German Films on Netflix - A Recommendation or Two ... or Three

If you have a subscription to Netflix, don't miss the foreign language selections. Here are a few recommendations for German films and you can click here to access a more comprehensive list of German films available on Netflix. Just scroll down to "Foreign Regions" and then click on "Germany".

JOHN RABE (2009)

Florian Gallenberger directs this gripping drama about John Rabe (Ulrich Tukur), a German businessman living in Nanking, China, who in 1937 used his Nazi party affiliation to save some 200,000 Chinese civilians from slaughter at the hands of the Japanese army. As Rabe labors to establish an official safety zone to shelter the innocent, he forms an unlikely friendship with an American doctor (Steve Buscemi). Anne Consigny and Daniel Brühl co-star.
Cast: Ulrich Tukur, Steve Buscemi
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Genre: Foreign
Format: DVD and streaming

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (DAS LEBEN DES ANDEREN) (2007)

Set in 1980s East Berlin, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's debut feature (which earned an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) provides an exquisitely nuanced portrait of life under the watchful eye of the state police. When a successful playwright and his actress companion become subjects of the Stasi's secret surveillance program, their friends, family -- and even those doing the watching -- find their lives forever changed.
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Genre: Foreign
Format: DVD and Blu-ray


NORTH FACE (NORDWAND) 2008

In 1936, young German climbers Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andreas Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) face off against a rival Austrian duo in an attempt to be the first team to scale the infamous north face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps. As the men make the treacherous climb, journalist Luise (Johanna Wokalek) -- Toni's childhood love -- covers the biggest story of her career. Philipp Stölzl helms this drama based on a true story.
Cast: Benno Furmann, Florian Lukas
Director: Philipp Stölzl
Genre: Foreign
Format: DVD and streaming