French for beginners

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title French for beginners
Original title French for beginners
French for Beginners.jpg
Country of production Germany , France
original language German , French , English
Publishing year 2006
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 10
Rod
Director Christian Ditter
script Christian Ditter
production Christian Becker
Christoph Menardi
Anita Schneider
music Philipp F. Koelmel
camera Christian Rein
cut Patricia Rommel
occupation

French for Beginners is a Franco-German romantic comedy film by director Christian Ditter from 2006. The fictional film is based on a screenplay by Ditter and focuses on the adolescent love story between the two Munich classmates Henrik and Valerie, played by François Goeske and Paula Schramm , who during a student exchange in France , which is made difficult by language problems and cultural differences. In addition to Goeske and Schramm, Lennard Bertzbach , Thaddäus Meilinger and Christian Tramitz appeared in front of the camera.

The film was released on June 8, 2006 in Germany. Critics compared parts of French for beginners to the 1980 French teen comedy La Boum - The Fete .

action

High school student Henrik hates French lessons from Monsieur Nouvelleville and develops an aversion to anything that has to do with the neighboring country. But then he falls in love with his classmate Valerie, who is familiar with the language and culture because of her French mother and therefore takes part in the organization of a school exchange . In order to prove his love for her, Henrik takes part in the exchange with his friend Johannes.

However, since Henrik speaks little French, communication is extremely difficult. After he missed the chance to get closer to his beloved during a stopover in Paris , when he first met the local students he was shocked to learn that Valerie already had a French boyfriend. Now Henrik is not only jealous of Mathieu, but also frustrated because of the unfamiliar customs of the French, whom he gets to know at his exchange partner Cyril who lives on a farm.

At first, Henrik annoys Valerie with his attacks on Mathieu, but a short time later he learns that she broke up with him because Mathieu was cheating with his classmate Charlotte. Now she is ready for a rendezvous with the shy but honest boy. The young couple are meeting at a party. However, Henrik did not take into account that in France there are very extensive meals in the late evening. When he arrives at the party very late, the French Charlotte gets in his way. She talks to him in English and tries to seduce him sexually. After Valerie's unrestrained consumption of alcohol, Henrik takes her home and resists the temptation to take advantage of her drunken state.

At the closing ceremony with all the participants, he impressed Valerie by instead of stuttering an acceptance speech, singing the chanson “Bonsoir mes amis” ( Good night, friends ). But Charlotte does not give up and visits Henrik in his host family. When Valerie sees the two of them in bed together, she angrily wants to go to her uncle in Brittany . Henrik finds out about this plan at the last moment and hijacks the group's coach to intercept them at the train station. There he can convince her of his honest love, whereupon Valerie forgives him and they kiss.

production

The romantic comedy was realized by NEOS Film in co-production with Rat Pack Filmproduktion and Hector Films with funds from German and French film subsidies.

In the film, whose French title Echangé translates as “exchange”, director and screenwriter Christian Ditter processed his own experiences as a 16-year-old schoolboy in the Rhône-Alpes region . During his school days at a grammar school in Gütersloh, Ditter himself had experienced a student exchange and chose this as the background for his feature film debut . He wrote the treatment for the film in one night, the first version of the script was ready after a few weeks. During the writing phase, Ditter returned to his then place of residence, the municipality of Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise , to meet up with former friends and get further inspiration for the script. In terms of content, Ditter attempted from the beginning to distance himself strongly from other youth comedies, in which, according to his own statements, only “ sex is the focus” and it is “disgraceful about the first time”. In contrast, he described French for beginners as "a real love story for teenagers in which infatuation, deep feelings and emotional experiences are the focus".

Most of the photos were taken in the French community of Saint-Martin-en-Haut .

Ditter sent the script to producer Christoph Menardi from NEOS Film, with whom he had studied at the Munich University of Television and Film . Their fellow student, the dramaturge Jenny Alten, supported the two in their further development, but had to drop out of the project early due to pregnancy. NEOS Film took over the production in co-production with Rat Pack Filmproduktion and Hector Films. The production was funded by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (FFF Bayern), David Groenewold's GFP II Medienfonds, the German-French film funding agreement Minitraité, Eurimages , Rhône-Alpes Cinema, the Center National de la Cinématographie (CNC) and the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA). The budget was around two million euros. French for Beginners also served as Ditter's graduation film at the HFF Munich.

Around two thirds of the motifs were found in France . The shooting took place from August 1 to September 28, 2005 in Munich , Paris , the municipality of Saint-Martin-en-Haut south-west of Lyon and in Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise , which Ditter had on his first visit to Had chosen the main location. The residents of the place supported the film team significantly in the production. Production offices were set up in several public buildings within the town. The shooting was made more difficult by French youth protection regulations, which only allow shooting with the young actors until 10 p.m. Due to the large number of night-time sequences, filming was mostly done with special permits. Many scenes were created using a single take . Co-producer Christian Becker subsequently described the recordings as “a middle thing between a nightmare from a weather disaster and bureaucracy with the authorities and a fun holiday camp”.

The film was released on June 8, 2006 in Germany.

Film music

The music plays a special role in this film. The song Aurélie by the German band Wir sind Helden points out the problems with the Franco-German rendezvous right from the start. In addition to Aurélie , two other tracks by the band - also in French - are part of the film's soundtrack . The chanson Bonsoir mes amis was written by the German songwriter Reinhard Mey . The DVD, which was released on November 9, 2006, contains the usual extras and the music video Pourquoi tu vis by the Berlin singer Elke Brauweiler , in which some scenes from the film are integrated.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was released on June 9, 2006 by Königskinder Schallplatten.

