The long ride to school

Movie
Original title	The long ride to school
Country of production	GDR
original language	German
Publishing year	1982
length	82 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Rolf Losansky
script	Gisela Karau Günter Karau
production	Wolfgang Rennebarth
music	Karl-Ernst Sasse
camera	Helmut Grewald Michael Göthe
cut	Ursula Zweig
occupation
Frank carrier : Alex Iris Riffert : Maren Klaus Piontek : Director Barbara Schnitzler : teacher Dieter Franke : caretaker Fritz Marquardt : Horse Krüger Gojko Mitić : PE teacher / Red Milan Klaus Manchen : Bull Jack Ellen Hellwig : Alex's mother Günter Schubert : Alex's father Rolf Hoppe : Trapper, a good one Alfred Struwe : A good one Jörg Panknin : A good one Dieter Jäger : A good one Petr Skarke : A good one Leon Niemczyk : A bad guy Fred Delmare : One bad guy Hartmut Beer : A bad guy Gerhard Rachold : A bad guy Detlef Bierstedt : A bad guy Bruno Carstens : old porter Harald Warmbrunn : traffic policeman Karl-Ernst Sasse : music teacher Gertraut Last : cleaning lady Horst Papke : Fat man Sabine Unger

The Long Ride to School is a children's film that premiered in the GDR in 1982 . Directed by Rolf Losansky , it was created as a western comedy that parodies various DEFA Indian films. It is based on a story by Gerhard Holtz-Baumert .

action

Alex is a bright but dreamy boy. At a school meeting he is reprimanded by the principal for being late many times. His athletic achievements are not mentioned, which of course annoys him. Only his sports teacher puts all his hopes in him, as Alex is a great hope for a medal for the school at the next sports festival . His "enemies" are the students from another school who are in sporting competition with his teaching institution.

The next day, Alex goes to school with his girlfriend Maren. He leaves on time every morning, but there is so much to see on the way to school. There is, for example, the horse Kruger . A nice old man who is out and about with his old horse and does small haulage in a horse and cart. And then there are those students from the other school who are contesting him for medals. And so a story develops in Alex's imagination. His bike becomes a wild mustang that he rides. The bad guys want to steal the gold (the medals). Alex is supported by his Indian blood brother Red Milan .

In the end he succeeds in confronting the bad guys and getting the gold back. He's only late for school again.

particularities

• The film was shot in Bad Belzig and mainly in Lutherstadt Wittenberg . From the latter, the castle church , the town church and the historic market square can be seen. Today's "House A" of the Luther-Melanchthon-Gymnasium in Lutherstrasse served as the school. In addition, the film was shot at the Teufelsmauer in the Harz Mountains .
• short scenes were also shot in Halle (Saale), one can see the market church of Halle in a section
• In this film, Gojko Mitić parodies the role of the Indian , with which he became famous in the DEFA Indian films .
• The film takes place on two levels; the “reality” in the film and the fantasy world of Alex, which is increasingly taking on more shape, but always leads back to “reality”, because the actions in the fantasy are also reflected in the “reality”.

criticism

"Imaginatively told modern fairy tale, whose" leaps "between dream and reality are never worn out and which unobtrusively questions media behavior."

- Lexicon of international film

Literary template

• Gerhard Holtz-Baumert: The long ride to school. In: The cat is sitting in the lilac tree. A yearbook for children. Edited by Hilga Cwojdrak and Katrin Pieper, Kinderbuchverlag Berlin 1977

Web links

• The long ride to school in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The long ride to school at filmportal.de
• The long ride to school at the DEFA Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The long ride to school. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .