Der bewegte Mann (1994)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Sönke Wortmann

Writers:

Sönke Wortmann (screenplay)
Ralf König (comics "Der bewegte Mann" and "Pretty Baby")

Release Date:

12 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Thrown out by his girlfriend from her apartment, Axel lives for a while with Norbert, a gay he met some days before.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Homosexual | Party | Gay Interest | Human Relationship

Awards:

9 wins

Cast

Til Schweiger	...	Axel Feldheim
Joachim Król	...	Norbert Brommer
Katja Riemann	...	Doro Feldheim
Rufus Beck	...	Walter aka 'Waltraud'
Armin Rohde	...	Metzger
Nico van der Knaap	...	Fränzchen
Antonia Lang	...	Elke Schmitt
Martina Gedeck	...	Jutta
Judith Reinartz	...	Claudia
Kai Wiesinger	...	Aufreißer Gunnar
Horst Scheel	...	Günter (as Horst D. Scheel)
Christof Wackernagel	...	Rüdiger
Martin Armknecht	...	Lutz
Heinrich Schafmeister	...	Klaus Dieter
Helmut Buchel	...	Dirk (as Helmut Büchel)

Also Known As:

Maybe... Maybe Not (USA)
The Most Desired Man (International: English title)
The Turbulent Man

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Neue Constantin Film

Trivia:

Based on the books "Der Bewegte Mann" and "Pretty Baby", written by cartoonist Ralf König, who appears as a drag-queen.

Quotes:

Doro Feldheim: [after hanged up the phone hearing a male voice] That was a man!
Jutta: So, in addition she's married.
Doro Feldheim: [hysterical] That was a homosexual guy!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Katja Riemann (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Ja und nein

Beware of the subtitles

This is yet another of those cases where Anglosaxon audiences might be tempted to think that it reenforces their prejudice that German humour is a no-show.

The problem can be described in one word: subtitles. I (a native German speaker) watched the UK release which is the original German version with English subtitles. The dialogue of this film is very funny and sharp; it is quite different from contemporary funny English dialogue which usually goes for funny one-liners, it has more in common with the humour you find in Oscar Wilde, for example in The Importance of Being Earnest. In other words, the characters are constantly trying to (literally) outwit each other whilst keeping the conversation afloat. This kind of dialogue is quite fashionable in certain parts of German culture, but at least in Britain it has become fairly rare. Consequently, the translators had a difficult job on their hands.

Occasionally my eyes wandered towards the subtitles to see what the translators did with the latest banter - and I was appalled with what I found. Yes, the translation was factually accurate, i.e. the content of what was said was accurately translated, but all the wit, the sharpness, the humour had gone. As already mentioned, this was a difficult translation job, but the translators did not try hard enough.