Actualités

Sylvester Groth shines in this East German movie about a luckless private in a Polish prison, thrown in with a group of defeated Nazi war criminals. For a country that usually paints the ideological divide in black and white red, Frank Beyer’s film of Hermann Kant’s semi-autobiographical story is surprisingly even-handed. An excellent addition to films from behind the old Iron Curtain.

Held for Questioning

DVD

The Defa Film Library

1982 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 98 min. / Der Aufenthalt, The Turning Point, Staying Alive / Availability noted August, 2017 / available through the Defa Film Library Store / 29.95

Starring: Sylvester Groth, Fred Düren, Matthias Günther, Klaus Piontek, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Alexander Van Heteren, Horst Hiemer, Günter Junghans, Krzysztof Chamiec, Gustaw Lutkiewicz, Roman Wilhelmi, Andrzej Krasicki, Zygmunt Maciejewski, Andrzej Pieczynski.

Cinematography: Eberhard Geick

Film Editor: Rita Hiller

Original Music: Günther Fischer

Written by Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Dieter Wolf from a novel by Hermann Kant

Produced by...

Get yer terrific long-suppressed film history right here, folks -- this is what it takes to get your movie banned in East Germany in 1965: Günter Stahnke makes a drama revealing forbidden capitalist-style competitiveness and dastardly backstabbing in a state-run industry. Think any of those Party censors would object? Spring Takes Time DVD Defa Film Library 1965 / B&W / 1:37 flat / 76 min. / Der Frühling braucht Zeit / Street Date March 2016 / available through The Defa Film Library / 29.95 Starring Eberhard Mellies, Günther Simon, Doris Abesser, Karla Runkehl, Rolf Hoppe, Erik S. Klein, Friedrich Richter, Elfriede Née. Cinematography Lothar Erdmann, Eckhardt Hartkopf, Hans-Jürgen Sasse, Kurt Schütt Film Editor Erika Lehmphul Original Music Gerhard Siebholz; 'The Sputniks' Written by Hermann O. Lauterbach, Konrad Schwalbe, Günter Stahnke Produced by Defa Directed by Günter Stahnke

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

So you think artists over Here have it bad... Günter Stahnke experienced some late-career fame at the 1990 Berlinale film festival,...

Experience the thrill of watching opera from the Royal Opera House in the comfort of the Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Boulevard, in The Loop, St. Louis, Mo, 63130) thanks to the ‘Royal Opera House at The Tivoli Theater’ series

We Are Movie Geeks has teamed up with the Tivoli Theater for a special giveaway! We have five pairs of tickets (a $30 value) for the first installment of this year’s ‘Royal Opera House at The Tivoli Theater’ which will be The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Hollände) The date is next Sunday March 29th and the show begins at Noon.

All you have to do is leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite opera is – it’s so easy! We’ll contact the winners in a few days. Good luck!

These operas are shown on the Tivoli’s big screen in their entirety, giving you the opportunity to enjoy the...

San Francisco — The San Francisco Opera will present the world premiere of Tobias Picker's "Dolores Claiborne" on Sept. 18 next year.

The company said Monday that the opera, with a libretto by J.D. McClatchy, will be based on Stephen King's 1992 novel about a character who denies killing her employer but admits murdering her husband almost three decades earlier after learning he sexually molested their 14-year-old daughter.

Mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick will sing the title character, soprano Elizabeth Futral will perform the elderly employer Vera Donovan, Susannah Biller the daughter Selena St. George, Wayne Tigges the husband Joe St. George, and Greg Fedderly will be Detective Thibodeau.

George Manahan conducts and James Robinson directs. There will be six performances through Oct. 4 of the staging, a co-production with the Opera Company of St. Louis.

This will be the fifth opera for Picker following "Emmeline" (1996), "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (1998), "Therese Raquin" (2001) and "An American Tragedy...