Bangkok Cinema Scene special: German Film Week, February 18-24, 2013

Seven acclaimed German movies will unspool over seven days during German Film Week, February 18 to 24 at Paragon Cineplex. Shows are at 7 nightly.

Tickets are free and may be reserved through the Goethe Institut – just follow the instructions on the Goethe website.

All are in German with English subtitles.

Here is the lineup:

February 18

Goethe! – Philipp Stölzl directs this 2010 biographical romantic drama covering the life of young writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. At 23, he's failed his law exams and is sent to the provinces. There, he falls in love with Lotte, a young woman who is promised to another man. Alexander Fehling and Miriam Stein star.

February 19

If not us, Who? (Wer wenn nicht wir) – This biographical drama covers the life and love of Bernward Vesper and Gudrun Ensslin, intellectuals who became involved in the Red Army Faction terrorist movement of the 1960s. August Diehl and Lena Lauzemis star. A nominee for the Golden Bear at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival, it won several prizes, including the bronze for outstanding feature at the German Film Awards.

February 20

The System (Das System - Alles verstehen heißt alles verzeihen) – In Rostock, in the former East Germany, a young slacker and petty thief is caught breaking into a building by a man who was a former member of the Stasi secret police. He's then drawn into the man's shadowy web of corruption.

February 21

Storm – Kerry Fox stars as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. She is conducting a case against a Serbian war criminal and heads to Sarajevo to track down the sister of a dead witness. Hans-Christian Schmid directs. It won several prizes at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, including the Amnesty International Award, as well as the silver for outstanding feature at the German Film Awards.

February 22

Berlin is in Germany – A convict and former citizen of the German Democratic Republic (Jörg Schüttauf) is released from prison after 11 years and struggles to cope with life in "Old East Berlin" and the reunified Germany. It won several awards, including the Panorama Audience Award at the 2001 Berlin fest and best from from the German Critics Association.

February 23

Whisky with Vodka – A hard-drinking womanizing actor (Henry Hübchen) misses too many days on the film set and has to contend with another actor (Markus Hering) being double-cast for his role.


February 24

Rapunzel – Luisa Wietzorek lets down her hair in this live-action TV-movie retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.