Work first and then?
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Work first and then? |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German , Lower Saxony |
| Publishing year | 1984 |
| length | 43 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Detlev Buck |
| script | Detlev Buck |
| production | cult film tv Hamburg |
| camera | Burkhard Wellmann |
| cut | Ilona Bruver |
| occupation | |
| |
Work first and then? is a German short film comedy from 1984 . It is the first work by Detlev Buck , who wrote the screenplay for this film, directed it and also played the leading role himself.
action
Gerhard Ramm lives and works on his parents' farm in a village in the Stormarn district in Schleswig-Holstein . His everyday life, which is mainly characterized by dairy farming, is depicted with attention to detail down to the banal.
To escape the routine for a while, Gerhard decides to take a trip to Hamburg. Before that, he heard a radio commercial for the Cadillac , a new trendy bar. With an effort he manages to borrow his father's Mercedes, fill it up with tractor diesel and - with the city map on his lap - go to the metropolis.
His appearance in the Cadillac , which he finally achieved after a lot of orientation problems, without being aware of it, resembles that of an alien. He takes a seat with a young lady, Chantalle , who is evidently at home in this environment, meets him initially with disapproval , but then becomes curious about his persistence and exoticism and takes him to the studio of an artist friend of his for the rest of the evening.
Later, both of them dart around nightly Hamburg, play billiards, go to the restaurant, eat handpizzas and drink beer - everyday things that, however, mean dazzling facets of a strange life to country man Gerhard. Torn between two worlds, he decides at the end of the day to “ stay on a Holsten ”.
background
Detlev Buck uses motifs in his first film that are familiar to him from his own youth. Since he grew up on a farm in a rural area, the comedy is in parts quite autobiographical. With a twinkle in his eye, Buck pokes fun at the differences between rural and urban life, caricaturing the simplicity and frugality of rural life in a loving, clichéd way as well as the culturally styled world of urban people who just know what's hot. The subculture of the big city, which inevitably develops on the fringes of society, is not left out either. At the end the protagonist goes back to his work, symbolic of the inevitability of what is his predetermined role.
Work first and then? arose from an experience of frustration. At the time, Detlev Buck planned to become an intern in the film industry, but was soon confronted with the hopelessness of this plan. Instead of being accepted, he was advised to take action and make his own film. Then the script for the film was created. The financial support was initially rejected by a filmmaker committee. The funding from the Hamburg Filmbüro (in the amount of 30,000 DM ) was then granted by a committee that did not consist of filmmakers. Buck received a further DM 30,000 from the Young German Film Board of Trustees . The production company that started with this film contributed approx. 28,000 DM.
One major disappointment, however, was the choice of the production company that took Buck on this project. According to Detlev Buck, the judicial aftermath of the film rights resulted in legal fees that exceeded the production costs. At the same time Buck took the entrance exam for the German Film and Television Academy Berlin (dffb). The popular opinion that Buck applied to the dffb with this film does not correspond to reality. Rather, Buck was given leave of absence from the academy for a year to finish his film.
Trivia
- The film was implemented with 50 amateur actors. In addition to the city of Hamburg, the shooting location was the town of Nienwohld in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Stormarn , the home village of Detlev Bucks.
- In the opening credits of the film, the title is displayed with an exclamation mark instead of the question mark.
Individual evidence
- ^ Buck-Box, DVD bonus material, 2006, original commentary by Detlev Buck
Web links
- Work first and then? in the Internet Movie Database (English)