Der Eisbär (1998)

Directors:

Til Schweiger
Granz Henman (co-director)

Writer:

Granz Henman (writer)

Release Date:

12 November 1998 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

Mild. Sanft im Geschmack.

Cast

Til Schweiger	...	Leo
Karina Krawczyk	...	Nico
Benno Fürmann	...	Fabian
Florian Lukas	...	Reza
Jürgen Tarrach	...	Manni
Vladimir Weigl	...	Thomas
Thierry van Werveke	...	Norbert
Robert Viktor Minich	...	Boris
Ralph Herforth	...	Zivilpolizist
Ralf Richter	...	Zivilpolizist
Leonard Lansink	...	Barkeeper Paul's Eck
Leander Haußmann	...	Stephan
August Schmölzer	...	Heinz
Willi Thomczyk	...	Alfred
Christof Wackernagel	...	Fritz

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Mr. Brown Entertainment

Trivia:

The car in which Leo and Nico finally escape has a license plate saying "E-NA 98", which is although a valid German plate also a reference to the production company and the year of release of the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: The license plate of the silver Alfa Romeo driven by the cops.

Movie Connections:

References Pulp Fiction (1994)

A more mature Til Schweiger scores again

DER EISBAER is the first movie German mega-star Til Schweiger directed, and starred in. Seen when it premiered in Germany in November of '98, I accompanied all the avant premiere buzz surrounding the film and Schweiger's career moves, and even attended one of the premieres Schweiger hosted at the new Potsdamer Platz Cinemaxx. This action drama with a relationship story lived up to all the hype, and exceeded my inflated expectations. If you are a Schweiger fan or a an action drama lover, don't miss DER EISBAER when it comes out on video or if it opens outside Europe. Schweiger has come a long way since DER BEWEGTE MANN ("Maybe, Maybe Not"), and in the process has single-handedly brought German cinema back to the masses after a half century of domination by the high brow author directors (Herzog, Fassbinder, Wenders) who made German cinema synonymous with boredom, and inaccessibility with the masses. Since 1994, Schweiger starrers have broken German Box Office Records consistently. Here, though this film did not break the Box Office Records of the others (including MAENNERPENSION and KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOORS), he shows us in more dimensions why he has been the phenomenon of popular German cinema this past decade, and probably beyond 2000. I give DER EISBAER 8 out 10 points.