Herbert Asmodi

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.

The stern and reserved Gustav Hartmann, known as "Iron Gustav", is the last Berlin cab driver. At the end of the 1920s, his time is over as horse-drawn cabs are replaced by automobile cabs. He is threatened with impoverishment. His family wants to have him incapacitated. So he sets off on one last great journey that takes him from Berlin to Paris and back. A reporter with a nose for a big story accompanies him, Gustav becomes famous, returns to Berlin in triumph and, having become a gentle and approachable person, reconciles with his family.

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The story is set in Victorian England and revolves around two young men, Allan Armadale and Ozias Midwinter, who are connected by their fathers' dark past. Both fall in love with Lydia Gwilt, the mysterious woman with the red scarf, who has her own sinister plans.

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At an Austrian boys' boarding school in the early 1900s, shy, intelligent Törless observes the sadistic behavior of his fellow students, doing nothing to help a victimized classmate—until the torture goes too far. Adapted from Robert Musil's acclaimed novel, Young Törless launched the New German Cinema movement and garnered the 1966 Cannes Film Festival International Critics' Prize for first-time director Volker Schlöndorff.

During the final days of the First World War, Officer Menis does his duty in defending the battle flag of the defeated Austro-Hungarian empire, while his fellow troops, a motley gang recruited from several different countries not loyal to the royal family, simply try to survive by any means possible.

The country estate of Count Claudieuse is located near Paris. One night in 1871, it goes up in flames. Two shots are fired, the count is critically injured, and the countess and her children escape the flames with the help of the feeble-minded Cocoleu. Cocoleu accuses Jacques von Beaucoran from the neighboring estate of being the perpetrator. Jacques protests his innocence.

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When British philosopher Harold Hilliard took off for Warsaw to lecture on the Dysteleological Surd, he had no idea that he would soon become embroiled in international espionage. During the trip he tried to open a suitcase he mistook for his own. When a fellow passenger, a Pole with stainless steel teeth, took umbrage, Hilliard put it down to bad manners, but when the same man saw him pick up the wrong coat in the plane, Hilliard realized that he was suspected of spying. The party at the airport to welcome Hilliard only convinced the Polish agent that the British Secret Service was now picking its men with extraordinary cleverness. Hilliard, whose works were little known in England, was warmed by unaccustomed praise but chilled by the apparent certainty of the counter espionage people that he was a British agent whose code name was Whale.

Walter Hartrigth is supposed to teach Sir Frederic Fairlie's nieces drawing at an old country castle. He soon falls in love with Laura, the younger of the two students. Marian, her sister, tells him that Laura is already engaged to Sir Percival Glyde. Sir Percival insists on the wedding. But he has an enemy: "The Woman in White," who looks exactly like Laura. In an anonymous letter, she reveals that Sir Percival and his friends, the Countess and Count Fosco, are only after Laura's money.

France, 1860: In Bougival, a small town near Paris, the widow Lerouge is found stabbed to death. No one knows who the murderer is yet, but investigations reveal that 30 years ago, Madame Lerouge, as a wet nurse, swapped the illegitimate son of Count Commarin for the legitimate heir. This means that Noel Gerdy, a lawyer who grew up in poverty, is the count's legitimate son—and now the prime suspect in the murder.

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After spending six years in Australia, young Englishman George Talboy returns as a successful gold prospector. He wants to start a happy life with his beautiful wife Helen and their son Charles. So the news from his father-in-law that Helen has died comes as a crushing blow. An old friend, Robert Audley, takes George to the mansion of his uncle, Sir Michael Audley, and his wife, Lady Audley. During this visit, George disappears without a trace.

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Denmark, by the end of the 19th century. Gov. Dihmer gives his resignation because of his illness. Two friends, a pastor and a physician, try to awaken his willpower and transcend a journey to Italy. Meanwhile, in the homeland, there are political breakthroughs that make little hope for new times.

The bizarre story of a play's development at Munich's Kammerspiele theatre.

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