Top Ranked Films from Germany

This continues our top ranked films on the internet survey, by individual countries. The first list is just Germany, and we merged West Germany into these; 49 total, with 35 in the top 1000. The second list is just the multi-country collaberations that included Germany, 43 mentioned, with 38 in the top 1000.
© 2009, William L. Sinclair

Germany and West Germany

1. M [Lang, Fritz; 1931] #11
2. Metropolis [Lang, Fritz; 1927] #23
3. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens [Murnau, F.W.; 1922] #48
4. Aguirre: The Wrath of God [Herzog, Werner; 1972] #72
5. Lives of Others, The [von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel; 2006] #163 [photo rt]
6. Berlin Alexanderplatz [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1980] #197
7. Das Boot [Peterson, Wolfgang; 1981] #245
8. Pandora's Box [Pabst, G.W.; 1928] #251
9. Blue Angel, The [von Sternberg, Josef; 1930] #273
10. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The [Wiene, Robert; 1919] #326 11. Last Laugh [Murnau, F.W.; 1924] #425
12. Marriage of Maria Braun, The [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1979] #426
13. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1971] #435
14. Triumph of the Will [Riefenstahl, Leni; 1935] #455
15. Downfall [Hirschbiegel, Oliver; 2004] #484
16. Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler [Lang, Fritz; 1922] #487
17. Kings of the Road [Wenders, Wim; 1976] #490
18. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1972] #524
19. Olympia [Riefenstahl, Leni; 1938] #532
20. In a Year with 13 Moons [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1978] #538
21. Fitzcarraldo [Herzog, Werner; 1982] #566
22. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The [Herzog, Werner; 1974] #573
23. Alice in the Cities [Wenders, Wim; 1974] #580
24. Faust [Murnau, F.W.; 1926] #585
25. Fox and His Friends [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1975] #706
26. Tiger of Eschnapur, The [Lang, Fritz; 1959] #741
27. Heimat (Homeland) [Reitz, Edgar; 1984] #823
28. Grizzly Man [Herzog, Werner; 2005] #840
29. Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, The [Straub, Jean-Marie; 1968] #843
30. Tin Drum, The [Schlöndorff, Volker; 1979] #852
31. Hitler: A Film from Germany [Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen; 1977] #857
32. Liebelei [Ophüls, Max; 1933] #867
33. Threepenny Opera, The [Pabst, G.W.; 1931] #878
34. Not Reconciled [Straub, Jean-Marie; 1965] #896
35. Kameradschaft [Pabst, G.W.; 1931] #921
36. Mädchen in Uniform [Sagan, Leontine; 1931] #1004
37. Die Nibelungen [Lang, Fritz; 1924] #1010
38. Diary of a Lost Girl [Pabst, G.W.; 1929] #1013
39. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City [Ruttmann, Walter; 1927] #1018
40. American Friend, The [Wenders, Wim; 1977] #1022
41. Under the Bridges [Kaütner, Helmut; 1945] #1076
42. Veronika Voss [Fassbinder, Rainer Werner; 1982] #1081
43. Land of Silence and Darkness [Herzog, Werner; 1971] #1092
44. Rocker [Lemke, Klaus; 1972] #1127
45. Yesterday Girl [Kluge, Alexander; 1966] #1159
46. Variety [Dupont, E.A.; 1925] #1181
47. Lessons of Darkness [Herzog, Werner; 1992] #1188
48. Spione [Lang, Fritz; 1928] #1205
49. People on Sunday [Siodmak, Robert & Edgar G. Ulmer; 1930] #1270

Lang, Murnau, Herzog - these are not only deservedly at the top of this list but are also among my favorite directors. Each seemed to make his films into works of art. Fitzcarraldo remains a favorite 'obsession on film', a grand adventure as crazy as its director. I was also riveted by The Lives of Others, and Das Boot. Even today, the filmmaking artistry of Leni Reifenstahl is undeniable; she undoubtably gets moved down the list because it's all Third Reich propaganda, but those interested in creative camera work and direction should definitely see these, at least Olympia, which documented the 1936 Olympics.

