Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which also included

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docu ...

Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement.

and

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's mai ...

. He won an Oscar as well as the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

1979 Cannes Film Festival The 32nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 10 to 24 May 1979. The Palme d'Or went to ''Apocalypse Now'' by Francis Ford Coppola, which was screened as a work in progress, and '' Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum)'' by Volker Schlöndorff. The fest ...

for ''

The Tin Drum ''The Tin Drum'' (german: Die Blechtrommel, ) is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is the first book of Grass's ' ('' Danzig Trilogy''). It was adapted into a 1979 film, which won both the 1979 Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Bes ...

'' (1979), the film version of the novel by

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning author

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of D ...

Early life

Volker Schlöndorff was born in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, Germany to the physician Dr. Georg Schlöndorff. His mother was killed in a kitchen fire in 1944. His family moved to Paris in 1956, where Schlöndorff won awards at school for his work in philosophy. He graduated in political science at the Sorbonne, while at the same time studying film at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques, where he was friends with

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

and met

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...

. Malle gave him his first job as his assistant director on '' Zazie in the Metro'' (1960), which continued with the films '' A Very Private Affair'' (1962), ''

The Fire Within ''The Fire Within'' (french: Le Feu follet , meaning "The Manic Fire" or "Will-o'-the-Wisp") is a 1963 drama film written and directed by Louis Malle, based on the 1931 novel ''Will O' the Wisp'' by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, which itself was in ...

'' (1963) and '' Viva Maria!'' (1965). Schlöndorff also worked as assistant director on

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

's '' Last Year at Marienbad'' and Jean-Pierre Melville's ''

Léon Morin, Priest ''Léon Morin, Priest'' (french: Léon Morin, prêtre) is a 1961 French drama film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. It was adapted by Melville from Béatrix Beck's novel '' The Passionate Heart'' (French: ''Léon Morin, prêtre''), which won the ...

'' (both 1961). During this time he also made his first short film, '' Who Cares?'' about French people living in Frankfurt in 1960. He collaborated with filmmaker

Jean-Daniel Pollet Jean-Daniel Pollet (; 1936–2004) was a French film director and screenwriter who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. He was associated with two approaches to filmmaking: comedies which blended burlesque and melancholic elements, and poetic f ...

on the 40-minute documentary ''

Méditerranée Méditerranée was a department of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the Mediterranean Sea. It was formed in 1808, when the Kingdom of Etruria (formerly the Grand Duchy of Tuscany) was annexed directly to France. I ...

'' released in 1963. The film has been highly regarded since its initial release, gaining praise from

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

and consistently appearing in the popular book ''

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a ...

''.

Early film career

Schlöndorff returned to Germany to make his feature film debut ''

Young Törless ''Young Törless'' (german: Der junge Törless) is a 1966 German film directed by Volker Schlöndorff, adapted from the autobiographical novel '' The Confusions of Young Törless'' by Robert Musil. It deals with the violent, sadistic and homoero ...

'' (''Der junge Törless'', 1966). Produced by Louis Malle and based on the novel '' The Confusions of Young Törless'' by

Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, '' The Man Without Qualities'' (german: link=no, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften), is generally considered to be one of the most importan ...

, the film debuted at the

1966 Cannes Film Festival The 19th Cannes Film Festival was held from 5 to 20 May 1966. To honour the festival's 20th anniversary, a special prize was given. The Grand Prix du Festival International du Film went to the '' Signore & Signori'' by Pietro Germi, in tie with ...

. Taking place at a semi-military Austrian boarding school, Törless witnesses the bullying of a fellow student but does nothing to prevent it despite his superior and mature intellect. He gradually begins to accept his personal responsibility for the abuse by doing nothing to stop it and runs away from the school. The comparison to pre-war Germany were obvious and the film was highly praised upon release, winning the

FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

at Cannes.Wakeman, John. World Film Directors, Volume 2. The H. W. Wilson Company. 1988. 983–987. The New German Cinema movement unofficially began in 1962 with the

Oberhausen Manifesto The Oberhausen Manifesto was a declaration by a group of 26 young German filmmakers at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia on 28 February 1962. The manifesto was a call to arms to establish a "new German feat ...

