A Strategic List of German Language Films from 2022 to Improve Our German as a Foreign Language in 2023.
Published On: 8 Jan 2023
Updated On: 8 Jan 2023
Cutting to the Chase: Background of this list.
One way I wish to productively improve my German and understanding of present-day German culture and affairs is by immersing myself in the world of storytelling through cinema. As I have my own motivations and methodology for deciding how to best use my time and make good choices over what to watch, I thought to share my version of recommendations with any of us interested.
How to use this list?
Everything has been organised. Watching each film title down their order of appearance in this article will literally be us watching German Language films released in 2022 from the best-ranked onwards.
Method and Process
I release such articles once I believe I have done a fair amount of due diligence to help me feel confident enough to commit to watching the films (out of countless films out there, and limited time). I might occasionally update lists when deemed relevant, as reflected in the ‘Updated On’ status at the start of this article. In summary, I first used Google to filter out all the German language films released in 2022. Then, I ranked the Top 5 titles according to their IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings, and specially highlighted the titles which feature in both Top 5 lists. As I understand that I may potentially miss out on exceptional yet qualitatively-rated non-mainstream films e.g. from film festivals, which also have no IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes ratings, such titles are subsequently found in the section titled ‘Sorted by qualitative critical acclaim (best to good).’ This is where most of my updates may occur, as I continue to read up more. Therefore, the film titles appear in sequence of most recommended to watch based on evidence (rankings, critical acclaim etc.).
Here is the list:
Click on the titles for their trailers (if available).
Films that made the Top 5 in both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes
(Ranked from approximately highest to lowest)
Essentially, these are the must-watch films, if anything, of German language films released in 2022.
1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 ‧ War/Drama ‧ 2h 23m
IMDb: 7.8/10, Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
2. The Conference
2022 ‧ War/Drama ‧ 1h 52m
IMDb: 7.4/10, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
3. Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush
2022 ‧ Drama/Narrative ‧ 1h 40m
IMDb: 6.9/10, Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
The following list demonstrates the top-scorers of each renowned ratings platform, and suggest that these are the top of what we could get if we were attempting to inquire into the German psyche of the season through its films released in 2022.
Top 5 Highest IMDb (out of 10)
(Surveyed and Ranked as of 2023.01.08)
(Ranked from highest to lowest)
1. (8.0/10) A German Party (Eine deutsche Partei)
2022 ‧ Documentary ‧ 1h 50m
IMDb: 8/10, Rotten Tomatoes: NA
=2. (7.7/10) War Sailor
2022 ‧ Drama ‧ 2h 30m
IMDb: 7.7/10, Rotten Tomatoes: NA
4. (7.1/10) Rheingold
2022 ‧ Drama/Gangster ‧ 2h 18m
IMDb: 7.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes: NA
=4. (7.0/10) Beautiful / Wunderschön
2022 ‧ Drama/Comedy ‧ 2h 12m
IMDb: 7.0/10, Rotten Tomatoes: NA
Note: Ranks 2, 3, and 5 are featured earlier in the article under ‘Films that made the Top 5 in both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes’. They are: All Quiet on the Western Front (7.8), The Conference (7.4), and Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush (6.9) respectively.
Top 5 Highest Rotten Tomatoes Score (out of 100)
(Surveyed and Ranked as of 2023.01.08)
(Ranked from highest to lowest)
=2. (90%) A Piece of Sky
2022 ‧ Drama/Romance ‧ 2h 16m
IMDb: 6.8/10, Rotten Tomato: 90%
3. (86%) Corsage
2022 ‧ Drama/Historical drama ‧ 1h 54m
IMDb: 6.7/10, Rotten Tomato: 86%
4. (67%) A E I O U — A Quick Alphabet of Love
2022 ‧ Romance/Drama ‧ 1h 45m
IMDb: 5.7/10, Rotten Tomato: 67%
Note: Ranks 1, 2, and 5 are featured earlier in the article under ‘Films that made the Top 5 in both IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes’. They are: The Conference (100%), All Quiet on the Western Front (91%), and Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush (50%) respectively.
Checkpoint
By this point, we would have watched 10 high quality German language films, which is pretty respectable if it were done within a year. I would continue down the list only if I were very keen on improving my German through this method.
In the section below, I will not include any films that have already featured in the top IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes rankings above. My focus here is on exceptional non-mainstream titles which are better done justice through qualitative reviews (references cited in parentheses) rather than IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes. Otherwise, they are titles with IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes scores that skirt the border and didn’t quite make it to the Top 5, but have good critical acclaim.
Sorted by qualitative critical acclaim (best to good)
- Dear Thomas
For one, it won the Lola for best film at the 2022 German Film Awards (2022.06.24A). - In a Land That No Longer Exists
2022 ‧ Narrative ‧ 1h 41m
IMDb: 6.8/10, Rotten Tomato: NA - Guglhupf Squadron (Guglhupfgeschwader)
2022 ‧ Crime/Comedy ‧ 1h 37m
IMDb: 6.5/10, Rotten Tomato: NA - The Forger
2022 ‧ Drama/History ‧ 1h 56m
IMDb: 6.4/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
Checkpoint
For anyone simply looking for good German language movies released in 2022, we can probably stop reading by this point, and only proceed unless we wish to watch more German language films of 2022 with a fair rating. The only reason I am leaving these titles listed below is so that I may check against them as watchlists should I look for titles to watch, come across one, and realise I had already classified it as avoidable as far as my language-learning goals through movie-watching are concerned. I should be reading a book, or practising another language-learning method instead, if I have watched films up to this point.
Sorted by qualitative critical acclaim (fair)
- Kurt 2022 ‧ Drama/Comedy ‧ 2h 16m, IMDb: 5.7/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
- A Stasi Comedy 2022 ‧ Comedy/Drama ‧ 1h 55m, IMDb: 5.8/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
- Mia and Me — The Hero of Centopia 2022 ‧ Fantasy/Animation ‧ 1h 22m, IMDb: 5.7/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
- The 355 2022 ‧ Action/Thriller ‧ 2h 4m, IMDb: 5.5/10, Rotten Tomato: 24%
- Rabbit Academy: Mission Eggpossible 2022 ‧ Adventure/Comedy ‧ 1h 16m, IMDb: 5.5/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
- The Young Chief Winnetou 2022 ‧ Western/Adventure ‧ 1h 43m, IMDb: 5.1/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
Sorted by qualitative criticism (bad to worse).
- The Privilege 2022 ‧ 1h 47m, IMDb: 4.7/10, Rotten Tomato: 40%
- Liebesdings 2022 ‧ Comedy ‧ 1h 39m, IMDb: 3.6/10, Rotten Tomato: NA
*If there are any German language titles released in 2022 which are not listed here, I have either skipped past them as I got too lazy to record them, or I simply haven’t come across them, and would place them into this list if I deem necessary.
Otherwise, thank you for joining me!
- In-text references
(2022.06.24A Publish Date) Andreas Kleinert’s ‘Dear Thomas’ Sweeps 2022 German Film Awards. Web Article. The Hollywood Reporter.
2. Bibliography of resources consulted in addition to in-text citations
NA
