What a Man (film)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title What a man
What a Man Logo.svg
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2011
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director Matthias Schweighofer
script Matthias Schweighöfer,
Doron Wisotzky
production Matthias Schweighöfer,
Gabriela Bacher
Marco Beckmann
Dan Maag
music Peter Horn
Andrei Melita
camera Bernhard Jasper
cut Olivia Retzer
occupation

What a Man (German: “Was für ein Mann” ) is a German comedy film by and with Matthias Schweighöfer from 2011 . The production is based on a joint script between Schweighöfer and the author Doron Wisotzky and is about the 30-year-old Frankfurt teacher Alex Nowak, played by Schweighöfer, who is left for an affair by his long-time girlfriend Carolin and then begins to question his own manhood put. Other roles include Sibel Kekilli , Mavie Hörbiger , Elyas M'Barek , Thomas Kretschmann , Nora Jokhosha , Pasquale Aleardi , Lilay Huser and Milan Peschel in front of the camera.

The feature film was produced by Fox International Productions and Pantaleon Films and shot between September and November 2010 in Frankfurt, Offenbach and Düsseldorf . Schweighöfer appeared for the first time not only as a leading actor, but also as an author , producer and director . The comedy was released on August 25, 2011 in Germany, where the film received mixed reviews. With around 1.8 million visitors in Germany alone and total box office income of 12.5 million euros, What a Man advanced to become the second most successful German film production of the 2011 cinema year behind Kokowääh . Schweighöfer was awarded the Hessian Film Prize for the film ; The film itself received the Jupiter Prize in 2012 in the “Best German Film” category.

action

When the 30-year-old Alex Novak is abandoned by his dominant model friend Carolin for an affair with the neighboring photographer Jens after a long relationship and thrown out of the shared Frankfurt apartment, a world collapses for the elementary school teacher. Looking for consolation, he finds shelter with his good friend Nele, an animal welfare activist who believes she has finally found happiness in her long-distance relationship with the Frenchman Etienne , who lives in China .

Driven by a crisis of meaning and his buddy Okke, Alex decides to get to the bottom of the causes of the failure of his relationship. He consequently embarks on the turbulent search for the answer to the question “When is a man a man?”. He completed a few macho courses and even worked as a lumberjack. Nevertheless, he remains the sensitive Alex, but learns that it is not the "male hardness" that defines "a man", but to know what you want and to act accordingly.

In the end, Nele and Alex, who have been friends since elementary school, discover a love for each other, which they admit only after a few ups and downs.

background

Emergence

The script for What a Man is based in part on Schweighöfer's own experiences. He developed the basic idea for the film together with the Munich scriptwriter Michael Gutmann , who in turn recommended his friend Doron Wisotzky as a scriptwriter. When writing the actual script, Schweighöfer sat down with Wisotzky and said: "Put your relationship on the table, I'll put mine on the table." Within just two days, he and Wisotzky worked out a script that contained " autobiographical traits [and ] thrown together stories ”of the two participants as well as reported experiences of friends combined into a coherent narrative thread. Schweighöfer admitted that as including two ex-relationships had been included in the film and also the scene, the character of Caroline in the sex the rib bounce, was based on his own experiences. Schweighöfer characterized the humor of the film as "somewhat more absurd" compared to previous comedies in which he had been involved. At the same time, however, he replied that What a Man had ready scenes that moved both to laugh and cry.

Schweighöfer originally wanted to implement a completely different material as the first project of his own production company, but after considering the expected production costs, decided on a cheaper “light comedy”. Although initially not even considered as a director, it was finally jointly decided to make What a Man Schweighöfer's directorial debut.

production

Mavie Hörbiger and Elyas M'Barek at the Austrian premiere of the film

The shooting of What a Man lasted 34 days and was started on September 21, 2010 in Frankfurt am Main . The setting included the Eiserne Steg , the Opernplatz in front of the Alte Oper , the Schweizer Platz, the Frankfurt Eissporthalle , the Palmengarten , the Museumufer , the Schiller School in the Sachsenhausen district as well as parts of the banking district , the King Kamehameha Suite and other places in the vicinity Surroundings, including Offenbach and the Friedberger Forest . The re-shooting of the aircraft sequences took place in November 2010 in the Air Berlin hangar in Düsseldorf . The airline introduced the production of the image that especially one Airbus type A330 available.

