Skip to main content

Berlin International Film Festival · 2014

Berlin International Film Festival 2014

Competition

As part of the official programme, Berlinale Special will feature current works by contemporary filmmakers, documentaries and unique formats. Films marked Berlin Special are out of competition.

Programme

23 films · 13 reviews

Jump to a film

'71

Review preview for '71

Burke is interested in people not politics, keeping the focus on the sudden outbreaks of inhumanity and humanity in the madness, expertly crafting his thriller from the swirling fog of war.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A young British soldier is accidentally left behind by his unit on the deadly streets of Belfast in 1971.

(Country: UK; Year: 2014; Director: Yann Demange; Writer: Gregory Burke; Stars: Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Sean Harris, Charlie Murphy, Sam Reid, David Wilmot, Sam Hazeldine, Martin McCann, Killian Scott, Jack Lowden, Valene Kane, Tom Raven, Barry Keoghan, Paul Popplewell, Gerard Jordan)

Full review

World premiere

Aloft

Review preview for Aloft

There's no shying away from the fact that the New Age, twig-built mumbo-jumbo peddled here is no match from the otherworldly ancient belief systems of Peru that flow through Llosa's earlier works.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
A son goes in search of his estranged mother.

(Country: US, Spain, France; Year: 2014; Director: Claudia Llosa; Writer: Claudia Llosa; Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Mélanie Laurent, Cillian Murphy, William Shimell, Zen McGrath, Nancy Drake, Winta McGrath, Allan Wallace Dunkeld, Carson Nattrass, Cam Gates, Erika Marxx, Marjorie Roden, Karen Tusa)

Full review

World premiere

Beauty And The Beast (La Belle Et La Bête)

Adaptation of the classic romance.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Christophe Gans; Writer: Christophe Gans, Sandra Vo-Anh; Stars: Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux, André Dussollier, Eduardo Noriega, Myriam Charleins, Sara Giraudeau, Audrey Lamy, Jonathan Demurger, Nicolas Gob, Louka Meliava, Yvonne Catterfeld, Dejan Bucin, Mickey Hardt, Nora Huetz, Travis Kerschen)

International premiere. Out of competition

Beloved Sisters (Die geliebten Schwestern)

Review preview for Beloved Sisters

This sympathetic and thoughtful portrayal of the many faces of marriage avoids clichés about the good old days as well as the bad ones.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Two sisters both fall for the same man - poet Friedrich Schiller.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Dominik Graf; Writer: Dominik Graf; Stars: Henriette Confurius, Florian Stetter, Hannah Herzsprung, Claudia Messner, Ronald Zehrfeld, Andreas Pietschmann, Maja Maranow, Eli Wasserscheid, Bennet Meyer, Michael Wittenborn, Peter Schneider, Anne Schäfer, Klaus Lehmann, Philipp Oehme, Martin Trippensee)

Full review See: Fokus: Films From Germany - season preview , Uschi Reich in conversation on Beloved Sisters

World premiere

Black Coal, Thin Ice (Bai ri yan huo)

Review preview for Black Coal, Thin Ice

A painstakingly deliberate neo-noir, heavy on atmosphere and taking its time to build.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A detective falls in love with a woman linked to the murder victims of his current investigation.

(Country: China; Year: 2014; Director: Yi'nan Diao; Writer: Yi'nan Diao; Stars: Lun Mei Gwei, Fan Liao, Xuebing Wang)

Full review

World premiere

Blilnd Massage (Tui Na)

(Country: China, France; Year: 2014; Director: Ye Lou; Stars: Xiaodong Guo, Hao Qin, Lei Zhang)

World premiere

Boyhood

Review preview for Boyhood

Intimate and insightful even in its weaker moments, Linklater finds strength and value in normality.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of a youngster told over a 12 year period.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Richard Linklater; Writer: Richard Linklater; Stars: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater, Tamara Jolaine, Nick Krause, Jordan Howard, Evie Thompson, Sam Dillon)

Full review See: Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Joel Grey and Ellar Coltrane at the Boyhood première. , Sundance Episode Three - Boyhood and 52 Tuesdays

International premiere

Futuro Beach

Review preview for Futuro Beach

If you're willing to go with the flow, this study of emotion develops and maintains a sensual and sensory intensity.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A lifeguard finds love in an unexpected place.

