13 semesters

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Movie
Original title 13 semesters
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2009
length 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
Rod
Director Frieder Wittich
script Frieder Wittich,
Oliver Ziegenbalg
production Jakob Claussen ,
Uli Putz
music Oliver Thiede
camera Christian Rein
cut Marty Schenk
occupation

13 Semester (subtitle: The early bird can do me ) is a German comedy film by director Frieder Wittich from 2009. The film is based on a script by Wittich and Oliver Ziegenbalg and tells the story of the friends based on experiences from Ziegenbalg's own student days Moritz and Dirk, portrayed by Max Riemelt and Robert Gwisdek , who come from a small town in Brandenburg to the Technical University of Darmstadt to study business mathematics and, despite initially having common goals, are heading in different directions.

The feature film was made by Claussen + Wöbke + Putz Filmproduktion in coproduction with HR and Arte and in collaboration with Instinctive Film. The shooting took place from March to May 2008 in Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Offenbach am Main . In addition to Riemelt and Gwsidek, Claudia Eisinger , Alexander Fehling and Maria Vogt appeared in front of the camera. 13 semester was premiered on September 29, 2009 as part of the Zurich Film Festival and shown at the Hof International Film Festival . It started in German cinemas on January 7, 2010.

action

The friends Moritz and Dirk get a confirmation for a place at the TU Darmstadt and make their way from their small Brandenburg hometown to the big city to study business mathematics there. Once there, the life of the two friends develops completely differently. While Dirk accelerates in the fast lane and blossoms in lectures , seminar papers and tutorials , Moritz gets lost more and more in the turmoil of student life and soon misses the boat. True to the motto “The early bird can do me”, he prefers to party extensively with his roommate Bernd and to maneuver through life with various part-time jobs. At a shared apartment party initiated by Bernd, he finally met his dream wife Kerstin, with whom he met after a few detours.

When he was thrown out of the study group, in which his friend Dirk also participated, due to a lack of willingness to perform, he was seized by new ambition for a short time. Together with his Indian fellow student Aswin, who leads his life in an exemplary manner and discipline, Moritz gets the curve again and passes the intermediate diploma . Out of gratitude, he shows Aswin the more pleasant side of student life and takes him to drink a beer. As a result, Aswin's life also takes a decisive turn which, as it turns out, is completely unexpected for everyone. To the surprise of his friends, he decides to become a dealer in soap products, which he advertises and sells via teleshopping . After completing his intermediate diploma, Moritz travels to Australia for a semester abroad .

When he arrives back in Germany, he meets Kerstin again in a laundromat, with whom he soon meets. The relationship is initially harmonious, but the mood soon changes because Moritz is dissatisfied with himself and his life. This leads to Kerstin separating from him and Moritz moving out of the shared flat with Bernd. Moritz also meets his old friend Dirk, who is now working in Frankfurt . In a conversation with him it becomes clear that Dirk has always taken the direct route to the goal, but in the end he is not sure whether that was the best route. Moritz takes up courage and decides to finally finish his studies. He really starts again and passes his diploma . Finally, Moritz and Dirk open their first branch of a Maultaschen snack chain in Australia , which they operate successfully together. The film only hints at what will become of Moritz and Kerstin and leaves the end open.

production

The shooting took place in Darmstadt, Hessen in the Rhine-Main area .

The basic template of the film is based on the experiences of co-author Oliver Ziegenbalg. He studied business mathematics at the University of Karlsruhe and passed his diploma in 1998 after 13 semesters. Ziegenbalg originally wanted to publish the story he had invented as a novel . After reading it, director Frieder Wittich also found the manuscript to be suitable material for his directorial debut and although Ziegenbalg was initially concerned that six and a half years of narration would not be packed into a single film, he was persuaded to develop a script with Wittich. Wittich, who had finished his studies after 14 semesters, stated that 13 semesters contained further references to real life that resulted from memories from his own student life. In preparation for the film, Ziegenbalg and Wittich met with Loriot , among others , who provided the duo with comments after viewing the script and whom Wittich called "a great help".

