Aleksei German

Directing

Aleksei German

Born 1938-07-20 · Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR [now St. Petersburg, Russia]

Aleksei Yuryevich German (Алексей Юрьевич Герман, 20 July 1938 – 21 February 2013) was a Soviet and Russian director, screenwriter and producer. He is noted for his stark pessimism, long, serpentine sequence shots, black and white cinematography, overbearing sound design and acute observations of Stalinist Russia.

Acting credits

No artwork available
5.5

One of the three films that comprise Arrival of a Train, a collection of shorts made to celebrate the centenary of cinema. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the film follows Trofim, a Russian peasant jealous of his wife for having an affair with his brother. Trofim kills his brother and runs away to St. Petersburg. Then Trofim steps off the train in St. Petersburg, a cameraman who happens to be shooting on the platform captures his arrival.

Trofim

1995

The Architect. The Story of Alexey German and His Films poster
NR

A story about the creative biography of Alexei German Sr. through the prism of his latest film - It's Hard to Be a God. Many shots from the shooting are published for the first time. Herman did not belong to any school or direction of cinema. Working on his films, he turned to the images of Brueghel and Bosch. Herman's hyperreality is saturated with details so that the viewer is cramped there. His method required such painstaking work that he made only five films in his life - and the last one did not finish. What was this method?

The Architect. The Story of Alexey German and His Films

2023

The Castle poster
5.7

Closely based on Franz Kafka's book "Das Schloß", the movie shares the same action on a land surveyor who is called to a village to do a job that no one seems to have ordered. Once there, he takes up the struggle against bureaucracy emanating from the castle.

The Castle

1994

Aleksei German poster
NR

Veteran film historian and critic Ron Holloway interviews the Russian director.

Aleksei German

2019

The Arrival of a Train poster
5.5

Almanac of five short stories commissioned by ROSKOMKINO to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema.

The Arrival of a Train

1996

Gisele's Mania poster
3.5

A detective-dramatic chronicle of love adventures of the famous Russian ballerina Olga Spesivtseva, nicknamed by contemporaries Red Giselle. It was Giselle who immortalized her name in 1924. It was "Giselle" that caused the psychic catastrophe in 1942.

Gisele's Mania

1995

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit poster
NR

This film was broadcast on La Sept in October 1990 as a part of Hélène Mochiri's Cinéma de poche program devoted to Soviet cinema. The documentary was produced in-house at La Sept and based on an exclusive interview with Alexei Guerman in May of that year. It has not been seen since.

Alexeï Guerman, cinéaste bien interdit

1990

Playback poster
NR

A portrait of the Russian filmmaker Alexei Guerman via an exploration of the making of his latest film, an adaptation of It Is Difficult to Be a God, a science-fiction novel by the Strougaski brothers, on which he has been working for several years, Hard to Be God explores the director's complex relationships with his crew, who he rules with a rod of iron. The film exposes the power relations of authority and the submission of a film crew to a director who is trying to change history, fight servitude and advocate freedom.

Playback

2012

The Time That Has Passed poster
9.0

The 1950s. The head of the steel industry was removed from his position and appointed ambassador to one of the northern countries of Europe. He had enough time to reflect on his life and understand the true reason for his dismissal.

The Time That Has Passed

1989

Sergey Ivanovich Retires poster
7.0

Accountant Sergey Ivanovich is retiring. Finally, he will be able to devote all his free time to his family: he will help his daughter Natalya with the housework, raise his granddaughter, visit his sons who live in different cities... But it turns out that adult children do not need parental care, and Sergei Ivanovich feels uneasy at work...

Sergey Ivanovich Retires

1981

Sergei Eisenstein: Autobiography poster
8.7

A free film adaptation of the director's memoirs. In form, this is the "stream of consciousness" that attracted Sergei Eisenstein after getting acquainted with the experiments of James Joyce. The outer outline of the film is a long foreign trip of the director, which began in 1929, during which he recalls his past life and considers creative ideas. The film is constructed as a free alternation of reality, dreams, and fantasies. The material for it is fragments from the films of Sergei Eisenstein and his fellow contemporaries, documentary footage depicting the director and his time. The wide coverage of the faces and events reflected in the film shows the special role of Sergei Eisenstein in the culture of the twentieth century…

Sergei Eisenstein: Autobiography

1996

Private Life of the Director poster
7.0

Follows the director of a large plant, acutely aware of his personal responsibility to society for everything he is involved in.

Private Life of the Director

1982

German. Lenfilm poster
NR

"German. Lenfilm "was filmed as part of the project" Petersburg 300 " and is dedicated to Alexey Yuryevich Herman. The audience will see the Lenfilm film studio through the eyes of a great director, will be able to look into the studio where A. Herman's latest film "It's Hard to be a God" is being mounted, and will feel the difficult character of the hero of the tape.

German. Lenfilm

2002

Kira poster
NR

Film about the work of Ukrainian film director Kira Muratova.

Kira

2003

Germanology poster
NR

Alexey German about himself and his work.

Germanology

2008

Behind the camera

Dead Man's Letters poster
7.0

In a desolate world following the nuclear apocalypse, a scholar helps a small group of adults and children survive in the basement of a former museum of history. In his mind, he writes letters to his only son that will never be read and tries to find shreds of hope in his new reality.

