Free fall (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Freefall |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2013 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stephan Lacant |
| script |
Karsten Dahlem Stephan Lacant |
| production |
Daniel Reich Christoph Holthof-Keim |
| music | Dürbeck & Dohmen |
| camera | Sten Mende |
| cut | Monika Schindler |
| occupation | |
| |
Freier Fall is a German drama film directed by Stephan Lacant. Hanno Koffler , Max Riemelt and Katharina Schüttler were chosen for the main roles in the feature film . The nationwide cinema release in Germany was on May 23, 2013.
action
The film tells the love story between two young police officers: Marc Borgmann is 36 years old, ambitious and lives with his pregnant girlfriend Bettina Bischoff in a home that his parents financed in advance. Everything in his life runs smoothly until the supposedly heterosexual police officer gets to know his colleague Kay Engel on a training course and he has unexpected feelings. Marc tries at first to ignore his newly discovered homosexual side and to find his way back to his previous life, but Kay allows himself to be transferred to Marc's hundred. For Marc begins a phase of constant being torn between his old life and the new passionate experiences. Little by little it seems as if he can no longer make anyone happy in his life, least of all himself. Of course, despite all the precautionary measures, the affair comes to light, Marc's relationship with Bettina threatens to break up and the two men see each other confronted with concentrated intolerance both in the classroom (Kay) and in the own parental home (Marc). Marc cannot and does not want to take the last step, the final separation from his previous life. Finally, with a heavy heart, he ends his relationship with Kay. When this then disappears without a trace, Marc loses his footing. Only now does he realize what significance Kay has for him. After losing his lover, he also threatens to lose his “civil life” when Bettina explains to him that she cannot go on living as before.
background
Idea and script
Freier Fall is the first German-language feature film by Essen-based director Stephan Lacant. The story was inspired by co-author Karsten Dahlem, who had been with the riot police for a year and a half . He reported to Lacant of cases of bullying against homosexual colleagues that he had observed during his training. Lacant, who found the subject both terrifying and exciting at the same time, recognized the cinematic qualities behind Dahlem's descriptions and decided to start work on a script together with Dahlem. In preparation for the script, the two spoke with out and unouted police officers and worked closely with the Association of Lesbian and Gay Police Officers (VelsPol). In addition, the duo researched extensively on the Internet in order to be able to discuss their situation with real homosexual family fathers via forums.
Production and staging
Freier Fall was produced by the Baden-Baden film production company kurhaus production in co-production with SWR . The shooting took place in the summer of 2012 in the Ludwigsburg area . Due to the co-production of the SWR and the financial support from the mfg Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg , the team was obliged to start shooting in Baden-Württemberg . An agreement was reached on Ludwigsburg after the production team at the Ludwigsburg University of Education had found ideal premises to simulate a police barracks. All other locations were located in the vicinity in order to keep travel and storage costs as low as possible.
After many actors who liked the script refused an audition because, after consulting their agents, they feared they would be subscribed to homosexual roles by working on Freier Fall , Hanno Koffler and Max Riemelt could be engaged for the two male lead roles. In order to capture the moods and emotions of the main characters closely, Lacant and cameraman Sten Mende decided to film as far as possible with simple handheld cameras . Lacant decided against extensive rehearsals in the run-up to and in the middle of the shooting in favor of intensive discussions in which the director worked out the individual characters and modes of action together with the cast. During this phase, the script was subject to constant adjustments and changes. Many dialogues have been deleted and replaced by other stylistic devices.
publication
The official cinema release in Germany was on May 23, 2013, the first television broadcast on November 17, 2014 on SWR. Before that, the film was shown at the international film festival in Berlin ( Berlinale on February 8, 2013 ) as the opening film in the “Perspective German Cinema” section. On the edge of the Film Festival of Cannes 2013 sales Salzgeber sold the distribution rights to the US (Wolfe) , the Netherlands (Cinemien) and Switzerland (Xenix) and France (KMBO) , the UK (Peccadillo) , Poland (Tongariro) and Denmark ( Reel Pictures) .
The film was then shown at a total of ten festivals between June 21, 2013 and January 9, 2014 in nine countries (including the USA, France, Hungary and Brazil) and in Poland (cinema release: September 6, 2013) and Denmark ( Release date: January 9, 2014) also released outside of these festivals. In the official trailer, the film is referred to as "The German answer to Brokeback Mountain " ("The German answer to Brokeback Mountain ").
reception
Reviews
Free fall was received almost exclusively positively by international criticism:
"A powerful and dramatic story."
