Abwärts (1984)

Director:

Carl Schenkel

Writers:

Frank Göhre (additional dialogue)
Carl Schenkel (writer)

Release Date:

1 November 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

6.30PM - Friday evening in an empty office building. Three men and one woman, trapped and terrified, 25 floors up. Help will reach them Monday morning - if they live that long.

Plot:

It's Friday evening. The lift repairman leaves the building and wants to finish his work on Monday....

Plot Keywords:

Quartet | Claustrophobia | Psychotic | Human Relationship | Weekend

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Renée Soutendijk	...	Marion
Götz George	...	Jörg
Wolfgang Kieling	...	Gössmann
Hannes Jaenicke	...	Pit
Klaus Wennemann	...	Heinz
Ralf Richter	...	Otto (as Ralph Richter)
Jan Groth	...	Security Guard
Kurt Raab	...	Elevator Maintenance
Ekmekyemez Firdevs	...	Cleaning Lady
Luce Rains	...	Detective (as Steven Hartley)
Hans Schwögler	...	Undertaker

Also Known As:

Out of Order

Runtime:

Germany:90 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:16 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany

Company:

Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Anke: Anke, ich steh' total auf Machos (#1.11)" (2000)

Three blokes 'n a gal in a lift - so what?

Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? I was, so I can tell you how it is: the lights go dim, the lift stops, you press the alarm. After a while, the lift moves again, you step out the door and promise your little boy to treat him to some ice cream for not panicking.

That alone is not merely enough to fill a TV commercial. Consequently, if you plan to extend the scene to feature length, you have to add a little bit of spice to it. Job one - adding spice: very well done.

You have one youngster-half-criminal well-enough looking dude, an old guy, frustrated by the view of a small pension awaiting him, who therefore filled his pocket with a DEM 100K loot on his last day, and a semi-successful businessman who wants to screw the you-don't-how-old-she-is ravishing employee.

Well of course this ain't enough because at least you expect some sort of plot also. Job two - plot: not badly done.

By all means, girlish 'she' shows cold shoulder to semi-pro, youngster pounces on the opportunity, old man acts astoundingly cool. And - so much for action - the cables do snap, there is a showdown in the elevator shaft, bad guy dies and old man walks away unharmed, plus: young guy eventually gets chick.

Now for some cinematographics. Job three - really well done.

Whatever claustrophobic vibes you might feel in such a situation - they delivered it. Motions, noises, everything, it all falls in place to make you 'live' inside that cabin.

Last of all - dialogues. Job four - expectations exceeded.

German moviemakers have always been well-known for a lack of ease. Here it's the same, but for a reason. Each of the characters has a personality, and the screenwrite took some time to fashion them. Whatever they say to one another shows a lot about who they are - people - but at the same time leaves lots of space to imagine what we don't know, or what we don't want to know. That's what those Germans are really good at, and not surprisingly many of those kind of movies are placed on a Tarantino level - at least by those who understand them. I've never seen the dubbed version (if there is one at all), so apparently you can only enjoy this piece if you are familiar with the German language.

Read other comments to find out what actually happens in the movie.