Top Ranked Films from Germany

[2011 update]
© William L. Sinclair
This continues our top ranked films on all film polls, 2011 edition, by individual countries. The first list here is just Germany, and we merged West Germany into these; 29 total in the top 1000, down from 35. The second list is just the multi-country productions that included Germany, with 27 in the top 1000, down from 38. The last list is my own personal favorite 30 German films, and I stuck with German directors only.


Germany and West Germany

1. Metropolis (1927) Lang, Fritz #7 [production still above]
2. M (1931) Lang, Fritz #16
3. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) Herzog, Werner #83
4. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) Murnau, F.W. #112
5. Lives of Others, The (2006) von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel #134
6. Blue Angel, The (1930) von Sternberg, Josef #196
7. Das Boot (1981) Peterson, Wolfgang #233
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #279
9. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (1919) Wiene, Robert #292
10. Downfall (2004) Hirschbiegel, Oliver #328
11. Vampyr (1932) Dreyer, Carl #349
12. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1971) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #409
13. Fitzcarraldo (1982) Herzog, Werner #425
14. Marriage of Maria Braun, The (1979) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #481
15. Last Laugh (1924) Murnau, F.W. #508
16. White Ribbon, The (2009) Haneke, Michael #522
17. Grizzly Man (2005) Herzog, Werner #541
18. Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The (1974) Herzog, Werner #555
19. Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The (1972) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #602
20. Triumph of the Will (1935) Riefenstahl, Leni #615
21. Faust (1926) Murnau, F.W. #619
22. Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922) Lang, Fritz #641
23. Kings of the Road (1976) Wenders, Wim #643
24. Olympia (1938) Riefenstahl, Leni #701
25. Alice in the Cities (1974) Wenders, Wim #704
26. In a Year with 13 Moons (1978) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #710
27. Tin Drum, The (1979) Schlöndorff, Volker #903
28. Fox and His Friends (1975) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #958
29. Run Lola Run (1998) Tykwer, Tom #1001
30. Tiger of Eschnapur, The (1959) Lang, Fritz #1016

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. Les Blank's documentary Burden of Dreams chronicles the making of the film and Herzog's own obsession. 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 (1970) Bertolucci, Bernardo #45 Italy-France-Germany
2. Pianist, The (2002) Polanski, Roman #142 France-Gy-UK-Poland
3. City of God (2002) Meirelles, Fernando #121 Brazil-Germany-France
4. Wings of Desire (1987) Wenders, Wim #165 Germany-France
5. Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The (1964) Demy, Jacques #187 France-Germany
6. Fight Club (1999) Fincher, David #201 US-Germany
7. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) Ki-duk Kim #351 South Korea-Gy
8. Dead Man (1995) Jarmusch, Jim #424 US-Germany
9. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes #504 Hung-It-Gy-France
10. 1900 (1976) Bertolucci, Bernardo #505 France-Germany-Italy
11. V for Vendetta (2005) McTeigue, James #507 US-UK-Germany
12. Hidden (Caché, 2005) Haneke, Michael #534 Germany-Fr-Aus-Ity
13. Sátántangó (1994) Tarr, Béla #542 Hungary-Germany-Switzerland
14. Germany, Year Zero (1947) Rossellini, Roberto #580 Italy-West Germany
15. Underground (1995) Kusturica, Emir #633 France-Germany-Hungary
16. Edge of Heaven, The (2007) Akin, Fatih #783 Germany-Turkey-Italy
17. Film Unfinished, A (2010) Hersonski, Yael #805 Germany-Israel
18. Fateless (2005) Koltai, Lajos #844 Hungary-GY
19. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) Herzog, Werner #880 Can-US-Fr-UK-Gy
20. Dogville (2003) von Trier, Lars #897 Den-Swe-UK-Fr-Gy
21. Antonio das Mortes (1969) Rocha, Glauber #904 Brazil-Fr-Gy
22. Our Daily Bread (2005) Geyrhalter, Nikolaus #905 Germany-Austria
23. Sweet Sixteen (2002) Loach, Ken #912 UK-Gy-Spain
24. Dancer in the Dark (2000) von Trier, Lars #917 Sp-Arg-Gy-UK-Neth-Fr-Swe
25. Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, The (2000) Butler, George #935 Sw-UK-Gy-US
26. Nostalgia for the Light (2010) Guzmán, Patricio #936 France-Gy-Chile
27. Paragraph 175 (2000) Epstein, Rob & Friedman, Jeffrey #986 UK-US-Germany

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. However, this is almost a total Italian film so I've placed it in my list of Italian favorites and removed it from here.


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, but it's not really a German film. Same with Fight Club, which I liked a lot.

My Favorites
* = unranked - 10 titles added, Doc = documentary
 [AA]  = academy award for best foreign language film 
click links for our review

1. Run Lola Run (1998) Tykwer, Tom #1001 [Our Review]
2. Lives of Others, The (2006) von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel #134 [AA] [photo above]
3. Good Bye Lenin (2003) Becker, Wolfgang *
4. Das Boot (1981) Peterson, Wolfgang #233
5. Fitzcarraldo (1982) Herzog, Werner #425
6. Triumph of the Will (1935) Riefenstahl, Leni #615 (Doc.)
7. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) Tykwer, Tom *
8. Downfall (2004) Hirschbiegel, Oliver #328
9. Metropolis (1927) Lang, Fritz #7
10. Fateless (2005) Koltai, Lajos #844 Hungary-GY
11. Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) Herzog, Werner #83
12. Nowhere in Africa (2002) Link, Caroline * [AA]
13. M (1931) Lang, Fritz #16
14. Olympia (1938) Riefenstahl, Leni #701 (Doc.)
15. Beyond Silence (1996) Link, Caroline *
16. The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003) Byambasuren Davaa & Luigi Falorni * Germany-Mongolia (Doc.)
17. Wings of Desire (1987) Wenders, Wim #165 Germany-France
18. White Ribbon, The (2009) Haneke, Michael #522
19. The Harmonists (1999) Vilsmaier, Joseph *
20. The Tunnel (2001) Richter, Roland Suso *
21. Gloomy Sunday (1999) Schübel, Rolf *
22. Blue Angel, The (1930) von Sternberg, Josef #196
23. Last Laugh (1924) Murnau, F.W. #508
24. Touch the Sound (2004) Riedelsheimer, Thomas * (Doc.)
25. Marriage of Maria Braun, The (1979) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #481
26. Cobra Verde (1987) Herzog, Werner *
27. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1971) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #409
28. Tin Drum, The (1979) Schlöndorff, Volker #903
29. In a Year with 13 Moons (1978) Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #710
30. Hidden (Caché, 2005) Haneke, Michael #534 Germany-Fr-Aus-Ity

Tom Tykwer is so creative, he's my favorite modern German director, while Herzog, Lang, and Murnau are the all-time masters here. Run, Lola, Run starts with a phone call, and Lola's boyfriend has lost some money - if she can't get to him in 20 minutes, he's a dead dude.. so the race is on, and never lets up..

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!