I am not saying that all German films are gloomy - there are a lot of very successful and beloved comedies emerging from the German film industry, but whenever German cinema does doom and gloom, they are very very good at it and do not hold back in portraying the dark side of life. I will never deny that I love gloomy films. They paradoxically cheer me up whereas rom-coms make me yearn for a razor blade. I am a self confessed Teutonophile. I studied German formally for nine years. I find everything German fascinating. I think that a lot of the depression in German films can be related to the country's troubled past - Nazism, the Holocaust, partition, reunification. I think Germany has really struggled with unpleasant memories - they seem burned onto the national consciousness. This has affected the German film industry's world view and how they handle different subjects. Given the traumas Germany has been through, it is no wonder that German film makers have unleashed some depressing movies upon the world. I present six of the most soul destroying entities below. If you can out-gloom me, I would love to hear your choices.
6. Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod (Gloomy Sunday) (1999)
In 1930s Budapest, Ilona is a beautiful waitress coveted by both Laszlo the restaraunt owner (who is Jewish) and restaurant pianist Andras. Inspired by her, Andras writes the song Gloomy Sunday which turns out to be his only song, but one that becomes highly popular and viewed as inspiration for a rash of acts of suicide. The two men and Ilona form a perfect romantic, triangle until Hans Wieker, a rich German industrialist starts visiting the restaurant and falls in love with Ilona too. Whenever World War Two starts, Hans finds himself in a position of power over the two men which has tragic consequences. The setting of the movie goes from lovely, happy, attractive Bulgaria to sour, despotic Nazism with all that the Final Solution entails. It is a perfectly shot and beautifully acted drama which is streets ahead of most movies in its sophistication and morality. Erika Marazan, the actress who plays Ilona, is amazing in her ability to convey a wide range of often subtle emotions. The film is ultimately rather uplifting but I have deemed it a Gloomy German film because of the song - "Gloomy Sunday" involved in the film. That is a positively depressing tune which is number one in the gloom mongering song stakes.