The shooting for 13 semesters took place from March 31 to May 13, 2008 in Darmstadt . The fourth largest city in the state of Hesse was able to prevail in a preselection against Münster , Karlsruhe and Konstanz , among others , after the Hessischer Rundfunk entered the film project as a cooperation partner at an early stage and the Hessian Film Fund had promised financial support for the production. Various locations of the Technical University of Darmstadt , the cafeteria of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences , the university and state library , the Karlshof student residence and the bar of the Kammerspiele of the local state theater , the inner-city natural bathing lake Großer Woog , the Herrngarten and other places in closer proximity served as a backdrop Surroundings, including Frankfurt and Offenbach am Main . Amit Shah, who takes on the role of Aswin in the film, hardly spoke any German at the beginning of the shooting. He taught himself this during the shoot.

Film music

The music for 13 semesters comes from the composer Oliver Thiede , who described the approach to the “wild, exciting project” as “young”. Thiede, Wittich and their team experiment with the most varied of musical directions during the setting, whereby some songs were only tried out in places, edited and then looked at "what it does with the scene and what happens to the music". Far from classic and conventional score elements, both newer and older songs were taken into account, whereby in some places “a raw, unfinished layout of the composed take” was given preference.

Ultimately, songs by Kissogram and Atomic, among others, made it into the film. The Belgian trio Pas de deux composed the song “When I'm 24” especially for the film. The band Bonaparte , also represented on the soundtrack , met Frieder Wittich at a small concert in Berlin, where he spontaneously invited the group to take part in the shooting for 13 semesters . The song “Anti, Anti” became the title song of 13 semesters , which can be heard several times in the film and in the credits. The group canceled a concert for the film and also wrote a new song, "L'état c'est moi", which can be heard in the credits. In addition, with “Too Much” and “Who Took the Pill” two other songs by the band are dead on the soundtrack.

Soundtrack

On January 8, 2010, Colosseum Music Entertainment released a soundtrack for the film that includes 20 songs.

Track list 
No. title Interpreter length
1. Main theme Oliver Thiede  
2. Move It One Shot Orchestra  
3. Every morning Oliver Thiede & Maurus vom Scheidt  
4th To see the sea Secret Hiding Place  
5. She's an apple pie Kissogram  
6th One minute above the system Death of a cheerleader  
7th When I'm 24 / Tension Note / Piece of Gum pas de deux  
8th. Aswin theme Oliver Thiede  
9. Who Took the Pill Bonaparte  
10. Oh Suzanne Atomic  
11. Anti anti Bonaparte  
12. Lie Like an Eagle Oliver Thiede  
13. Too Much (Live) Bonaparte  
14th Parking deck Oliver Thiede  
15th Gu Dieter Iby  
16. First Day of My Life Bright eyes  
17th Aaja after Ley Bhanga Brothers  
18th Test drive Oliver Thiede  
19th Life Happens to You Secret Hiding Place  
20th L'etat c'est moi Bonaparte  

review

The reviews for 13 semesters were largely positive: on Kulthit.de the film was praised as the counterpart to the many US student comedies. Filmszene.de emphasizes the character development and kino.de speaks of a successful coming-of-age comedy that reproduces real student life very well. Cinema , on the other hand, considers the film to be more “authentic” than funny and describes 13 semesters as a tragic comedy . The lexicon of international films shouted "Thanks to a pointed dramaturgy, down-to-earth dialogues, witty staging ideas, meticulous equipment and well-cast actors, the comedy creates a picture of the student lifestyle that is as enjoyable as it is well observed."

The cast around leading actor Max Riemelt received mostly positive reviews for their play.

Rudolf Worschech from epd Film described the film as a “turbulent, authentic student comedy”. 13 semesters is a "refreshing film debut" that tells a story of self-discovery in "its subtext". The fact that the comedy "repeatedly escapes the cliché trap is also due to the comedic seriousness with which he observes his characters, who are embodied by a well-humored, outstanding ensemble of actors". Wittich describes “his characters with a grounded sense of humor that is always good for a bit of slapstick. [He] has a good feel for situations and does not neglect authentic involvement ".

