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This film essay explores the strange case of G.W. Pabst, the Austrian filmmaker who was considered a giant of early cinema before his reputation went behind a cloud.
The year is 1945. The final battle for Vienna has begun. Hitler declares the capital of the "Ostmark", as Austria was called then, a stand-off of the Third Reich against the Red Army; a last attempt to turn the tables yet. A group of Austrian resistance fighters recognize the impossibility and enable the Russians to occupy the city - this action was known as the "Radetzky Operation" - and with it Vienna was saved from complete destruction by the Allies. The operation was headed by Carl Szokoll.
Vienna, 1956. Viennese butcher Karl Bockerer goes to Hungary to buy meat. Along with his foster son and grandchild, he is caught up in the turmoil of the Hungarian revolt against the Soviet occupiers. With some luck and a great deal of cunning, Bockerer and his family manage to escape, but the Austrian border is closed - except for the bridge to Andau...
A meek tailor named Nickolaus decides to form a band of robbers to proof his manliness. Unfortunately he soon draws the attention of an actual gang-leader, Der Rote Rollo.
A young German comes to Rome on vacation and is not slow to win female hearts. When the game become dangerous due to a possible marriage, the young man returns to his homeland.
Dr. Stefan Burger wants to take over the management of a home for children. Together with Rena he gets involved in a small scam.
Albin Skoda embodies a frantic Adolf Hitler in his last days, scrambling to keep the Third Reich alive as morale within the bunker wanes and Berlin is encircled by enemy troops. Based on Michael A. Musmanno's book Ten Days to Die, Oscar Werner costars as fictional Nazi Hauptmann Wüst, a disillusioned middleman.
Susanne is the hostess who gives comfort to the visitors to her hotel. All of the vices in the country are heavily taxed, including drinking and making love. Susanne and a group of nude women try to give some relief to the beleaguered and overtaxed clientele.
After five years of war, Clements, a professional seaman, has no ambitions other than to live in peace and carry out his activity. Having settled down in the archipelago of the Aegean Sea, he has founded a small sponge fishing company in an idyllic place and foresees an optimistic future. Unfortunately, he soon finds himself caught in a crossfire...
While hiding from the royal authorities, Giacomo Casanova, the famous romancer, encounters his look-alike: Giacomino, a fugitive petty con man. Meanwhile, the Arabian Caliph and his wife are arriving in Venice for a state visit, and she insists on a night with the legendary lover. Through a series of erotic encounters and mistaken-identity comedies, Giacomo and Giacomino make their way back to Venice for their appointment with the Caliph's wife.