The best Ulrich Thein’s movies

Professor Hans Mamlock is the distinguished chief of surgery in a university hospital. The year is 1933, and although the Professor is Jewish, he remains unconcerned with politics and the growing Nazi threat. Mamlock identifies strongly as a German, and he believes his culture to be simply incapable of the common barbarism associated with the Nazi party. Accordingly, he shows little understanding for people with strong or unpopular political views, such as Walter, a patient, and Rolf, his own son. Indeed, when Rolf joins the communists in resisting the Nazis, Mamlock throws him out of his house. As the persecution of Jews intensifies during the 1930s, Mamlock's own daughter is targeted for anti-Semitic attacks at her school...

In the mid-1950s, mayor Zwischenzahl is killed on the day of his inauguration in a West German town. The killer is Ruth Bodenheim, a Jewish woman, who wanted to avenge the death of her parents. Zwischenzahl, a former SA member, was apparently involved in the deportation of her parents to a concentration camp during the war. Ruth cannot bear the horrible events and the death of her parents and wants to open the eyes of the town′s residents.

It is the year 1936 and the Spanish Civil War is raging. When the German commander of an international brigade is badly wounded he gives his five comrades a message which he divides up and secretes into in five cartridges. All five shells must reach the battalion in order for the message to be relayed. But Frenchman Pierre can’t bear the heat of the Sierra. When he leaves their hide-out to drink from a well he is hit by an enemy bullet.

Mid-1950s Berlin, before the building of the Wall. Uschi, a salesgirl and aspiring fashion model from the East, is attracted to Hans, from the West. But she also loves the bright shop windows in his part of the city. The flashiness of this new world soon evaporates, however, when Hans loses his job.

Film by Ulrich Thein.

Two boys from West Berlin, Klaus and Max, live in poverty. They dream of a career in boxing and save every penny in order to buy boxing gloves for training. Nevertheless, they cannot seem to save enough and so they let themselves be hired by the bartender Klott for a twisted scheme. However, Klaus overhears one of Klott's conversations and learns that Klott intends for the boys to steal horses from the East Berlin Barlay Circus, where Klaus recently made some good friends. Indignant, he sets out to stop the robbery—and an adventurous action story results.

Ella Conradi, a dedicated journalist from Germany, is in Jerusalem to report about the trial against the Nazi criminal Eichmann. Disgusted by the monstrosities that are revealed, she eventually returns to Germany. There, she wants to cover common cases and trials again. Her first assignment is a murder trial against a man called Ralf Jordan who constantly maintains his innocence. Conradi, who believes Jordan and wants to help him, starts to investigate the case - and thus opens up a political can of worms. The backgrounds of the case reach back to the Nazi period and involve officials of the Third Reich, who in the meantime have returned to their powerful positions.