The Academy Awards in early 2023 certainly put German films back on the map. The exciting wins — four awards including Best International Feature Film — for director Edward Berger’s film All Quiet on the Western Front were a bit of a surprise. The massive attention to the film put the entire cast in the spotlight. The film was the big screen debut for its leading actor Felix Kammerer, and there was likewise attention for Albrecht Schuch, an experienced actor in a supporting role.
For much of the 2010s and 2020s, Schuch has been steadily making a name for himself with striking performances on television and in films.
This month, it is time to get to know actor Albrecht Schuch and learn German with this month’s film recommendations!
Get to Know Albrecht Schuch
Albrecht Schuch was born on August 21, 1985, in Jena, East Germany. His mother was a doctor and his father was a psychiatrist. He has an older sister, Karoline, who would also become an actress.
Schuch got his start in acting on the stage in 2001. Then while still in his twenties, from 2006 to 2010, Schuch studied acting at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. After graduating, he became part of the ensemble at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theater.
Berlin Alexanderplatz
The 2020 film version of author Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz tells the story of the 1929 novel through a modern lens.
The film tells the story of Francis, an illegal immigrant from Guinea-Bissau who moves to Berlin, Germany, in search of a better life. There, without papers allowing him to work legally, he finds himself unwittingly pulled into the city’s underworld due to his associations with Mieze, a prostitute portrayed by Jella Haase, and Reinhold, a drug dealer portrayed by Albrecht Schuch.
The novel has previously been adapted, most notably the 1980 television miniseries directed by legendary German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Bad Banks
Jana Liekam (portrayed by Paula Beer) is an ambitious young woman working in investment banking. After she is wrongly fired, Jana becomes involved in a scheme controlled by the head of her former company. Jana’s given her dream job in Frankfurt, but everything comes with a price and everyone has their own agenda to pursue.
And on the television series Bad Banks, everyone has their designs on power and money. This includes her coworkers Adam (portrayed by Schuch) and the CFO of an investment firm (portrayed by Tobias Moretti).
The show has an international flair as it bounces between Luxembourg and Frankfurt, among other spots. There is a mix of German, French, and English languages. Bad Banks is a great binge-watch.
Bad Banks is available for streaming on Hulu.
Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)
During the 2022 Award Season, the film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front (known as Im Westen nichts Neues in German) was recognized with countless awards. The story is based on Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 anti-war novel of the same name. And it is easy to understand why the World War I film, with its graphic, larger-than-life depictions, captured so much attention.
In the film, available for streaming on Netflix, teenager Paul Bäumer and his friends enlist in the Imperial German Army. They are full of youthful enthusiasm, believing the war will be over quickly and they will be victorious. What happens could not be further from their expectations.
The film cuts between German State Secretary Matthias Erzberger (portrayed by Daniel Brühl) and his attempts to conduct armistice talks and the brutality of the war itself. Paul and his friends remain on the frontlines and befriend fellow soldier Kat (portrayed by Schuch).
Practice practice practice! Discover other great German language actors and actresses previously featured.
Top photo by Chiara Alexa, courtesy of Agentur Lambsdorff. This post contains affiliate links.