Track list 
No. title Interpreter length
1. French for Beginners Suite Part 1 Philipp F. Koelmel 1:16
2. Only one word We are Heroes 3:55
3. Revolution No. 1 Urban Delights 4:15
4th If I Had No Rules Super 700 2:48
5. Les Champs-Elysees Elke Brauweiler 3:58
6th Pourquoi tu vis (Porque te va) Elke Brauweiler 3:24
7th Ne m'appelle pas ta biche Stereo total 1:54
8th. Bonsoir Mes Amis Reinhard Mey 2:25
9. Oh yeah, alright One-two 3:40
10. Aline Christophe 2:50
11. Apply some pressure Maxïmo Park 3:20
12. Sexy girl 2 room apartment 3:41
13. Rock 'n' Roll Star Urban Delights 3:50
14th Laisse tomber les filles Elke Brauweiler 3:02
15th Recent changes Super 700 4:49
16. Tango Schawasano Schultze & Schmidt 2:54
17th As Long As You Want Me to The Blind Samurai 2:15
18th Dance Your Troubles Away Up, Bustle & Out 4:06
19th Si seulement The Blind Samurai 2:20
20th People Super 700 2:12
21st Le vide We are Heroes 3:31
22nd French for Beginners Suite Part 2 Philipp F. Koelmel 4:16

criticism

Critics rated the film largely positive, comparing French for beginners in parts to the French teenage comedy La Boum - The Fete from 1980.

Filmz.de found French to be a “refreshing good-mood film about friendship, first love and jealousy for beginners . The mixture of culture clash and love story will not only inspire young people. ”With the two“ main actors François Göske and Paula Schramm, the young director and screenwriter Christian Ditter was able to win two first-class young actors who can sincerely convey the attitude towards life of first love with unwanted jokes . Memories of weak knees, palpitations and airplanes in the stomach are immediately awakened ”.

Leading actor François Goeske and his colleagues received positive reviews for their play in the film.

Andrea glasses from Stern.de praised the production: “In contrast to other youth comedies, French for beginners manages to take the teenagers' feelings mostly seriously instead of making fun of them. Infatuation and emotional experiences outstrip mere sex. ”However, she criticized the implementation of the ending:“ The final scenes of the film, however, are too American and therefore exaggerated - especially in contrast to the authentic implementation. Up to that point, the film gets along well with minimal and subtle means. "

Cinema magazine described the production as a “funny teenage joke for the we are heroes generation”, which “relies on humor and romance instead of crude nonsense”. Regardless of its target group, the film works “regardless of age, because it has more to offer than just clumsy clichés. With an exuberant class trip atmosphere and a tendency towards cultural misunderstandings, she usually hits the right, amusing tone ”. Main actor Göske in particular proves to be "a comic talent".

“ French for beginners , with its not always entirely coherent version of great love, is quite suitable for a young audience that is still ready to go along with the constant setbacks in the relationship between Henrik and Valerie. After all, it is not staged in a clumsy way and digs out enough personal experience to not be able to cheer properly ”, says Christoph Petersen from Filmstarts.de . "Everyone else, on the other hand , will feel reminded of La Boum - Die Fete far too often and wish for a performance of this film , which is of course much better."

“Young people can be quite exhausting, but so can films about them. Which is not to say that Ditter's directorial debut would be a disaster. Much has even been observed extremely well, such as the telling looks of the teens, the speechlessness and the awkward gestures, ”said Thomas Krone from the General-Anzeiger . The film only “tentatively draws from the comic potential of differences in mentality”. So the "film jumelage turns out to be as bland as pasteurized Camembert despite amusing moments and sympathetic actors".

Aftermath

The film premiered on June 7, 2006 in Berlin's Zoo Palast and hit German cinemas just one day later, just in time for the World Cup . The production already had 39,711 visitors in 150 cinemas after the end of the first screening weekend and thus reached number four in the German cinema charts behind The Da Vinci Code - Da Vinci Code , The Omen and X-Men: The Last Resistance . In total, more than 261,657 cinema-goers saw the film by the end of the year. The total box office result in Germany was around 1.25 million euros. The film was ranked 25th among the most successful German productions of the year.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Age rating for French for beginners . Youth Media Commission .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Interview with the director . VoltaireOnline.eu. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. 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. Retrieved November 25, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.voltaireonline.eu
  3. ↑ a b c d e Factsr . film.tv. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  4. ↑ a b c d Andrea Gläser, It's not enough for "Je t'aime" , stern.de, June 8, 2006
  5. ↑ Reinhard Mey, Bonsoir mes amis
  6. ↑ Elke Brauweiler, Pourquoi tu vis (video) ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2008 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.elke-brauweiler.de
  7. ↑ Film review by filmz.de
  8. ↑ Editorial criticism . In: Cinema . Retrieved October 8, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Christoph Petersen: Critique of the FILMSTARTS.de editorial team . Filmstarts.de . Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ French for beginners. In: General-Anzeiger . Retrieved October 8, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Event report - French for beginners . Kino-Site.eu. Retrieved on July 25, 2012.  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.kino-site.de  
  12. ↑ French for Beginners - Weekend Charts . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  13. ↑ a b Film hit list: Annual list (German) 2006 . FFA. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ French for beginners . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved July 20, 2012.