Films with: Brecht, Bertolt

3 groschenoper The 3 penny opera /

"Set in the impoverished back alleys of Victorian London, The threepenny opera follows underworld antihero Mackie Messer (a.k.a. Mack the Knife) as he tries to woo Polly Peachum and elude the authorities. With a palpable evocation of corruption and dread, set to Weill's irresistible score, The threepenny opera remains a benchmark of early sound cinema." -- container.

DVD 5091

American film theatre.

Collection of four film adaptations from a series of contemporary 20th century plays produced as the brainchild of producer Elly Landau, 1974 and 1975.

DVD 2851

Kuhle wampe oder, Wem gehört die Welt = Kuhle Wampe, or who owns the world? /

At the height of the Depression, Anni and her parents are evicted from their Berlin home and sent to Kuhle Wampe, a camp that now accommodates the ever-growing numbers of the dispossessed. The only Communist film to come out of Weimar Germany, Kuhle Wampe was swiftly banned upon Hitler's rise to power. The film is followed by a video essay by Andrew Höllering, son of the co-producer.

DVD 7953

Rise and fall of the city of Mahagonny Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny /

Welcome to Mahagonny, where sin is 'in' and love is always on sale. This Old West boomtown rises from the desert to become a razzle-dazzle mecca for lust and the pursuit of pleasure, where cash is king and poverty is punishable by death.

DVD 5346

Theater of war

An examination of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and her children", and the political philosophies the play represents. Preparing for The Public Theater's 2006 production of Brecht's anti-war play, Meryl Streep allows a camera crew to document her rehearsal process and interest in the work. Moreover, the life and times of Brecht himself are followed, most notably the playwrites' escape from Nazi Germany, subsequent exile, testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, and his eventual return to the country where the play was first staged. Along with backstage scenes and discussion by theatre notables such as Tony Kushner and Streep's costar Kevin Kline, the documentary seeks to depict the history and inspirations underlying the play's themes.

DVD 8493