The film was produced by Fox International Productions and Pantaleon Films, the production company of Matthias Schweighöfer and Marco Beckmann, which they founded in the run-up to the production in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel . Schweighöfer justified his decision to relocate the film's framework to the Main metropolis by saying that the city was “crazy photogenic” and, in contrast to Berlin , Hamburg , Munich or Cologne, less well known and not already photographed many times. The production costs of the film amounted to around 1.6 million euros. The Hessian Film Fund supported the project with 500,000 euros. The Filmförderungsanstalt contributed 380,000 euros to the production and distribution funding, the German Film Funding Fund almost 450,000 euros.

The main cast besides Schweighöfer emerged from the casting process prior to production. Mavie Hörbiger , who was initially being considered for another role, managed to convince Schweighöfer during a reading rehearsal to cast her in the role of Carolin. Elyas M'Barek's character of Okke, in turn, required the casting of an actor with a migrant background . Schweighöfer justified M'Barek's engagement with his comedic abilities, among other things. Sibel Kekilli had not been able to take part in the first round of casting for What a Man , but convinced in a second run with her “strength”, which, according to Schweighöfer, was a fitting contrast to Hörbiger. The actress welcomed the chance to star in a comedy for the first time after a series of dramas . Furthermore, Nora Tschirner and Silbermond - drummer Andreas Nowak can be seen in cameo appearances .

Film music

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
What a Man OST
  DE 15th 09/09/2011 (5 weeks)
Singles
What a Man (Lena)
  DE 21st 09/16/2011 (4 weeks)
New Age (Marlon Roudette)
  DE 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 02.09.2011 (34 weeks)
  AT 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 08/26/2011 (25 weeks)
  CH 1Template: Infobox chart placements / maintenance / NR1 link 08/28/2011 (36 weeks)
Iron Bridge (Philipp Poisel)
  DE 4th 07/10/2011 (41 weeks)
  AT 13 01/20/2012 (4 weeks)
  CH 25th 01/22/2012 (2 weeks)

Schweighöfer was also primarily responsible for the selection of the background music for the film. The soundtrack , which was released on August 26, 2011, was inspired, among other things, by his own record collection. Singer Philipp Poisel contributed the previously unpublished ballad Eiserner Steg for the film . Lena Meyer-Landrut , who Schweighöfer got to know while synchronizing the animation film Sammy's Adventure in 2010, sang the 1968 Linda Lyndell classic of the same name for What a Man . Schweighöfer and Milan Peschel could be seen in guest roles in the accompanying music video . Mattafix member Marlon Roudette's song New Age , which had already been published in advance, immediately reached number 1 in the German single charts after the film was released .

Soundtrack

Track list 
No. title Interpreter length
1. What a man Lena 2:56
2. New Age Marlon Roudette 3:15
3. Iron Bridge Philipp Poisel 4:15
4th Big Jet Plane Angus & Julia Stone 3:45
5. Miss you Adiam Dymott 2:53
6th So This Is Goodbye William Fitzsimmons 5:06
7th The Great Escape Patrick Watson 3:10
8th. Two by two Animal Kingdom 5:06
9. Wrong Directions Martin and James 3:22
10. Happiness Jonathan Jeremiah 3:02
11. Mon Amour Ben l'Oncle Soul 3:52
12. Get up Barcelona 4:02
13. Isyankar Mustafa Sandal (featuring Gentleman ) 3:52
14th Night Falls Booka Shade 5:20
15th Timmy Wears Prada Timothy 3:23
16. Whatta Man Salt-N-Pepa (featuring En Vogue ) 3:35

criticism

"Schweighöfer resists the temptation to push the audience too much on the result of the film, gives the story time to develop and makes his debut particularly likeable," said Mira Wild from the FAZ . Schweighöfer encourages “the viewer to think along, the sophisticated connections only reveal themselves to the attentive viewer [...] The director himself masters his role as clumsy idiot Alex with flying colors. But the selection of the other actors was also successful […] Kekilli's comedy debut, on the other hand, is only moderately successful: You don't believe some jokes, but she shines in her scenes as a thoughtful conservationist. "

“Schweighöfer uses his solo number for one of his most personal films. By making fun of himself, and that is what makes his debut so interesting, ”said Peter Zander in the Berliner Morgenpost . “Schweighöfer gathered all his friends and companions around him for his directorial debut, and everyone came for even the smallest appearances. Kekilli is proven to be recommended as a comedy actress. And Schweighöfer as a confident and winking director. Til Schweiger could also learn a good slice from so much courage to self-irony . "