, calling new young German filmmakers to revitalize filmmaking in Germany, much like the

French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

of the previous few years. Although not among the initial group of filmmakers involved, Schlöndorff was quick to align himself with the group and ''Young Törless'' is considered one of the most important films of the New German Cinema. Schlöndorff's next film was ''

A Degree of Murder ''Degree of Murder'' (german: Mord und Totschlag, french: Vivre à tout prix) is a 1967 West German film, starring Anita Pallenberg and directed by Volker Schlöndorff. The film is mainly known because of the soundtrack composed by Brian Jone ...

'' (1967), a counter-culture-saturated film with a musical score by

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

guitarist Brian Jones. The film stars Jones' then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg as a young waitress who accidentally kills her boyfriend and hides the body with the help of two male friends. The film was very popular upon release amongst "swinging sixties" youths. He then made another film that spoke to the counter-culture generation, ''

Man on Horseback ''Man on Horseback'' (german: Michael Kohlhaas – der Rebell, link=no) is a 1969 West German drama film directed by Volker Schlöndorff based on the novel '' Michael Kohlhaas'' by Heinrich von Kleist. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film ...

'' (''Michael Kohlhaas – Der Rebell'', 1969). Set in medieval Germany, Michael Kohlhaas is a horse trader who has been cheated by a local nobleman and nearly starts a revolution to get revenge. The film starred David Warner, Anna Karina and Anita Pallenberg, and was made in both German and English versions. Schlöndorff then worked on ''

Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...

'' (1970), an adaptation for West German television of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's first play, and cast

in the lead role, along with

, whom Schlöndorff would marry in 1971. Schlöndorff adapted the story of a self-destructive poet to modern-day Munich. He then made another TV movie '' The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach'' (1971), again starring Fassbinder. The film depicts seven peasants in 19th-century Germany who rob the local tax collection cart but are so conditioned by their poverty that they cannot handle their newfound wealth. ' (1972) examined a group of people who have lost their sense of morals and co-starred von Trotta. Von Trotta would both star in and co-write Schlöndorff's next film, ''A Free Woman'' (''Strohfeuer'', 1972). The film took a feminist look at the condition of modern women in Munich. von Trotta portrays Elizabeth Junker, a recently divorced woman who must struggle to live her life independently as her husband has everything come easily to him, including the villa and son that they had shared together as a married couple. The film is loosely based on von Trotta's experiences with her divorce from her first husband. Schlöndorff then completed the TV movie ''Stayover in Tirol'' (''Übernachtung in Tirol'', 1974); directed his first opera in Frankfurt, a production of

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European f ...

's '' Káťa Kabanová'', in the same year; and adapted the

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

short story "Georgina's Reasons" as ''Les raisons de Georgina'' (1975) for French TV.

International success as a filmmaker

Schlöndorff (and the New German Cinema movement as a whole) had his first financial hit film with '' The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum'' (1975). Based on the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

by Heinrich Böll, Schlöndorff both co-wrote and co-directed the film with Margarethe von Trotta, who made her directorial debut. The film stars Angela Winkler as Blum, who after falling in love and spending the night with a young army deserter becomes the victim of a corrupt police investigation and predatory tabloid newspaper, which cast her as both a terrorist and a prostitute. The newspaper is based upon the real right-wing German tabloid '' Bild-Zeitung'', whose publisher Axel Springer was the inspiration for the character Werner Tötges. In Schlöndorff's view, West Germany had fallen into political hysteria over the activities of a terrorist group, the Red Army Faction. The police and journalistic activities in both Böll's novel and Schlöndorff's film portrayed the Red Army Faction era as reminiscent of

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

in the 1950s U.S., including illegal police raids, phone tapping and tabloid smears. Although Böll was heavily attacked after the publication of the novel, both novel and film were hugely successful in West Germany. After directing his second opera '' We Come to the River'' in 1976, Schlöndorff followed ''The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum'' with the equally political '' Coup de Grâce'' (1976). Based on a novel by French author

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

, the film stars von Trotta (who again co-wrote the script) as Sophie von Reval, a young left-wing aristocrat who sides with the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...

after being rejected by a young German soldier preparing to fight the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in 1919. The film depicts the same time period and subject matter that von Trotta would later revisit in the film ''

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist, Marxism, Marxist philosopher and anti-war movement, anti-war activist. Succ ...

