Berlin Falling
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Berlin Falling |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2017 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ken Duken |
| script | Christoph Mille |
| production | Ken Duken, Norbert Kneissl |
| music | Crito Klingler-Ioannides |
| camera | The Chau Ngo |
| cut | Charlie Lézin |
| occupation | |
| |
Berlin Falling is a thriller based on an idea by Ken Duken , who also made his directorial debut with the film and also plays one of the two main roles. Berlin Falling celebrated its world premiere on June 20, 2017 at the Shanghai International Film Festival .
action
Former soldier Frank Balzer is traumatized by his war missions and completely shabby. He is just about to start a new existence in Brandenburg , where he lives alone in a neglected apartment and takes refuge in alcohol. One day he goes to Berlin to pick up his daughter Lilly, who is living with his ex-wife, from the main train station, whom he has been able to see again for a long time. On the way he picks up the hitchhiker Andreas at a gas station. He has a bomb with him and threatens Frank with a loaded gun in his hand while driving. He shows him live recordings of Lilly with her mother on the train on his smartphone and threatens that something will happen to his daughter if he doesn't bring him to Berlin. Frank realizes that he did not become a random victim. Andreas tells him that he was chosen because he is a very good father.
Arrived in Berlin, Andreas stages a video in the style of Islamist terrorists in the basement of an abandoned building . Frank is supposed to admit his “deeds” in the war in Afghanistan , where he was involved in an operation in which children and civilians were also killed. However, he asserts that in response to a deadly attack by the Taliban he only carried out his mission as a soldier in a war. Andreas also announces that Frank will carry out a bomb attack on Berlin Central Station . It becomes clear that Andreas is a right-wing extremist who wants to have the attack faked as an Islamist attack in order to arouse hatred against Muslims.
They drive to the main train station, and Frank has to get out with the bomb in his backpack to trigger the detonator in front of the train station. Fearing for his daughter's life, he followed Andreas' instructions until then. But now he refuses to detonate the bomb in the face of so many people - including many children. It comes to a fight with Andreas, in which it breaks out from Frank how badly he suffers from the memory of the pain of the victims during the action in Afghanistan. He can seriously injure Andreas and pulls him into the car. He himself also gets in and lets the bomb go off, killing both of them. In the meantime, his ex-wife and daughter have arrived at the train station. She listens to two messages from Frank on her mobile phone: In the first he tells her that he didn't make it, but that Lilly means everything to him, and indicates that something will happen in the train station and that she shouldn't believe the resulting talk . In the second, Frank recorded a scene that had happened before the video was recorded: Frank tried to attack Andreas, but was injured by him with an electric shock gun . When Andreas announced that Lilly was going to die, Frank begged him not to do it and that he would do anything.
production
Ken Duken, who also came up with the idea for the film, made his directorial debut with Berlin Falling . The script was written by Christoph Mille . Duken plays Frank Balzer in the film, Tom Wlaschiha the hitchhiker Andreas and Tim Wilde took on the role of Police Chief Koppe.
Filming began on December 18, 2015. The film was shot on 21 days in Berlin and Brandenburg. The production costs amounted to around 2 million euros. A first trailer for the film was released in May 2017.
Berlin Falling celebrated its world premiere on June 20, 2017 at the Shanghai International Film Festival , where the film was shown as part of Jackie Chan Action Movie Week . In Germany the film is distributed by NFP (NFP marketing & distribution). From June 28, 2017, the film was shown for the first time in Germany at the Munich Film Festival in the Spotlight series, where it celebrated its European premiere. From July 13, 2017, the film was shown in German cinemas over three days. On October 20, 2017, the film was included in the Sky program.
reception
Age rating
In Germany the film is FSK 16 . The reason for the release states: “The film is staged in an almost chamber-like setting, but at a high narrative speed and with typical elements of the action film and with a threatening atmosphere. The protagonists are drawn ambivalent and hardly invite identification. Nevertheless, under 16s can be irritated by the prevailing mood and the sometimes drastic violence. "
Reviews
Björn Schneider from the working group Kino - Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater explains that while driving together a feverish, pulsating thriller drama unfolds in a confined space in Frank's car: “A kind of intimate play on four wheels, in which you can never be sure what is next happened. In this first half Berlin Falling is by far the strongest, also because the opponents are two highly impulsive, spirited characters who threaten to explode at any time [sic!]. "Ken Duken and Tom Wlaschiha embodied their characters authentically and intense, says Schneider.
Stephen Fuchs of German Pulse recalls the story told in the film of the attack on the Berlin Christmas market at the Memorial Church , which occurred after the completion of the shooting of Berlin Falling . In his review, Fuchs explains that Duken presented the film for the first time on the night of the attack on December 19, 2016, together with his actors and parts of the film crew. Scott Roxborough from The Hollywood Reporter also points out the unpredictable connection between the location of the attack and the location of the film, as Frank and Andreas drive past in a scene at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz.
Web links
- Berlin Falling in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Berlin Falling at filmportal.de
- Berlin Falling - Official website for the film
- Berlin Falling at crew united
- Berlin Falling in the program of the Munich Film Festival
- Berlin Falling - NFP's official trailer onYouTube
- Berlin Falling : Ken Duken, Marisa Leonie Bach and Tom Wlaschiha in an interview with the Golden Camera onYouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Berlin Falling . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; May 2017; test number: 167 739 K).
- ↑ Sky co-producer on Ken Duken's directorial debut 'Berlin Falling' In: presseportal.de, December 21, 2015.
- ↑ 'Berlin Falling': Clip 'First encounter' ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: ffh.de, June 8, 2017.
- ↑ Jochen Kürten: German Cinema in China: Shanghai Film Festival shows 49 German films In: Deutsche Welle Online, June 18, 2017.
- ^ Scott Roxborough: Berlin: NFP Takes Ken Duken's 'Berlin Falling' for Germany In: The Hollywood Reporter, February 11, 2017.
- ↑ http://www.presseportal.de/pm/33221/3732958
- ^ Reasons for approval for Berlin Falling In: Voluntary self-control of the film industry. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ Björn Schneider: Berlin Falling In: programmkino.de. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
- ↑ Stephen Fuchs: The Scary Connection Between 'Berlin Falling' and the Christmas Market Attack In: German Pulse, February 8, 2017.
- ↑ Scott Roxborough: How a German Film Eerily Predicted December's Berlin Terror Attack In: The Hollywood Reporter, February 7, 2017.