Multi-Country with Germany

1. Conformist, The [Bertolucci, Bernardo; 1970] #76 - Italy-France-Germany
2. City of God [Meirelles, Fernando; 2002] #192 - Brazil-Germany-France
3. Wings of Desire [Wenders, Wim; 1987] #247 - France-West Germany
4. Fight Club [Fincher, David; 1999] #275 - US-Germany
5. Hiroshima mon amour [Resnais, Alain; 1959] #284 - France-Japan
6. Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The [Demy, Jacques; 1964] #289 - France-Germany
7. Tristana [Buñuel, Luis; 1970] #315 - France-Spain
8. Vampyr [Dreyer, Carl Theodor; 1932] #316 - France-Germany
9. 1900 [Bertolucci, Bernardo; 1976] #368 - France-Germany-Italy
10. L'Argent [Bresson, Robert; 1983] #442 - France-Switzerland
11. Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The [Schnabel, Julian; 2008] #443 - France-US
12. Germany, Year Zero [Rossellini, Roberto; 1947] #467 - Italy-West Germany
13. Mulholland Dr. [Lynch, David; 2001] #477 - France-US
14. In the Realm of the Senses [Oshima, Nagisa; 1976] #479 - France-Japan
15. That Obscure Object of Desire [Buñuel, Luis; 1977] #496 - France-Spain
16. Wind Will Carry Us, The [Kiarostami, Abbas; 1999] #511 - France-Iran
17. F for Fake [Welles, Orson; 1973] #525 - France-Iran-West Germany
18. Sacrifice, The [Tarkovsky, Andrei; 1986] #586 - France-Sweden
19. Werckmeister Harmonies [Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes; 2000] #611 - Hung-It-Germany-France
20. Triplets of Belleville, The [Chomet, Sylvain; 2003] #624 - France-Belg-Can-UK
21. Dead Man [Jarmusch, Jim; 1995] #636 - US-Germany
22. Three Colours: Blue [Kieslowski, Krszystof; 1993] #654 - France-Poland-Switzerland
23. Three Colours: Red [Kieslowski, Krszystof; 1994] #656 - France-Switzerland-Poland
24. Persepolis [Paronnaud, Vincent & Satrapi, Marjane; 2007] #694 - France-US
25. Passion [Godard, Jean-Luc; 1982] #704 - France-Switzerland
26. Sauve qui peut (la vie) [Godard, Jean-Luc; 1980] #716 - France-Switzerland
27. Damned, The [Visconti, Luchino; 1969] #728 - Italy-West Germany
28. Ludwig [Visconti, Luchino; 1972] #749 - France-Germany-Italy
29. Underground [Kusturica, Emir; 1995] #757 - France-Germany-Hungary
30. Fateless [Koltai, Lajos; 2005] #824 - Hungary-Germany
31. Indian Tomb, The [Lang, Fritz; 1959] #877 - France-Italy-West Germany
32. I'm Going Home [de Oliveira, Manoel; 2001] #882 - France-Portugal
33. Seraphine [Provost, Martin; 2008] #893 - France-Belg
34. Sweet Sixteen [Loach, Ken; 2002] #927 - UK-Germany-Spain
35. Three Colours: White [Kieslowski, Krszystof; 1994] #956 - France-Poland
36. Edge of Heaven, The [Akin, Fatih; 2007] #962 - Germany-Tky-Italy
37. Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, The [Butler, George; 2000] #968 - Sw-UK-Germany-US
38. Tenant, The [Polanski, Roman; 1976] #991 - France-US
39. Trial, The [Welles, Orson; 1962] #1052 - Fr-Germany-Yugo-Italy
40. Paragraph 175 [Epstein, Rob & Friedman, Jeffrey; 2000] #1063 - UK-US-Germany
41. Tale of the Wind, A [Ivens, Joris; 1988] #1066 - UK-France-Germany
42. Eternity and a Day [Angelopoulos, Theo; 1998] #1125 - Greece-Fr-It-Germany
43. Kingdom (Riget) [von Trier, Lars; 1994] #1193 - Den-Fr-Germany-Sweden