'' (1986). A supporting actress in ''Coup de Grâce'' was Valeska Gert, a former cabaret dancer, circus performer and silent film actress who had worked with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

and G. W. Pabst. This led to the documentary about her life, '' Just for Fun, Just for Play'', in 1977. Schlöndorff then contributed to the anthology film '' Germany in Autumn'' (1978), in which nine German filmmakers (including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alexander Kluge, Edgar Reitz and author Heinrich Böll) made short films depicting the hysteria and political chaos in West Germany during the German Autumn of 1977. Schlöndorff's next film was the most successful and ambitious of his career: ''

'', released in 1979. The film was based on the

, who for years had rejected proposed adaptations of his book until giving Schlöndorff his approval (and assistance) to make the film. ''The Tin Drum'' stars

David Bennent David Bennent (born 9 September 1966) is a Swiss actor. Biography He was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. His parents are German actor Heinz Bennent and French former dancer Diane Mansart. His sister Anne Bennent is also an actress. He has lived ...

as the protagonist Oscar Matzerath, who, after receiving a tin drum on his third birthday, makes the conscious choice to stop growing and remain a three-year-old for the rest of his life. He hurls himself down a flight of stairs so as to give the adults around him a rational explanation for his handicap, and later discovers that he has the ability to tactically shatter glass with the power of his high-pitched scream, which he produces whenever anyone attempts to take his tin drum away from him. The film co-stars Angela Winkler as Oscar's mother, and

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

and Daniel Olbrychski as the German and Kashubian (Pole) who may both be his biological fathers. The film mostly takes place from the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(when Oscar is 20) in the city of Danzig, Poland. Danzig is most famous for being the site of the first battle of the war, at the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

, in which Oscar takes part. The film was widely hailed as a masterpiece and shared the

Palme d'or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the

with ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...

'', as well as winning the 1979 Oscar for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

. Schlöndorff collaborated with Stefan Aust, Alexander Kluge and Alexander von Eschwege on the documentary '' The Candidate'' (1980), a film about the political campaign of arch-conservative

Franz Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions betwee ...

. He next made '' The Circle of Deceit'' released in 1981. Based on the novel by

Nicolas Born Nicolas Born (31 December 1937 in Duisburg – 7 December 1979 in Lüchow-Dannenberg) was a German writer. Nicolas Born was – together with Rolf Dieter Brinkmann – one of the most important and most innovative German poets of his generatio ...

, the film concerns the politics and moral struggles of war photographers. The film stars Bruno Ganz and

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (, born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist and actor. A graduate of the prestigious National Film School in Łódź, Skolimowski has directed more than twenty films since his 1960 début ''Oko wyk ...

as photojournalists covering the Lebanon Civil War in Beirut in 1975.

Hollywood and later career

Schlöndorff's first English-language film was '' Swann in Love'' (1984), an adaptation of the first two volumes of

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous ...

's ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

''. The film was shot in France and financed by Gaumont, and stars

Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and ...

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

and

Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award. Early life Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...

. Schlöndorff then went to the United States to make a TV adaptation of

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montage ...