“[...] told so freshly, illuminated so idiosyncratically that no déjà-vus arise. [...] precisely drawn and played, so that the story develops a fatal pull. "
“It all sounds like a considerably predictable coming-out story. A little bit like Brokeback Mountain too . But Lacant manages to tell this story in an exciting and, above all, different way. 'Even if homosexuality is thematically involved, my main concern is to fathom the underlying archetypal conflicts of love, hate, denial and self-discovery,' says Lacant of his film. He owes that he succeeds above all to his main actors. They play their roles without falling into clichés, without easily readable character interpretation. [The result] seems bolder than some other films that clearly see themselves as 'queer cinema'. […] However: the film will not get off the ground entirely without the conventional dichotomy of images of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Baby, wife and home on one side. Sex, drugs and clubbing on the other. And somewhere in between homophobia in the workplace. But then the situation becomes more complex: Kay falls in love, makes demands, wants to be more than just an affair. And from then on the dichotomies dissolve almost completely, the sexual orientation of the characters becomes secondary. From here on, the topics are: loss of control, the appeal of new experiences, love and its consequences. Lacant confidently weaves this complex emotional network - the most beautiful moment of which is its surprising end. "
"Exceptionally hot love scenes (and full-frontal nudity) [...] a powerful dramatization of a passionate gay affair."
“Lacant's first feature film […] impresses with its physicality, the skilful casualness of the dialogues and a vibrating power of representation right down to the supporting roles. Above all, however, the film shows [...] how difficult it can be to steer one's own life and that of the family through all the uncertainties and temptations and to stop a fall into the abyss once it has started. "
“When the dramaturgical field is filled with meaning after a very well-constructed first half hour, you already suspect that no conflict will surprisingly turn off at the wrong intersection. And if, in the further course of Freier Fall, none of the characters experiences any kind of individual contour apart from their (in) doing, everything becomes a staged game, including the cliché cabinet: the inhibited gay, caught in a heterodominated microcosm ignorant-prudish mother ("That's not how we raised you"), naive-passive wife and the homophobic macho work colleague as antagonists. "
"Narrated in a very straightforward manner and played extremely focused [...]"
“You can't say for sure whether 'Freier Fall' is only so good because Hanno Koffler, Max Riemelt and Katharina Schüttler are so good, or whether the three of them can unlock themselves so spectacularly because the film gives them the opportunity to do so. In any case, the fact is that you rarely experience actors so harmoniously, especially in German cinema, so real and easy and direct. Problem films don't have to be strenuous if they are told with as much ease as this one. Lacant does not attempt a treatise on 'homosexuality in the police environment' - rather, he talks without judgment, but lovingly about three people who dream the impossible dream of happiness: Kay only wants a decent friend, Bettina an intact family and Marc everything together. 'Free Fall' lets your dreams burst. And still does not think it is out of the question that it is worth dreaming. "
Awards
- “Particularly valuable” rating from FBW
- NDR Director's Award at the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Film Festival 2013
- Günter Rohrbach Film Prize 2013 to the director and producer and the Lord Mayor's Prize to Hanno Koffler and Max Riemelt
- Nomination for the MFG-Star Baden-Baden 2013
- Nomination for the German Film Prize 2014 in the category Best Acting Achievement - Male Leading Role to Hanno Koffler
continuation
The main actor Max Riemelt confirmed on March 19, 2015 that a sequel to Freier Fall was in the works. This is to be created by the independent producer kurhaus productions with the same main actors and Stephen Lacant as director. The estimated budget will be three million euros, which will be financed through crowdfunding . The related campaign started on March 19, 2017.
Web links
- Official German website
- Free fall at filmportal.de
- Free fall in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Interview in the magazine men
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Official American site for the film on WolfeVideo.com.
- ↑ a b Free fall in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Interview: Director Stephan Lacant - Freier Fall . In: Passauer Neue Presse . Wordpress . Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ^ A b Christian Meyer: Speechlessness . Choices.de. April 25, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- ↑ Debut in the third: Freier Fall. swr.de, July 8, 2014, accessed January 25, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c d Publication info of the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ a b c Official American trailer on YouTube .com from Wolfe Video
- ↑ Article in Blickpunkt: Film from May 28, 2013, accessed on May 29, 2013.
- ↑ Article in: Der Tagesspiegel January 29, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ↑ Article in: Die Tageszeitung February 9, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ^ Article in the FAZ , February 8, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ^ Film review on Critic.de, January 31, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ↑ Article. In: Stern , May 23, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ↑ Article on Spiegel Online , May 23, 2013; Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ↑ Free fall at the German Film and Media Assessment , accessed on May 29, 2013
- ↑ Freier Fall (NDR Director's Prize) ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 29, 2013
- ^ Günther Rohrbach Film Prize: Prize Winner 2013 , accessed on November 15, 2013
- ↑ Free Fall 2. In: Indiegogo. Retrieved March 22, 2017 .
- ↑ Free fall - is the cult film going to be continued? In: dbna.de. Retrieved March 25, 2017 .
