Knockin 'on Heaven's Door (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Knockin 'on Heaven's Door |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1997 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Thomas Jahn |
| script | Thomas Jahn, Til Schweiger |
| production | Til Schweiger, Tom Zickler , André Hennicke , Wolfgang Braun , Christoph Ott |
| music |
Blessed , Franz Plasa |
| camera | Gero Steffen |
| cut | Alexander Berner |
| occupation | |
| |
Knockin 'on Heaven's Door is a German road movie from 1997 , directed by Thomas Jahn . Jahn wrote the script together with Til Schweiger .
The film was the most successful German film in 1997 with over 3 million admissions. Its title was taken from the song of the same name by Bob Dylans . The version of the song contained in the film, however, comes from the German band Selig , who performed under the pseudonym Digital Elvis & Zero .
action
Rudi Wurlitzer has bone cancer . In the "unplugging station" of a hospital, he meets Martin Brest. Martin has an inoperable brain tumor . Together they make the decision that they definitely don't want to spend their last days like this; Martin also convinces Rudi that he must have seen the sea before he dies. They take a bottle of tequila that is waiting for them and steal a Mercedes “Pagoda” 230 SL convertible in baby blue in the hospital's parking garage . What neither of them know: The car belongs to the gangsters Henk and Abdul, who have received the order from their boss Frankie to drive the car to the gang boss Curtiz. Frankie still owes him a million marks , which he deposited in the trunk of the Mercedes.
In the meantime, Rudi and Martin need money to get to the sea. Martin finds a pistol in the glove compartment of the car and when he stops to refuel, the idea of robbing the gas station occurs. This is the start of a wild chase with the two terminally ill, the gangsters and the police. Time and again, Rudi and Martin manage to escape all pursuers. After a bank robbery, the two find the money in the trunk. This fulfills one more wish for everyone: Martin wants to give his mother, who is a big Elvis fan, a Cadillac Fleetwood and can really find a copy. Except for a small part, the two send the rest of the money by post to someone. Rudi wants to sleep with two women in a brothel and chooses Frankie's club for that. They are recognized and brought to Frankie by Henk and Abdul. When he learns that his friends have completely used up his money, he wants to kill both of them, but Curtiz arrives and prevents it. After everything has been explained to him, he lets the two friends escape unmolested with the words “You've never been to the ocean? Then you better run, you're running out of time. "(Curtiz speaks only English throughout the film. German translation:" You have never seen the sea? Then you better hurry up, your time is running out. "). When Rudi and Martin finally reach the sea, it is Martin who takes another drag on his cigarette and then finally falls dead into the sand. Rudi is not astonished, just looks at him, then sits down next to him and looks into the surf.
Emergence
The then inexperienced Thomas Jahn met the already popular actor Til Schweiger in a Cologne bookstore. According to his own statements, he already sketched the plot of his script for him there .
The Filmstiftung NRW played a key role in financing the film.
The film was shot in many different locations across Germany, including on the Dutch border and near Wuppertal .
Reviews
"Pretty, charming, but very quotable road movie."
“A directorial debut that cleverly cites the genre set pieces of road, buddy and gangster movies, which largely overcomes the dramaturgical weaknesses of the script with a feel for dynamics and timing. The precisely drawn and cast supporting roles also compensate for the overly superficial characterization of the main characters and the pubertal gags. "
Awards
- German Film Award 1997
- Gold film tape for performance (supporting role): Moritz Bleibtreu
- Nomination for the Federal Film Prize in the Best Film category
- VideoWinner 1997
- Distribution: Most successful German feature film
- Golden Canvas 1998
- Golden screen: 3 million viewers in 18 months
- Valenciennes International Festival of Action and Adventure Films
- Audience Award
- Grand Prize
- Silver St. George: Best Actor: Til Schweiger
- Ernst Lubitsch Prize 1998
- Moritz Bleibtreu
- Catalonian International Film Festival 1997, Sitges , Spain
- Gran Angular Award (Best Film)
The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
background
- The premiere was on February 20, 1997. The film was produced by Touchstone Pictures , the license for distribution was taken over by Buena Vista .
- After the credits, Bernd Eichinger has a cameo . During an identity check, the motorcycle policeman ( Hannes Jaenicke ) finds a wad of money with him. When he claims to have found the money in a letter from "Rudi and Martin", the policeman asks: "Who in heaven are Rudi and Martin?"
- Klaus, the gas station attendant, is played by Jürgen Becker . For the moderator of the show Mitternachtsspitzen this is (as of 2013) the only appearance in a feature film.
- Rudy Wurlitzer is the name of the screenwriters, the screenplay for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid director Sam Peckinpah from the year 1973 wrote, wrote the soundtrack for the Bob Dylan, including Knockin 'on Heaven's Door. He is a descendant of Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer , the founder of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company , which manufactured jukeboxes and the Wurlitzer electric piano .
- In the film, a taxi driver gives a telephone number where you can order a taxi. This number is actually the connection to the minicar headquarters for which Thomas Jahn's father worked as a driver. Thomas Jahn plays the taxi driver himself in a cameo.
- In the opening credits of the film, Til Schweiger's then wife Dana and his son Valentin can be seen briefly (blonde woman and toddler with bottle).
- The film is based on a short story by Barry Gibb , a member of the Bee Gees , and David English. This was first filmed in 1988 under the title Hawks - The Falcons .
- Thematically, the film is based on The Pensioners Gang from 1979 as a model. The director of this road movie, in which three pensioners acquire a larger sum in order to have the puppets dance again, is Martin Brest , the namesake of the character played by Til Schweiger.
- In 2009 a remake was released in Japan with the title Heaven's Door in cinemas. The main characters are Tomoya Nagase and Mayuko Fukuda .
- For the film, a 1956 Cadillac Coupe DeVille from the Cadillac Museum in Hachenburg was repainted in the colors of the 1955 Cadillac, which is in Graceland in the Elvis Presley Museum .