The Conformist remains one of my favorite films from any era. For me, Bertolucci's finest, and the influence on Coppola is obvious as this seems to have inspired the Godfather films. City of God is a modern masterpiece, a literal war in the streets of what's considered the worst slums in our hemisphere; this is my favorite Brazilian film. Fight Club is great fun, I laughed throughout and later found out director Fincher said "I make comedies, why don't people laugh in the theater?" - well, I did; this is brillliant insanity, plus Helena Bonham Carter.

Top Ranked Fantasy Films

Top Ranked fantasy films from our internet film survey. As you can tell, many of these cross at least two genres, as Wizard of Oz was also the #1 ranked musical, but who could argue that it's major appeal is its creation of a unique and popular fantasy world, one where everyone serves "the great and powerful wizard of oz", who is really an American huckster using illusion and intimidation to control others - some things never change!
© 2009, William L. Sinclair

1. Wizard of Oz, The [Fleming, Victor, 1939, US] #18 -Musical
2. Metropolis [Lang, Fritz, 1927, Germany] #23 -SciFi [photo top]
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark [Spielberg, Steven, 1981, US] #34 -Adventure [rt]
4. 8½ [Fellini, Federico, 1963, Italy] #37 -Drama
5. Sunrise [Murnau, F. W. , 1928, US] #38 -Romance
6. King Kong [Cooper, Merian C. /Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933, US] #40 -Horror
7. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens [Murnau, F. W., 1922, Germany] #48 -Horror
8. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The [Jackson, Peter, 2001, US-New Zealand] #84 -War/Adventure
9. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The [Jackson, Peter, 2003, US-New Zealand] #97 -War/Adventure
10. Shining, The [Kubrick, Stanley, 1980, US] #109 -Horror
11. Celine and Julie Go Boating [Rivette, Jacques, 1974, France] #141 -Mystery
12. Exorcist, The [Friedkin, William, 1973, US] #143 -Horror
13. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The [Jackson, Peter, 2002, US-New Zealand] #144 -War/Adventure
14. Pan's Labyrinth [del Toro, Guillermo, 2006, Mexico] #154 -Drama
15. Donnie Darko [Kelly, Richard, 2001, US] #228 -Drama
16. La Belle et la bête (Beauty/Beast) [Cocteau, Jean, 1946, France] #242 -Romance
17. Wings of Desire [Wenders, Wim, 1987, France-W. Germany] #247 -Romance
18. Un Chien Andalou [Buñuel, Luis, 1928, France] #256 -Art
19. Spirited Away [Miyazaki, Hayao, 2001, Japan] #259 -Adventure
20. Les Vampires [Feuillade, Louis , 1916, France] #266 -Horror
21. Matter of Life and Death, A [Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger, 1946, UK] #280 -Romance
22. Vampyr [Dreyer, Carl Theodor, 1932, France-Germany] #316 -Horror
23. Night of the Living Dead [Romero, George A., 1968, US] #331 -Horror
24. Voyage dans la lune, Le (Trip to the Moon) [Méliès, Georges, 1902, France] #335 -SciFi
25. Suspiria [Argento, Dario, 1977, Italy] #351 -Horror
26. Orpheus [Cocteau, Jean, 1950, France] #364 -Romance
27. Princess Bride, The [Reiner, Rob, 1987, US] #381 -Comedy
28. Eyes Without a Face [Franju, Georges, 1959, France-Italy] #400 -Horror
29. Thief of Bagdad, The [Powell, Michael, Berger, & Whelan, 1940, UK] #434 -Adventure