Spiegel reviewer Daniela Zinser found that the "macho clothes, thanks to great actors, are better than feared": "There is a lot of cliché, some jokes are too much, and that it still doesn't get boring, the great actors ensure that who obviously have a lot of fun [...] There are pretty flashbacks, touching wisdom, and Frankfurt am Main is finally a chic and romantic film set. In between there is room for feelings, even if the film music exaggerates a bit. All in all, there is little reason to yawn. The viewer is well entertained - not a bad man's competence either ”.

In the opinion of Lars-Christian Daniels von Filmstarts , “Schweighöfer's directorial debut […] proves to be a comedy with few surprises, which ranks in the lower third of his filmography in terms of quality.” Daniels praised the representation of the cast, but above all felt the “low hit rate of the gags and conventional dramaturgy, which, especially in the second half of the film, willingly submits to the unwritten laws of classic romantic comedy, ”as the film's weak points.

Rainer Gansera from epd Film wrote that Schweighöfer fell "on the nose" with his directorial debut and What a Man was "really flat and embarrassing". The production is “the cinematic definition of the blatant misogyny . No German comedy in the last twenty years has offered a gallery of such stupid, repulsive, downright disgusting female figures. ”It is particularly painful to“ watch Schweighöfer make a monkey out of badly timed, hair-drawn slapstick numbers. The drawing of the milieus remains striking and without credibility ”. Only Sibel Kekilli is the "shining exception as the only nice woman".

success

Matthias Schweighöfer received a special prize at the Hessian Film Prize in 2011 for his work

The film premiered on August 10, 2011 in the Cinestar cinema of the Sony Center in Berlin . The release of the production for the public performance finally took place on 25 August 2011. According to press reports, the production already had after the first Vorführwochenendes 340,000 visitors in 353 cinemas, reaching immediately, even before the Smurfs and Final Destination 5 , the top of the German box office . What a Man achieved the second best start of a German film in 2011, after Til Schweiger's Kokowääh, as well as the most successful start of a German film ever for Fox distribution.

In order to redeem his betting debts, Schweighöfer ran through the Brandenburg Gate in boxer shorts on September 1, 2011 after he had promised on Facebook before the film was released - jokingly - that he would run through the monument in underwear if the film was more than 400,000 visitors. According to media reports, What a Man was able to attract 423,753 viewers to the cinemas up to and including Monday. As the third German-language film, What a Man was finally able to pass the 1 million visitor limit on the third evaluation weekend. Overall, the film saw more than 1.78 million cinema-goers by the end of the year. The total box office income in Germany was 12.5 million euros. The film took 15th place in the 2011 German cinema charts and ranks second behind Til Schweiger's Kokowääh among the most successful German productions of the year.

The free TV premiere of the film took place on November 5, 2013 on Sat.1 . With 1.84 million viewers in the advertising-relevant target group of 14 to 49 year olds and a 15.7% market share , What a Man secured market leadership in prime time on that day . A total of 2.98 million viewers saw the film.