Dead Man's Letters

1986

The Fall of Otrar poster
6.5

A staggering historical epic about the intrigue and turmoil of the East Asian civilization of Otrar, before its systematic destruction at the hands of Genghis Khan.

The Fall of Otrar

1991

The Fall of Otrar poster
6.5

A staggering historical epic about the intrigue and turmoil of the East Asian civilization of Otrar, before its systematic destruction at the hands of Genghis Khan.

The Fall of Otrar

1991

Torpedo Bombers poster
5.8

In 1944 a Soviet marine air force unit stationed near Murmansk is fighting off the German bombers attacking the British navy convoys supplying the Soviet Union with war materials under the lend-lease agreement.

Torpedo Bombers

1983

Hard to Be a God poster
6.5

A group of scientists is sent to the planet Arkanar to help the local civilization, which is in the Medieval phase of its own history, to find the right path to progress. Their task is a difficult one: they cannot interfere violently and in no case can they kill. The scientist Rumata tries to save the local intellectuals from their punishment and cannot avoid taking a position.

Hard to Be a God

2014

Hard to Be a God poster
6.5

A group of scientists is sent to the planet Arkanar to help the local civilization, which is in the Medieval phase of its own history, to find the right path to progress. Their task is a difficult one: they cannot interfere violently and in no case can they kill. The scientist Rumata tries to save the local intellectuals from their punishment and cannot avoid taking a position.

Hard to Be a God

2014

A Trip to the Caucasus Mountains poster
NR

The story of six-year-old Bobka, a kind and cheerful man who lives in Leningrad and desperately dreams of unexpectedly visiting his dad, who serves in the distant Caucasus Mountains. This is his most cherished dream, and it will certainly come true, but only after some adventures that are quite normal for this tomboy.

A Trip to the Caucasus Mountains

1982

Once Upon a Time There Was a Brave Captain poster
5.3

The main character, nineteen-year-old Anastasiy Chizhov, was appointed commander of the Zver patrol ship. Under his leadership, the old fishing vessel becomes a strong fighting unit.

Once Upon a Time There Was a Brave Captain

1985

Twenty Days Without War poster
6.6

War correspondent Lopatin takes a 20-day-leave from his hard work at the front in 1942. He travels to faraway Tashkent to meet the family of the killed soldier and visit the film set of the screen adaptation of his war-time stories. Lopatin also manages to walk the streets of Tashkent, take part in a factory workers' meeting and have a short-lived love affair. Although with no bombings and fighting, the city dwellers breathe the atmosphere of the ongoing war.

Twenty Days Without War

1976

My Friend Ivan Lapshin poster
6.7

Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.

My Friend Ivan Lapshin

1985

My Friend Ivan Lapshin poster
6.7

Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.

My Friend Ivan Lapshin

1985

Khrustalyov, My Car! poster
6.0

Military doctor General Klenski is arrested in Stalin's Russia in 1953 during an anti-Semitic political campaign accused of being a participant in so-called "doctors' plot".

Khrustalyov, My Car!

1999

Khrustalyov, My Car! poster
6.0

Military doctor General Klenski is arrested in Stalin's Russia in 1953 during an anti-Semitic political campaign accused of being a participant in so-called "doctors' plot".

Khrustalyov, My Car!

1999

A Tale of The Brave Khochbar poster
7.0

End of XVII century, Dagestan. A young outlaw named Khochbar accompanies the daughter of the nutsal of Khunzakh Khanate, Saadat, who was married for political reasons to the son of the Shamkhal of Tarki. During the long road, the young princess develops feelings towards Khochbar...

A Tale of The Brave Khochbar

1987

Trial on the Road poster
7.0

Shot in 1971 but banned until 1986, this distinctly Russian war story takes place in 1942 behind enemy lines. A regiment of partisans captures former Red Army lieutenant Lazarev who is dressed in a German uniform. He’s a Nazi defector and collaborator but now desires to switch back and fight with Russian partisans.

Trial on the Road

1986

The Seventh Companion poster
6.3

A portrait of the era of "Red Terror" during the civil war that followed the Bolshevik revolution, The Seventh Companion offers a character study in General Adamov (Andrei Popov), a law professor in the tsarist army, who is incarcerated by the Bolshevik secret police along with many other members of the bourgeoisie. Finally released into the new world of the Soviet Union, the resigned officer finds that he has lost everything from his old life except a mantel clock that he carries through the night from place to place, until he ends up back where he started.

The Seventh Companion

1967

My Combat Team poster
8.0

1945 год, война позади. Восемнадцатилетний сержант Сергей Кружкой после тяжелого ранения возвращается домой. Узнав, что в городе орудует банда преступников, герой решает помочь органам правопорядка и в одиночку начинает расследование. После первого столкновения с бандитами Сергей попадает в госпиталь. К нему приезжают фронтовые друзья и они вместе разрабатывают план действий…

My Combat Team

1987

Sit Next to Me, Mishka! poster
NR

A story of a three friends childhood in the sieged during WWII Leningrad.

Sit Next to Me, Mishka!

1977