(Country: Brazil, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Karim Ainouz; Writer: Felipe Bragança, Karim Ainouz; Stars: Wagner Moura, Clemens Schick, Jesuíta Barbosa, Fred Lima, Thomas Aquino, Maj. Barreto, Marcus Davis Andrade Braga, Savio Ygor Ramos, Demick Lopes, Jean Philippe Kodjo Adabra, Sabine Timoteo, Yannik Burwiek, Christoph Zrenner, Natascha Paulick, Ingo Naujoks)

Full review

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Review preview for The Grand Budapest Hotel

An emotionally engaging tale that sucks you in with its gentle humour and melancholy.

Max Crawford · 4.5 out of 5
The adventures of a concierge and a lobby boy who becomes his friend.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Wes Anderson; Writer: Wes Anderson; Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Léa Seydoux)

Full review See: Harvey Keitel on Sorrentino, Campion and Scorsese

World premiere

History Of Fear (Historia del Miedo)

A hot summer. A private district with an enormous park. An abandoned plot of land in the suburbs and an uncontrollable wave of smoke spark uncertainty and chaos.

(Country: Argentina, France, Germany, Uruguay; Year: 2014; Director: Benjamín Naishtat; Writer: Benjamín Naishtat; Stars: Jonathan Da Rosa, Tatiana Giménez, Mirella Pascual, Claudia Cantero, Francisco Lumerman, César Bordón, Valeria Lois, Elsa Bois, Edgardo Castro, Mara Bestelli, Daniel Leguizamón)

World premiere

Inbetween Worlds (Zwischen Welten)

Drama focusing on a troubled German soldier in Afghanistan.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Feo Aladag; Writer: Feo Aladag, Judith Kaufmann, Matthias Kock; Stars: Ronald Zehrfeld, Mohamad Mohsen, Saida Barmaki, Burghart Klaußner, Sebastian Schipper, Ali Reza, Pit Bukowski, Christian Brückner, Tobias Schönenberg, Roman Rien, Felix Kramer, Salam Yousefzai, Shir Aqa, Abdul Sabor Rasooly)

World premiere

In Order Of Disappearance (Kraftidioten)

Review preview for In Order Of Disappearance

The neat trick of Aakeson and Moland is to balance the humour with unexpected moments of poignancy and humanity as fathers from both sides of the criminal tracks share the common ground of parenthood.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Vengeance thriller.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2014; Director: Hans Petter Moland; Writer: Kim Fupz Aakeson; Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, Kristofer Hivju, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Jakob Oftebro, Pål Sverre Hagen, Sergej Trifunovic, Tobias Santelmann, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Stig Henrik Hoff, Arthur Berning, Atle Antonsen, Goran Navojec, Jon Øigarden, David Sakurai)

Full review

World premiere

Jack

Review preview for Jack

Ivo Pietzcker's performance is amazing.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A boy and his younger brother go in search of their mum after she disappears.

(Year: 2014; Director: Edward Berger; Writer: Edward Berger, Nele Mueller-Stöfen; Stars: Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz, Nele Mueller-Stöfen)

Full review

World premiere

Life Of Riley (Aimer, boire et chanter)

Review preview for Life Of Riley

If the characters are focused on how and if, for us the question why lingers in the air.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A group of close friends discover that one of them only has a few months to live.

(Country: France; Year: 2014; Director: Alain Resnais; Writer: Alan Ayckbourn, Jean-Marie Besset, Laurent Herbiet, Alain Resnais, Caroline Silhol; Stars: Sandrine Kiberlain, André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma, Hippolyte Girardot, Alba Gaïa Kraghede Bellugi, Michel Vuillermoz, Caroline Sihol, Travis Kerschen)

Full review

World premiere

The Little House (Chiisai Ouchi)

A woman recalls her life in Tokyo during the Second World War.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2014; Director: Yôji Yamada; Writer: Kyôko Nakajima, Yôji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu; Stars: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baishô, Takako Matsu, Takatarô Kataoka, Yui Natsukawa, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Haru Kuroki, Yukijirô Hotaru, Tomoko Nakajima, Isao Hashizume, Takashi Sasano, Fumino Kimura, Shigeru Muroi, Nenji Kobayashi)