'', starring

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

Willy Loman William "Willy" Loman is a fictional character and the protagonist of Arthur Miller's play ''Death of a Salesman'', which debuted on Broadway with Lee J. Cobb playing Loman at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949. Loman is a 63-year-old t ...

and

John Malkovich John Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Screen Actors Guild Aw ...

as Biff. Both actors won

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s for their performances and Schlöndorff was nominated for an Emmy for his direction. The film premiered on television in 1985 and was released theatrically throughout Europe over the following years. Schlöndorff followed this with another TV movie in the US, ''

A Gathering of Old Men ''A Gathering of Old Men'' is a novel by Ernest J. Gaines published in 1983. Set on a 1970s Louisiana cane farm, the novel addresses racial discrimination and a bond that cannot be usurped. Plot summary One afternoon, Candy Marshall, a whi ...

'', based on the novel of the same name by

Ernest J. Gaines Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...

. The film stars

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

Holly Hunter Holly Patricia Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. For her performance as Ada McGrath in the 1993 drama film '' The Piano'', Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She earned three additional Academy Award nominations for ...

and

Lou Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of ''You Can't Take It with You (play), You Can't Take It with You ...

and concerns racial discrimination in 1970s Louisiana. Schlöndorff returned to theatrical films with the Hollywood science fiction film ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which ...

'' (1990). The film's story takes place in a dystopian near future in which most women are sterile due to pollution. Kate ( Natasha Richardson) is arrested after attempting to flee to Canada and forced to become a "Handmaid". Handmaids are fertile women who are enslaved by the state and put in the households of wealthy men – who have "ceremonial" sex with them in the hope of conceiving a child. She becomes the Handmaid of the Commander ( Robert Duvall), Fred, who is married to Serena Joy (

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

). To save herself from execution, Kate – renamed "Offred", since she now is attached to Fred's household – allows the Commander's driver ( Aidan Quinn) to impregnate her and falls in love with him. The film was in competition at the

40th Berlin International Film Festival The 40th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 February 1990. The festival opened with ''Steel Magnolias'' by Herbert Ross, which was shown out of competition. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the American fi ...

. This was soon followed by ''

Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...

'' (1991). The film stars

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

as a man who survives a plane crash, then finds the love of his life (

Julie Delpy Julie Delpy (; born 21 December 1969) is a French-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, includ ...

) on his next trip and begins to question the rationale of his good luck after having spent most of his life being cruel to others. The film was based on the novel '' Homo Faber'' by Max Frisch and was not a success at the box-office. He directed the concert film '' The Michael Nyman Songbook'' released in 1992. The first of Schlöndorff's two documentaries on Austrian-born director

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

was '' Billy Wilder, How Did You Do It?'', in which he and German critic Hellmuth Karasek interviewed Wilder about his career over the course of two weeks in 1988. It was aired on German TV in 1992, and shown on TCM in the USA under the title ''Billy Wilder Speaks'' in 2006. Schlöndorff had been a great admirer of Wilder for many years and sought his advice during the making of ''The Tin Drum''. Appalled at plans to destroy the historic film studios Babelsberg, Schlöndorff mounted a one-man campaign to save them in the early 1990s.Mary Williams Walsh (22 September 1996)
The Savior of Babelsberg (Well, Almost)
''Los Angeles Times''. He served as the chief executive for the

UFA Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

studio in Babelsberg between 1992 and 1997. During that time, he helped

Jiang Wen Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese actor, screenwriter, and director. As a director, he is sometimes grouped with the "Sixth Generation" that emerged in the 1990s. Jiang is also well known internationally as an actor, having starred wit ...

finish editing his film '' In the Heat of the Sun'' (1994) in Germany, with the studio's full financial support. He also helped to get the film selected for the

51st Venice International Film Festival The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994. Jury The following people comprised the 1994 jury: *David Lynch (head of jury) *Olivier Assayas * Margherita Buy *Gaston Kaboré * Nagisa Oshima * ...