Filmstarts critic Andreas R. Becker found that 13 semesters was “an entertaining and amiable German student comedy”, “with which director Wittich, after a few teething problems, is much less fooled than was to be feared. Authentically, sensitively and with humor, she negotiates essential questions about "how" and "where to" in life and also gives differentiated answers. Here and there, incidentally, one or the other cinematic stereotype is happily raised, so that what one expects does not happen ”.

According to film critic Rainer Tittelbach , the feature film describes the “confusion of growing up in 90 minutes. 13 semesters in rapid succession. Dramaturgically that is not exactly original, but 13 semesters are still in a good mood . The debut film by Frieder Wittlich has serious approaches in the direction of self-search. In addition to the cliché, the film has wonderful, small scenes that convey something of the different moods of student life. And the cast is almost perfect with Max Riemelt, Alexander Fehling, Claudia Eisinger and Robert Gwisdek ”.

success

13 semester celebrated its world premiere on September 29, 2009 as part of the Zurich Film Festival . The production ran for the first time in Germany on October 28th at the Hof International Film Festival . On November 23, 2009 the film was shown in front of around 750 people at the University of Darmstadt and was shown one day later at the FILMZ Festival in Mainz in the sold-out Residenz cinema. The film was shown in Berlin on December 14, 2009. The film was officially released on January 7, 2010. In France, the film celebrated its TV premiere on May 2, 2012 under the title 13 semestres .

In Germany, 13 semesters after its first screening weekend , it attracted around 56,700 viewers to the cinemas and was able to place itself directly on number 7 in the cinema charts. In total, almost 175,000 visitors saw the film by the end of 2010. The comedy was placed 29th among the most successful German productions of the year. The gross profit was around 1.07 million euros.

Awards

Claudia Eisinger was awarded the Günter Strack TV Prize for Best Young Actress in 2012. The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) in Wiesbaden gave the film the title valuable and wrote: "With a lot of humor, a well-structured script and sensitive camera work, Frieder Wittich draws a successful debut film and gives an amusing, nostalgic insight into the student days" .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Release certificate for 13 semesters . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2009 (PDF; test number: 119 425 K).
  2. a b c d e 13 semesters. Filmportal.de, accessed on November 3, 2012 .
  3. Hof International Film Festival - film database. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on November 4, 2009 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 .
  4. 13 semesters - The early bird can do me - From January 7, 2010 in the cinema. Retrieved December 29, 2009 .
  5. a b Stephan Knieps: You have to take your time to study . In: Zeit.de . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  6. Interview with Fieder Wittich on 13-semester.de ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 14, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.13-semester.de
  7. Frieder Wittich likes it complex . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  8. ^ A b Stefan Benz: Heimspiel as Heimatfilm in Darmstadt . In: Darmstädter Echo . Echo-Online.de. Retrieved on December 13, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.echo-online.de  
  9. Interview with Max Riemelt on stuz.de, accessed on January 22, 2010.
  10. a b c d e Diverse - OST 13 semesters . In: Weser Courier . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  11. Interview with Frieder Wittich on stuz.de, accessed on January 22, 2010
  12. Film review on kulthit.de, accessed on January 14, 2010
  13. ^ Film review on filmszene.de, accessed on January 14, 2010
  14. ^ Film review on kino.de accessed on January 22, 2010
  15. ^ Film review on Cinema , accessed January 14, 2010
  16. 13 semesters. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 25, 2014 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  17. ^ A b Rainer Tittelbach: Criticism . In: Tittelbach.tv . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  18. ^ Rudolf Worschech: Critique of 13 semesters . In: epd film . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  19. Filmstarts : filmstarts.de: Filmkritik , accessed on February 5, 2012.
  20. ^ Successful premiere of "13 Semester" in Hof . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  21. a b c Internet Movie Database : Start Dates
  22. 13 semesters> weekend charts> Germany . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  23. InsideKino: TOP 100 - Germany 2010
  24. Film hit list: Annual list (national) 2010 . Film Funding Agency . FFA.de. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  25. weekend charts . Focus: film . Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  26. Internet Movie Database : Nominations and Awards
  27. FBW press release . In: German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) . Retrieved October 17, 2019.