While many debut films have marked the start of a successful career for some directors, others were quickly forgotten.Here are some of the best debut films by German directors.
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10 outstanding film debuts by German directors
A debut film often marks the beginning of a glorious career. Here are some of the most outstanding German debut films of all time.
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1951: "The Lost One"
This was the first and only directorial debut by German actor Peter Lorre, pictured here. His film "The Lost One" is one of the most impressive films of the postwar era. The film about a scientist (Peter Lorre) who worked for the Nazis until 1945 and was then overcome by guilt, is a somber and impressive work.
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1966: "Young Törless"
When Volker Schlöndorff presented his movie "Young Törless" in Nantes, France, in March 1966, nobody would have thought that the young German director would one day win an Oscar. Schlöndorff's film was based on a novel by Robert Musil.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
1966: "Yesterday Girl"
A few months after Schlöndorff's debut, Alexander Kluge presented his first film, "Yesterday Girl", which won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Kluge was one of the leading figures of the New German Cinema movement, which turned former West Germany's film world upside down. "Yesterday Girl" was intelligent, playful and funny and marked a new start for German cinema.
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1967: "Lust for Love"
Director Edgar Reitz was showered with praise for his first work. He received an award in Venice for best film debut in 1967. The film "Lust for Love" ("Mahlzeiten" in German) took a deep look at postwar West Germany and the middle class that was shaken by doubt just before the revolutionary year of 1968. Later, Reitz would achieve world fame for his epic 32-episode film series, "Heimat" ("Home").
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1969: "Love is Colder than Death"
Another director to celebrate his debut during this era was Rainer Werner Fassbinder. "Love is Colder than Death" is an homage to French and American gangster movies. Fassbinder's first movie, produced within a short period of time and on a tight budget, had a strong impact on German film. It marked the beginning of Fassbiner's exciting career.
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1993: "Deadly Maria"
1993 was the year in which the remarkable success of director Tom Tykwer began. His debut film "Deadly Maria" already showed his talent for creating an exciting visual style, as well as his talent for developing his own aesthetic. The film tells the story of a woman who tries to liberate herself from the limits of bourgeois society.
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1995: "After Five in the Forest Primeval"
The debut work by Hans-Christian Schmid was first broadcast on television and became a surprise hit. "After Five in the Forest Primeval" is a funny movie about youth, puberty and parents looking back to their own youth. Like Schmid's later works, it's a sensitively made psychological study with believable characters.
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1996: "Beyond Silence"
In 1996, young director Caroline Link impressed critics with her wonderful debut film "Beyond Silence," a poetic portrait of a young woman whose parents are deaf. Link even received an Oscar nomination for her first movie. Seven years later, she actually did win an Oscar for her film "Nowhere in Africa."
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1998: "Short Sharp Shock"
Another debut work that much affected German film was "Short Sharp Shock" by 25-year old director Fatih Akin. In a highly emotional style new to German cinema, the movie tells the story of three young men in the Hamburg district of Altona. Akin, the son of Turkish guest workers in Germany, became renowned for producing films featuring the tensions between local culture and globalization.
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2006: "The Lives of Others"
It's hard to believe that "The Lives of Others" is the first film of director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The film, which tells the story of a Stasi official spying on his victims, is so artfully made that is is hard to believe the director did not have more experience. The film won an Oscar in 2007.
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It's not easy to win an Oscar, and certainly not for a director's debut film. In fact, Hollywood's highest award rarely goes to a debut film - and even more rarely to a German director. One truly sensational exception is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's first movie "The Lives of Others." It was showered with praise and awards such as the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
A good debut does not guarantee long-lasting success
The names of many German directors who've debuted films have been long forgotten. Sometimes this is because their first film was also their last, or perhaps that their other films simply didn't achieve the same success. Some directors, however, made comebacks much later in their lives. After all, planning one's career as a film director is no easy task.
Fritz Lang's "Halbblut" ('Half-caste') that debuted in 1919 is lostImage: Bundesarchiv
Our selection of the ten best German debut films starts with a postwar work that was the only film directed by German actor Peter Lorre. Lorre worked in Hollywood for many years before taking on the project. His somber movie "The Lost One" was one of the most impressive films to debut in an era when German film wasn't exactly flourishing.
The debut films of Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau are believed to be lost
Actor Peter Lorre (pictured) starred in Fritz Lang's "M".Image: picture alliance/United Archives/IFTN
Interestingly, many movies by renowned German directors of the silent film era are now believed to be lost. Among them are films from well-known names like Fritz Lang, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, Georg Wilhelm Pabst and Ernst Lubitsch. In other cases, their films were short works that didn't suggest they would later become stars. Alternatively, some hotshot German directors such as Helmut Käutner and Wolfgang Staudte had their time in the limelight thanks to later works and not debut films.
The directors of New German Cinema had a wild start
The 1960s ushered in a new age for German cinema, with directors basking in success during the "New German Cinema" wave. Some of them made their mark with their very first film, such as Alexander Kluge and Edgar Reitz, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff. Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, by contrast, had their breakthroughs thanks to later works.
These extraordinary filmmakers remained influential to the film scene of former West Germany for decades. The 1990s saw the rise of yet another generation of young filmmakers who rejuvenated German film. Directors like Tom Tykwer, Hans-Christian Schmid, Caroline Link and Fatih Akin revolutionized German cinema during this remarkable decade thanks to their highly acclaimed works.
Alexander Kluge and his colleagues in the "New German Cinema" movement celebrated numerous exciting debutsImage: picture alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library
A third film from Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck?
In retrospect, the extraordinary debut of Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck's spy drama "The Lives of Others" shows how a high-flying debut can become problematic. His next film, "The Tourist", was a flop at the box office. This year, however, viewers can look forward to his third movie 'Work Without Author".