. In 1996 he contributed to the French TV series '' Lumière sur un massacre'' with the episode "Le parfait soldat". Schlöndorff returned to Germany in to make '' The Ogre'' (1996), his most well-regarded feature film since ''The Tin Drum''. Based on a novel by Michel Tournier and starring

as the titular Abel Tiffauges, the film revisited many of the themes and time period of ''The Tin Drum''. Tiffauges is a slow-witted French soldier who has been accused of child molestation. After being captured by the Nazis and put in an internment camp, he is made a servant at an elite German training camp and kidnaps local children, officially as a way to recruit them for the camp, but in his mind to protect them. The film was screened in competition at the 1996 Venice Film Festival and won the UNICEF award. The film was released in Germany in 1996 and gained positive reviews. On the audio commentary for ''The Tin Drum'', Schlöndorff said that he had wanted to film a sequel to ''The Tin Drum'', as the film was based only on the first two thirds of the novel. But because actor David Bennent was too old to reprise the role and he did not want to recast Oscar, he considers ''The Ogre'' to be an unofficial sequel to his masterpiece. Schlöndorff returned to Hollywood for '' Palmetto'' (1998). In a noir plot, the film stars

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

as a falsely accused journalist who was sent to jail after uncovering corruption in the local government. After getting out of jail and unable to find work, he encounters Rhea Malroux ( Elisabeth Shue), a ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

'' who propositions him to help her extort money from her millionaire husband. The film was not a financial success and was Schlöndorff's last film in the US to date. Schlöndorff and Hoss at the 2017 Berlinale

Schlöndorff and Hoss at the 2017 Berlinale

Schlöndorff returned to Germany to make the film ''

The Legend of Rita ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (2000). Loosely based upon the lives of members of the Red Army Faction who exiled to East Germany in the 1970s, the film centers around Rita, who most closely resembles real RAF member Inge Viett. Rita abandons the revolution and lives in East Germany under protection of the secret service, but after German reunification she faces the risk of discovery and consequences for her past crimes. After the documentary '' Ein Produzent hat Seele oder er hat keine'' and a contribution to the

omnibus film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

Ten Minutes Older ''Ten Minutes Older'' is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films titled ''The Trumpet'' and ''The Cello''. The project was conceived by the producer Nicolas McClintock as a reflection on the theme of time at the turn of the ...

'' (both in 2002), Schlöndorff made '' The Ninth Day'' (2004). The film is Schlöndorff's third film to center around World War II and is based on the diary of

Father Jean Bernard Jean Bernard (13 August 1907 – 1 September 1994) was a Catholic priest from Luxembourg who was imprisoned from May 1941 to August 1942 in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. He was released for nine days in February 1942 and allowed to return ...

. Ulrich Matthes plays Father Henri Kremer, a Catholic priest who is interned at

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

during the Second World War. He is inexplicably released for nine days and sent to Luxembourg. There he meets a young SS soldier who informs him that his mission there is to convince the local bishop to cooperate with the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, in which case he will not be sent back to

Dachau Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is lo ...

. He is thus faced with the moral dilemma of betraying his faith or returning to the concentration camp. Schlöndorff next completed the TV movie ' (2005). He returned to what was Danzig to film '' Strike'' (2006), a docudrama about labor strikes at the

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...

during the

Polish 1970 protests The 1970 Polish protests ( pl, Grudzień 1970, lit=December 1970) occurred in northern Poland during 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items. Strikes were put down by t ...

. The film is also a history of the Solidarity Movement in Poland leading up to the fall of Communism. Schlöndorff's ''

Ulzhan ''Ulzhan'' is a 2007 international co-production directed by Volker Schlöndorff, starring Philippe Torreton, Ayanat Xenbay (formerly credited as Ayana Yesmagambetova) and David Bennent. Plot The Frenchman Charles travels in Kazakhstan and when ...

'' (2007) stars

Philippe Torreton Philippe Torreton (born 13 October 1965) is a French actor. Life and career Born in Rouen, to a teacher mother, and filling station attendant father, Torreton grew up in a suburb of the city. A student at the lycée Val de Seine de Grand-Quevil ...

as a treasure hunter on his way home who has lost his soul and Ayanat Ksenbai as Ulzhan, the woman who falls in love with him.

also co-starred. In the summer of 2012, he worked with Andrew Turner, who had formerly been a runway model for the late Alexander McQueen. Schlöndorff's World War II-era film ''

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

'', dedicated to his friend

Richard C. Holbrooke Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 ...

