Evelyn Döhring

A shared love of fish leads to a variety of romantic predicaments in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Doris Dörrie. Otto (Christian Ulmen) and Leo (Simon Verhoeven) are two men from Germany who have launched a successful business in which they import koi, the beautiful Japanese fish, for collectors in their native land. While on a business trip to Japan, Otto and Leo meet Ida (Alexandra Maria Lara), a German tourist who is studying fashion design. Ida begins traveling with the two men, and surprisingly develops an infatuation with the rumpled Otto instead of the handsome Leo. When Ida discovers she's pregnant with Otto's child, the two marry, and upon their return to Germany, Ida attempts to join in the business by creating a line of scarves decorated with koi patterns. However, the honeymoon proves short-lived, and Ida's presence creates a rift between Otto and Leo, as the latter sets up his own concern, raising koi with his new bride, Yoko (Young-Shin Kim).

While investigating the death of a friend and fellow cop, Los Angeles police officer Barney Caine stumbles across evidence that Nazis created a synthetic alternative to gasoline during World War II. This revelation has the potential to end the established global oil industry, making the formula a very valuable and dangerous piece of information. Eventually, Caine must contend with oil tycoon Adam Steiffel, who clearly has his own agenda regarding the formula.

Set in the greek island Milos, this action comedy follows a group of people searching for the actual Venus de Milo

Honeymooning couple Monica and Mike check into a motel in New Mexico. All seems normal until an ambulance pulls up and abducts Mike. Monica narrowly escapes and, with the help of truck driver Bill, discovers the awful secret of the motel and the ambulance service.

Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.

It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich is still vastly superior to the Russian army. However, within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors.

This fast-paced black comedy by wunderkind director Rainer Werner Fassbinder follows the frantic efforts of a starving and confused writer, Walter Kranz to beg, borrow or steal enough money to survive on, and at the same time make some sense of his confusing life. Unable to write enough to keep his publisher's royalty advances coming, he seeks out a woman he imagines is a prostitute and interviews her for material. He is also inspired to utter some poetry, which his brassy, outspoken wife identifies as coming from the famous homosexuality-advocating mystical German poet, Stefan George. This inspires Walter to take a closer look at the gay scene, and he quickly becomes a sort of celebrity there.

15 years ago Paul Jordan was a star in Hollywood musicals. But then he retired from showbiz and married the rich Joan. Now, after being dependent on his wife's money for many years, he's sick of it and wants to work again. A romantic affair with his stepdaughter, Shirley, gives him the guts to ask for a role. His former agent gets him one but it's with a small company in Vienna, Austria. The stress worsens his alcoholism; the tablets he takes to hide the effects lead him to hallucinations. When his wife and girlfriend appear at the same time, he's no longer capable of handling the situation.

The wealthy plantation owner Pinaud is brutally murdered in Ceylon. His attractive German wife Anne is suspected of the crime and arrested by Inspector Cerdan. He is ordered to take her to Colombo. But the plane on the way there gets caught in a heavy storm and crashes shortly afterwards. Anne Pinaud and Cerdan are the only survivors of the crew and save themselves on a desert island. There they come across Werner Becker, who has been shipwrecked with his yacht and is also stranded here. While Cerdan continues to believe Anne is guilty of the crime, Werner believes she is innocent. Soon the tension between the two men builds up and they become rivals for Anne's favor.

The film is a collection of fictional (unconnected) episodes depicting and analysing various forms of sexuality that go beyond 'normal' heterosexual relations. The subjects of the four episodes are lesbianism, transvestitism, male homosexuality, and sadomasochism. Some stiff grey-haired academic provides a voice-over and also the analysis between the pieces.