German Movies That are Not About Nazis (or the Stasi!)

When people in the US ask me whether they should learn German, I respond with another question: "How much do you want to learn about World War II?" Because my German-learning experience felt in many respects like a six-year seminar on the Holocaust (with some Wiedervereinigung thrown in).

I'm not sure of the reasons for that--maybe they want to make sure that we never forget how sucky Germans were/are, and continue to be loyal to America--but I know that it's not the case in other countries. At the Goethe-Institut in Schwäbisch Hall, for example, one of the classes mentioned the various Nazification laws in the 1930s. Of couse, my American friend in the class, having taken five years of German class in the States, was ready to roll: she began ticking off dates, laws, and penalties as the French, Japanese, and Romanian students in the class, who had been taking German just as long, looked on in bewilderment. 

And some people really enjoy that. They study German because they're interested in the Holocaust, or in music, or in nineteenth-century philosophers, or in Romantic literature. But I'm not one of those people. I'm still not quite sure why I love studying German so much, or why I am so enthralled with Austria, but it has nothing to do with music, mountains, or Nazis. I enjoy experiencing the ways more global cultural elements take on a German / Austrian spin: for example, I read a feminist blog auf Deutsch, and I love German hip-hop.

I also love watching German movies. Unfortunately, the German movies that are well-known in America always seem to discuss the same themes. (Even the most famous "Austrian" movie of all time is half-cheerful frolic through the mountains, half-"Oh shit, the Nazis!") Some of these films are even great. But there's a lot more to German-speaking cinema than Downfall, Goodbye Lenin, and Das Leben der Anderen. Here are some of my favorites.

Jenseits der Stille (Beyond the Silence, 1996)

Although I remember liking this film when we watched it way back in German III at Baldwin High School, the tale of a young girl caught between the world of her deaf parents and her passion for music made an even greater impression on me when I watched it a few days ago. A beautiful, heartbreaking film about families in all their complexities -- the generational conflict, the submerged battles, the festering hurt, and the deep, penetrating love.

Keinohrhasen (Rabbit with No Ears, 2007)

This is a rom-com, pure and simple, its frothy fun made no less enjoyable by the fact that it's in another language. (Sidenote: The idea that German cannot be a language of love is completely false.) I discovered this film when I saw that several of my (female) Austrian friends listed it on their Facebook profiles as one of their favorite movies. It also stars Til Schweiger, who is a very famous German actor you might remember as a sort-of-not-Nazi in Inglourious Basterds.

Sommersturm (Summer Storm, 2004)

A coming-of-age film about what happens to a group of teenagers from a rural area when they attend the same rowing camp as a team (from Berlin, of course) consisting entirely of gay teens. If you, like me, think that teenagers blooming into their sexuality (in whatever form) is a beautiful, simultaneously powerful and fragile thing to witness, you'll be touched by this film.

Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot (Grave Decisions, 2006)

This movie is hilarious, clear proof that in addition to being decent lovers, Germans can also be quite funny. A young boy, seeking to atone for the death of his mother, gets some bad advice on how to cleanse his soul of sin, which he follows to the letter. Much hilarity ensues, not least because everyone in the film speaks in a thick Bavarian accent -- even native German speakers need to turn on the subtitles for this one.