International premiere

Macondo

Macondo walks the line between documentary and fiction and tells a coming-of-age story about identity, belonging and self-determination, located in the rough and unadorned reality of refugee communities in Vienna.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2014; Director: Sudabeh Mortezai; Writer: Sudabeh Mortezai; Stars: Ramasan Minkailov, Aslan Elbiev, Kheda Gazieva, Rosa Minkailova, Iman Nasuhanowa, Askhab Umaev, Hamsat Nasuhanow, Champascha Sadulajev)

World premiere

The Monuments Men

Review preview for The Monuments Men

The film becomes a mixture of Dad's Army and The Cockleshell Heroes (without the cockleshells).

Angus Wolfe Murray · 2.5 out of 5
A Second World War platoon are given the job of rescuing artwork form Nazi thieves.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2014; Director: George Clooney; Writer: George Clooney, Grant Heslov; Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balaban, Dimitri Leonidas)

Full review

World premiere

No Man's Land (Wu Ren Qu)

A lawyer finds himself on an adventure as he tries to cross the Gobi desert for a trial.

(Country: China; Year: 2013; Director: Hao Ning; Writer: Xing Aina, Hao Ning, Ping Shu; Stars: Zheng Xu, Duobujie, Nan Yu, Bo Huang, Duo Ba, Hong Guo, Hao Ning, Hong Tao, Pei Wang, Shuangbao Wang, Xinming Yang, Hu Zhao)

International premiere

Nymphomaniac

Review preview for Nymphomaniac

It's a film that goes out of its way to provoke and disappoint, but to those who get its jokes and can cope with the rest, it's a delight.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A self-diagnosed nymphomaniac recounts her experiences.

(Country: Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, UK; Year: 2013; Director: Lars von Trier; Writer: Lars von Trier; Stars: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe, Mia Goth, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Connie Nielsen, Michael Pas, Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier, Maja Arsovic)

Full review

Out of competition

Stations Of The Cross (Kreuzweg)

Review preview for Stations Of The Cross

Almost perfectly constructed... a stunning piece of filmmaking.

Andrew Robertson · 5 out of 5
The story of a teenager whose family are Catholic fundamentalists.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2014; Director: Dietrich Brüggemann; Writer: Anna Brüggemann, Dietrich Brüggemann; Stars: Hanns Zischler, Franziska Weisz, Florian Stetter, Birge Schade, Ramin Yazdani, Lucie Aron, Lea van Acken, Moritz Knapp, Klaus Michael Kamp, Georg Wesch)

Full review

World premiere

Stratos (Mikro psari)

Story of a contract killer who moonlights in a bakery.

(Country: Greece, Germany, Cyprus; Year: 2014; Director: Yannis Economides; Writer: Yannis Economides, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Harry Lagoussis, Vangelis Mourikis, Xiros Thanos; Stars: Vangelis Mourikis, Vicky Papadopoulou, Petros Zervos, Yannis Tsortekis, Giorgos Giannopoulos, Yannis Anastasakis, Veronica Naujoks, Polina Dellatola, Maria Kallimani, Yannis Voulgarakis, Omiros Poulakis, Stathis Stamoulakatos, Giorgos Biniaris, Alekos Pangalos, Sonja Theodoridou)

World premiere

The Third Side Of The River (La tercera orilla, The Third Bank)

A youngster struggles to come to terms with his father's second family.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2014; Director: Celina Murga; Writer: Gabriel Medina, Celina Murga; Stars: Alian Devetac, Daniel Veronese)

World premiere

Two Men In Town

A Muslim ex-con forms a friendship with his parole officer.

(Country: France, US; Year: 2014; Director: Rachid Bouchareb; Writer: Rachid Bouchareb, Yasmina Khadra, Olivier Lorelle; Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel, Luis Guzmán, Brenda Blethyn, Tim Guinee, Sarah Minnich, Matthew Page, Stan Carp, John F. Kollar, Aaron Alexander, Michael Stone, Lionel Archuleta, Chris Ranney, Patrick Juarez)

World premiere