, debuted at the

64th Berlin International Film Festival The 64th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 6 to 16 February 2014. Wes Anderson's film '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' opened the festival. British film director Ken Loach was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The ...

. Set in 1944, it explores how the Swedish consul general in Paris, Raoul Nordling, helped persuade

Dietrich von Choltitz Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (; 9 November 1894 – 5 November 1966) was a German general. Sometimes referred to as the Saviour of Paris, he served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving ...

, the German military governor of Paris, not to obey Hitler's orders to destroy the historic city should it fall into enemy hands.

Personal life

MJK30690 Volker Schlöndorff (Berlinale 2017)

Schlöndorff was married to fellow film director

from 1971 to 1991 and helped raise her son from her first marriage. He is currently married to Angelika Schlöndorff, and the couple has one daughter. He founded the production company Bioskop, which produced both his own and von Trotta's films. In 1991, he was the Head of the Jury at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival. Schlöndorff teaches film and literature at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where he conducts an Intensive Summer Seminar.

Filmography

Features

* 1966: ''

'' * 1967: ''

'' * 1969: ''

'' * 1971: '' The Morals of Ruth Halbfass'' * 1972: ''A Free Woman'' * 1975: '' The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum'' * 1976: '' Coup de Grâce'' * 1979: ''

'' * 1981: '' The Circle of Deceit'' * 1984: '' Swann in Love'' * 1990: ''

'' * 1991: ''

'' * 1996: '' The Ogre'' * 1998: '' Palmetto'' * 2000: ''

'' * 2004: '' The Ninth Day'' * 2006: '' Strike'' * 2007: ''

'' * 2012: '' Calm at Sea'' * 2014: ''

'' * 2017: '' Return to Montauk''

TV films

* 1970: ''

'' * 1971: '' The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach'' * 1974: '' Übernachtung in Tirol'' * 1985: ''

'' * 1987: ''

'' * 2005: '

Documentaries and shorts subjects

* 1960: '' Who cares?'' (short) * 1963: ''

'' (documentary) * 1967: '' Der Paukenspieler'' (segment "Ein unheimlicher Moment") * 1975: ''

The Novels of Henry James ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (TV series, episode "Georgina's Reasons") * 1977: '' Just for Fun, Just for Play'' (documentary) * 1978: '' Germany in Autumn'' (segment "Die verschobene Antigone") * 1980: '' The Candidate'' (documentary) * 1983: ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'' (short) * 1992: '' Billy Wilder, How Did You Do It?'' (documentary, aka ''Billy Wilder Speaks'') * 1992: '' The Michael Nyman Songbook'' (documentary) * 1996: '' Lumière sur un massacre'' (TV series, episode "Le parfait soldat") * 2002: '' Ein Produzent hat Seele oder er hat keine'' * 2002: '' Ten Minutes Older: The Cello'' (segment "The Enlightenment")

Awards

* 1978 Special Recognition award (shared) at the 28th Berlin International Film Festival for '' Germany in Autumn'' * 1979

Cannes Film Festival ''The Tin Drum'' * 1980

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Best Foreign Language Film ''The Tin Drum'' * 2004

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

Honorary Award * 2009 Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award * 2019 Commander's cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

Cultural references

* ''Good Bye Schlöndorff'', a performance by Lebanese artist and musician Waël Koudaih alias Rayess Bek based on extracts of ''Die Fälschung'' and audio tapes from the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

References

External links

Volker Schlöndorff
Faculty Website @ European Graduate School. Biography and bibliography. *
Volker Schlöndorff's Cinématon – A 4 minutes online portrait by Gérard Courant

Volker Schlöndorff Collection
at Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlondorff, Volker 1939 births Living people People from Wiesbaden Mass media people from Hesse European Graduate School faculty Best Director German Film Award winners Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany