not only to the past of turbulent war, but to the roots of his career. He also shared with us amongst other things his thoughts on Generation War as a ghost story, albeit in a different sense of the word, his frequent...

Aaron Eckhart must protect his young daughter (Liana Liberato) in the new poster and eight photos for Erased. Philipp St&#246lzl (Young Goethe in Love) directs this intense thriller that centers on a former CIA agent (Aaron Eckhart) who must do whatever it takes to keep his daughter safe, after they both have been mysteriously marked for death as a part of an international conspiracy. Check out the one-sheet and the photos, which feature Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, and Olga Kurylenko.

Erased comes to theaters May 10th, 2013 and stars Olga Kurylenko, Aaron Eckhart, Liana Liberato, Neil Napier, Alexander Fehling, Kate Linder, Eric Godon, Garrick Hagon. The film is directed by Philipp Stölzl.

Back in the Gdr: Hebbeln’s Debut Feature Revisits Political Turmoil of East Germany

Writer/director Toke Constantin Hebbeln follows up his 2006 short film Nevermore with this Stasi inspired period piece, Shores of Hope (aka No Man’s Land). A tale of the East vs. West struggle disguised in a drama concerning the separation of two best friends as they try to attain their goals as dock workers in 1982 Rostock, Hebbeln manages to conjure up some minor dramatic tension with this witch hunt scenario, but ultimately, ends up failing us with a by-the-numbers narrative arc.

Conny (Alexander Fehling) and Andreas (August Diehl) are two wannabe dock workers in Rostock, having a dream to get out of the rigid political climate of East Germany and work out on the sea. But soon after being hired, they realize that getting off the docks and on a ship out to sea requires more...

Mark Duplass has had busy couple of years, directing and writing three films with his brother, and starring in a number of projects including the raunchy FX comedy, “The League,” and in the upcoming sci-fi tinged indie dramedy “Safety Not Guaranteed” with Aubrey Plaza. He’s following up that role with one in another indie film with a sci-fi element, “Convention,” and he’s going to be acting opposite some pretty big names.

Duplass will be playing an inventor who unveils his latest creation at a national box convention: the five-sided box. The mysterious new design initially seems perfect, until Duplass’ inventor learns that each time its special fold is created, he rips a hole in the space-time continuum. It’s up to him and his sister to put things back together and save the role. Jennifer Aniston is circling the sister role and Ben Kingsley is officially signed up...

With The Dictator in theaters, Iron Man 3 about to shoot, and a role in Convention being announced just a few days back, we’re being inundated with Ben Kingsley at the moment; savor it while it lasts. Adding to that influx would be the news that he, Stellan Skarsgård, Tom Payne, and Olivier Martinez are planning to lead The Physician, an adaptation of Noah Gordon‘s medieval novel that Philipp Stölzl (Young Goethe in Love) will direct. [THR]

Adapted for film by Jan Berger, The Physician follows Rob Cole (Payne), a (you know what he does) trying to uncover the secrets behind “illness and healing in a medieval world dominated by religion and superstition.” Trying to help him in that quest would be Ibn Sina (Kingsley), a super-doctor, and Barber (Skarsgård), his mentor & guide; Martinez is playing Shah Ala ad-Daula.

We can’t zero in on the film’s true potential just yet,...

The Physician lands Alexander Skarsgard, Ben Kingsley and Tom Payne in adaptation of Noah Gordon's bestseller The Ufa Cinema adaptation of the story concerning a medieval healer traveling from England to Persia in order to study medicine, is being helmed by Young Goethe In Love director Phillip Stoelzl, reports Variety. Script comes from Jan Berger, and tells of Rob Cole (played by Payne), a poor orphan in an 11th Century English mining town who travels to Persia to study medicine under philosopher-scientist Ibn Sina (Kingsley). Dark Water's Olivier Martinez also forms part of the cast as the Shah of Persia. Filming is scheduled to start in June in Morocco and Germany. Olivier Martinez as the Persian shah...

The Physician lands Stellan Skarsgard, Ben Kingsley and Tom Payne in adaptation of Noah Gordon's bestseller The Ufa Cinema adaptation of the story concerning a medieval healer traveling from England to Persia in order to study medicine, is being helmed by Young Goethe In Love director Phillip Stoelzl, reports Variety. Script comes from Jan Berger, and tells of Rob Cole (played by Payne), a poor orphan in an 11th Century English mining town who travels to Persia to study medicine under philosopher-scientist Ibn Sina (Kingsley). Dark Water's Olivier Martinez also forms part of the cast as the Shah of Persia. Filming is scheduled to start in June in Morocco and Germany. Olivier Martinez as the Persian shah...

The Physician lands Stellan Skarsgard, Ben Kingsley and Tom Payne in adaptation of Noah Gordon's bestseller The Ufa Cinema adaptation of the story concerning a medieval healer traveling from England to Persia in order to study medicine, is being helmed by Young Goethe In Love director Phillip Stoelzl, reports Variety. Script comes from Jan Berger, and tells of Rob Cole (played by Payne), a poor orphan in an 11th Century English mining town who travels to Persia to study medicine under philosopher-scientist Ibn Sina (Kingsley). Dark Water's Olivier Martinez also forms part of the cast as the Shah of Persia. Filming is scheduled to start in June in Morocco and Germany. Olivier Martinez as the Persian shah...

Chicago – “Young Goethe in Love” is not the sort of title guaranteed to send American audiences to the theater in droves. For one thing, the title sounds too much like “Shakespeare in Love,” though its original German title, “Goethe!” sounds like a giddy musical along the lines of “Oliver!” Perhaps Goethe’s name should’ve been cut from the title altogether and relegated to a snappy tagline like, “Love Can Cometh and Goethe in an Instant.”

Thankfully, a poorly titled and under-marketed cinematic gem can find the audience it deserves with the help of good critical buzz, and here’s hoping that will happen to Philipp Stölzl’s irresistible 2010 period romance upon its DVD realease. The future master of Weimer Classicism was a mere 23-year-old when he first penned 1774’s “The Sorrows of Young Werner,” which heavily influenced the subsequent Romantic literary movement, as well as inspire a wave of...

DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012

Price: DVD $29.95

Studio: Music Box

Alexander Fehling falls for Miriam Stein in Young Goethe in Love.

The 2011 German drama-romance filmYoung Goethe in Love examines the young adult years in the life of Germany’s revered writer, philosopher and poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe and the unrequited love that inspired him to greatness.

Young Goethe In Love follows the young Johann Wolfgang Goethe (Alexander Fehling, Inglourious Basterds) in 1772 as he struggles in his budding career as a lawyer even as he yearns to be a poet. After failing his law exams, he is sent by his father (Henry Huebchen) to the sleepy town of Wetzlar to toil as a law clerk and mend his ways. Soon after arriving, Johann meets the boisterous, crimson-tressed Lotte Buff (Miriam Stein), and the two fall in love. But their road to romance is filled with obstacles—employers to be obeyed, fathers to...

Young Goethe In Love was originally reviewed as part of the 2011 Stella Artois 20th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival

In the tradition of films such as Nowhere Boy and Shakespeare In Love comes another film depicting the per-recognition, early days of a now world famous artist- Young Goethe In Love. The title truly gets the main thrust of the story. We meet poet Johann Goethe in the later part of the eighteenth century as the twenty-something law student botches his Ph.D. and fails to graduate. But he’s got a back-up plan! He puts pen to paper, dashes off a play, and ships it away. The rejection of this work prompts his stern father to send him off to a small hamlet where he will toil as a law clerk in the local court. After arriving, his desk mate Wilheim suggests they go dancing. It is at the...

In the tradition of films such as Nowhere Boy and Shakespeare In Love comes another film depicting the per-recognition, early days of a now world famous artist- Young Goethe In Love. The title truly gets the main thrust of the story. We meet poet Johann Goethe in the later part of the eighteenth century as the twenty-something law student botches his Ph.D. and fails to graduate. But he’s got a back-up plan! He puts pen to paper, dashes off a play, and ships it away. The rejection of this work prompts his stern father to send him off to a small hamlet where he will toil as a law clerk in the local court. After arriving, his desk mate Wilheim suggests they go dancing. It is at the dance hall where Johann meets the boisterous, beautiful Lotte Buff. The attraction is instant and after several false starts the two finally begin a romance.

The holiday movie season is kicking in to gear this week with one of the most unlikely Christmas movies to date: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. While the stoner comedy will be looking to improve on the box office numbers from the first two Harold and Kumar films (thanks in part to higher 3D ticket prices), it's going to have a tough time going up against the defending champ Puss in Boots plus Brett Ratner's Tower Heist starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. There isn't much else in terms of new releases this week other than those two flicks, however, with crime thriller The Son of No One starring Channing Tatum and Al Pacino being the only noteworthy entry in limited release. What will you be watching this weekend and what are your box office predictions? Tower Heist A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas The Son of No One...

Brett Ratner's timely Tower Heist taps into anti-Wall Street sentiment and is just what you'd expect: competent, breezy, escapist entertainment. The well-cast Madoff-inspired comedy--which stars Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Tea Leoni, Alan Alda and Eddie Murphy in a supporting comeback bid--is expected to take in $29 million this weekend, while R-rated sequel A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas 3D could score $15.5 million. In the mood for something smaller or more serious? Check out several indie documentaries (SXSW winner Dragonslayer, Charlotte Rampling: The Look and The Other F Word), dramas (Another Happy Day, Son of No One) and even a decadent-looking German period piece about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe--Young Goethe in Love. Reviews, details and trailers below: Dragonslayer, Drag City, Us | Director: Tristan Patterson ...

Though the title Young Goethe In Love is more descriptive than the film’s original German title, Goethe!, it suggests less about what viewers can expect from this story about the love life of a young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The film seems designed to ask a question no one was asking: “Could the events that inspired Goethe’s breakthrough work, The Sorrows Of Young Werther—a book that helped kick-start the Romantic movement, inspired a generation of young men to emulate its tortured hero, and possibly caused an uptick in European suicides—serve as fodder for a frolicsome costume ...

ComingSoon.net has your exclusive first look at a new clip from Young Goethe in Love , directed by Philipp Stolzl and starring Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein, Moritz Bleibtreu and Volker Bruch. Germany 1772 . the young, dashing Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Alexander Fehling) aspires to be a poet, but, after failing his law exams, is sent by his father (Henry Huebchen) to a provincial court to mend his ways. Unsure of his talent and eager to prove himself, Goethe soon wins the praise and friendship of his superior, Kestner (Moritz Bleibtreu). Goethe soon falls madly in love with the pretty and free-spirited Lotte (Miriam Stein,) but their secret love affair is compromised as the young lovers are unaware that Lotte's father has already promised her hand to another man... Young...

1. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows: Grade C-

A painfully typical poster using the destruction of a familiar landmark to catch our eyes. Haven’t we learned anything from Roland Emmerich?

2. The Mighty Macs: Grade C

The most inspiring mediocre poster I’ve seen in years.

3. The Human Centipede 2: Grade B

It is sexy and exploitative, and you can’t help but squirm.

4. J. Edgar: Grade B

I think this film looks like another dull biopic, but that isn’t the fault of this poster, which is wonderfully garish.

5. Shame: Grade A

Simple and evocative. You can feel every groove and spring in that bed.

6. To Gala: Grade B

There is nothing particularly remarkable about this poster, but I love the framing, and the color.

7. Young Goethe in Love: Grade B

This poster certainly has the fairytale feel to it, complete with what looks to be a decaying castle or villa.

Music Box Films has announced the release dates of “Young Goethe in Love,” starring Alexander Fehling (“Inglorious Basterds”), “Miriam Stein, Moritz Bleibtreu (“The Baader Meinhof Complex), Volker Bruch (“The Reader”), Blughart KlauBner (“The White Ribbon”) and Henry Hübchen. The film, written by Alexander Dydyna, Christoph Müller and director Philipp Stolzl, as well as being the official selection of several film festivals including the Seattle, Miami, Florida, Washington, DC, Palm Springs and Scottsdale International Film Festivals and the Atlanta Film Festval and EU Festival in Chicago, will open in Los Angeles and New York November 4, followed by a national release. Here’s the synopsis of “Young Goethe in Love”: “Germany 1772...

Two first looks at what are upcoming B-movies? Hard to say, you be the judge. The first is the action thriller "The Expatriate" starring Aaron Eckhart. It's a picture without many stars outside of Olga Kurylenko, and while she's certainly attractive, she's hardly a big star. The film is directed by Philipp Stölzl, a German director known for "North Face," "Young Goethe in Love" and music videos by Garbage, Evanescence and Rammstein. ''I learned a lot about self-reliance, street fighting, how to get out of a knife fight, stuff like that,'' Eckhart told EW who brings us this first look…...