30. Miracle in Milan [De Sica, Vittorio, 1951, Italy] #475 -Drama
31. Meshes of the Afternoon [Deren, Maya, 1943, US] #476 -Short
32. Prestige, The [Nolan, Christopher, 2006, US] #486 -Mystery
33. Batman Begins [Nolan, Christopher, 2005, Algeria-Italy] #517 -Adventure
34. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [Spielberg, Steven, 1989, US] #519 -Adventure
35. Carrie [De Palma, Brian, 1976, US] #521 -Horror
36. If… [Anderson, Lindsay, 1968, UK] #534 -Drama
37. Mononoke-hime (anime) [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1997, UK] #554 -Adventure
38. Dawn of the Dead [Romero, George A. , 1978, US] #555 -Horror
39. Superman II [Lester, Richard, 1980, US] #556 -Adventure
40. Faust [Murnau, F. W., 1926, Germany] #585 -Horror
41. My Neighbour Totoro [Miyazaki, Hayao, 1988, Japan] #591 -Childrens
42. Eraserhead [Lynch, David, 1977, US] #601 -Horror
43. Werckmeister Harmonies [Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes, 2000, Hun-Ity-Gy-France] #613 -Society
44. Fast Runner, The [Kunuk, Zacharias, 2001, Canada] #621 -Drama
45. Dead Man [Jarmusch, Jim, 1995, US-Germany] #637 -Western
46. Evil Dead II [Raimi, Sam, 1987, US] #640 -Horror
47. India Song [Duras, Marguerite, 1975, France] #642 -Romance
48. I Walked with a Zombie [Tourneur, Jacques, 1943, US] #686 -Horror
49. Blood of a Poet, The [Cocteau, Jean, 1930, France] #693 -Drama
50. Videodrome [Cronenberg, David, 1983, Canada] #706 -Horror
51. Innocents, The [Clayton, Jack, 1961, UK] #743 -Horror
52. Time of the Gypsies [Kusturica, Emir, 1988, Yugoslavia] #769 -Crime
53. Big Fish [Burton, Tim, 2003, US] #772 -Comedy
54. Arabian Nights [Pasolini, Pier Paolo, 1974, France-Italy] #866 -Comedy
55. Phantom Carriage, The [Sjöström, Victor, 1921, Sweden] #875 -Horror
56. Orlando [Potter, Sally, 1992, UK-Russ-Fr-Ity-Neth] #910 -Adventure
57. Peter Ibbetson [Hathaway, Henry, 1935, US] #916 -Romance
58. Yeelen [Cissé, Souleymane, 1987, Mali] #944 -Adventure
59. Die Nibelungen [Lang, Fritz, 1924, Germany] #1014 -Adventure
60. Destiny (Between Two Worlds, US) [Lang, Fritz, 1921, US] #1040 -Romance
61. Host, The [Bong, Joon-ho, 2006, Korea] #1046 -Com
62. Tales of Hoffmann, The [Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger, 1951, UK] #1058 -Musical
63. Hour of the Wolf [Bergman, Ingmar, 1968, Sweden] #1076 -Horror
64. Dracula [Fisher, Terence, 1958, US] #1109 -Horror
65. Lost Highway [Lynch, David, 1997, US] #1117 -Mystery
66. Kwaidan [Kobayashi, Masaki, 1964, Japan] #1156 -Horror
67. Excalibur [Boorman, John, 1981, UK] #1159 -Adventure
68. Lucifer Rising [Anger, Kenneth, 1972, US] #1166 -Short
69. The Thief of Bagdad [Walsh, Raoul, 1924, US] #1173 -Adventure
70. Kingdom (Riget) [von Trier, Lars, 1994, Den-Fr-Gy-Sweden] #1196 -Horror
71. Heaven Can Wait [Lubitsch, Ernst, 1943, US] #1214 -Comedy
72. Lost Horizon [Capra, Frank, 1937, US] #1232 -Adventure

To These I Would Add
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T [Rowland, Roy, 1952] - wonderful kids fantasy of an evil piano teacher, co-written by Dr. Seuss
Defending Your Life [Brooks, Albert, 1991] - afterlife fantasy of Brooks', where he meets Meryl Streep, while on trial for a 'final judgment' with shoddy defense lawyer Rip Torn - hilarious!