Awards

Just two months after the film was released, Schweighöfer was awarded a special prize from the Hessian Film Prize. The laudation for the undoped award was given by actress Mavie Hörbiger. At the beginning of 2012, Hörbiger was shortlisted for the German Film Prize 2012 because of her individual performances . In March of that year, the German magazine Cinema What a Man bestowed the Jupiter audience film award in the “Best German Film” category after the comedy had been voted the best by the readers of the publication.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for What a Man . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2011 (PDF; test number: 128 533 K).
  2. ^ Age rating for What a Man . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ^ "What a Man" premiere in Berlin . In: STARS - the cinema magazine . YouTube . August 16, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  4. ^ A b c Cäcilia Fischer: Matthias Schweighöfer: "I only want to live in the East, even in Berlin" . In: Super Illu . SuperIllu.de. August 22, 2011. Retrieved on August 27, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.superillu.de  
  5. a b c Schweighöfer films manhood . In: Free Press . FreiePresse.de. December 15, 2010. Retrieved on August 27, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.freipresse.de  
  6. a b Matthias Schweighöfer in an interview . RP-Online.de. August 23, 2011. Accessed on August 27, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.rp-online.de  
  7. ^ A b c Dirk Henninger: Cinema tip: "What a Man" . Echo-Online.de. Retrieved on August 27, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.echo-online.de  
  8. Jana Schulze: Real guys are made here . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . FR-Online.de. 2010-110-7. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  9. Air Berlin supports Matthias Schweighöfer in his directorial debut . In: Air Berlin . Facebook .de. October 28, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  10. a b Frankfurt as a cinema backdrop: film start of “What a man” - Hessenschau . In: hr television . YouTube . August 19, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  11. Elmar Schütze: Right behind the Smurfs . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 9, 2011
  12. What A Man . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  13. Production overview 2010 (PDF; 185 kB) In: Deutscher Filmförderfonds . FFA.de. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010. 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. Retrieved August 27, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ffa.de
  14. Interview with Mavie Hörbiger, Elyas M'Barek and Thomas Kretschmann . In: FabelaIMag . YouTube. August 21, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  15. a b Interview with Matthias Schweighöfer - What a Man . In: FabelaIMag . YouTube. August 21, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  16. Sibel Kekilli is happy about a comic role . In: Focus . Focus.de. November 4, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  17. Corinna Kleinekoenen: How the random extra came across a photo . In: Frankfurter Neue Presse . FNP.de. August 23, 2011. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  18. Gideon Gottfried: Charts Germany week 36: Red Hot Chili Peppers depend on strong competition . In: music market . Musikmarkt.de. September 6, 2011. Accessed on September 8, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.musikmarkt.de  
  19. a b Lenny Kravitz at number one on the album charts . In: Berliner Umschau . BerlinerUmschau.de. August 30, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  20. Gideon Gottfried: Charts Germany week 37: Saltatio Mortis storm third place . In: music market . Musikmarkt.de. September 13, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. 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. Retrieved September 13, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  21. ^ "What A Man": Matthias Schweighöfer puts together the soundtrack . klatsch-tratsch.de, August 11, 2011
  22. a b Official soundtrack for the film What A Man inspired and compiled by Matthias Schweighöfer . In: Universal Music . Mix1.de. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  23. Philipp Poisel: advance booking starts tomorrow . RP-Online.de. August 31, 2011. Accessed August 31, 2011.
  24. Check out the funny video including a dance by Matthias Schweighöfer here . Energy.de. August 18, 2011. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. 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. Retrieved August 31, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.energy.de
  25. Mira Wild: When is a man a man? . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . FAZ.net. August 27, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  26. Peter Zander: Pony or stallion . Berliner Morgenpost . August 25, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  27. Daniela Zinser: A real guy thanks to spray cream . The mirror . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  28. ^ Lars-Christian Daniels: What A Man> Filmstarts Critique . Filmstarts.de. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  29. ^ Rainer Gansera: Critique of What a Man . In: epd film . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  30. a b Cheering fans at What a Man . BZ . August 10, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  31. a b German cinema charts: What a Weekend! . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. August 29, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  32. a b Here Matthias Schweigschlüpfer pays a bet . In: Bild newspaper . Bild.de . September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  33. Regina Urban: Swarm of girls and superstar . In: Nürnberger Nachrichten . Nordbayern.de. August 29, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  34. What a success . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. August 12, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  35. a b Kai-Uwe Brinkmann: Bond, Vampire and Hobbits are cinema hits 2012 . In: Emsdettener Volkszeitung . EmsdettenerVolkszeitung.de. December 28, 2011. Accessed on January 6, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.emsdettenervolkszeitung.de  
  36. Weekend charts> Germany . In: Blickpunkt: Film . Mediabiz.de. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  37. Film hit list: Annual list (German) 2011 . In: Filmförderungsanstalt . FFA.de. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  38. a b Alexander Krei: Sat.1 defeated RTL in the afternoon and evening . In: Cinema . DWDL.de . November 6, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  39. ^ The winners of the Hessian Film and Cinema Prize 2011 . State portal Hessen. October 14, 2011. Retrieved on December 8, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: 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.hessen.de  
  40. Preselection 2012. (PDF) (No longer available online.) German Film Academy, archived from the original on January 27, 2012 ; Retrieved December 8, 2012 . 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.deutsche-filmakademie.de
  41. Jupiter Award: Matthias Schweighöfer wins with “What a Man” . In: Cinema . ProSieben .de. March 10, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.