Ein Freund von mir (2006)

Director:

Sebastian Schipper

Writer:

Sebastian Schipper (writer)

Release Date:

26 October 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Loneliness | Buddy Movie | Nude In Public | Car Driving | Insurance Investigator

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Daniel Brühl	...	Karl
Jürgen Vogel	...	Hans
Sabine Timoteo	...	Stelle
Peter Kurth	...	Fernandez
Michael Wittenborn	...	Naumann
Oktay Özdemir	...	Theo
Steffen Groth	...	Frank
Jan Ole Gerster	...	Cornelius
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bernardus Manders	...	Geschäftsmann (as Berry Manders)
Jens Münchow

Also Known As:

A Friend of Mine (Europe: English title) (festival title)

Runtime:

Germany:84 min | Argentina:84 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

Spanish | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Film1

Trivia:

Daniel Brühl and Jürgen Vogel broke Will Smith's world record for most public appearances on the red carpet in 12 hours by attending the movie's premiere in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne (22 October 2006).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Karl and Hans drive the Porches they stop side by side. For a brief moment there is a refuge between the cars. When they drive off it has disappeared.

Quotes:

Karl: Do you think it's "hot" or "top", if I'm kissing your girl-friend?
Hans: You're crazy about her! But, admit it, you're also a wee bit crazy about me, aren't you?

"I stole away and cried"

Usually I tend to avoid German movies for reasons that are rather dubious, but yesterday I let my friend drag me into "Ein Freund von mir" - and I'm glad that he did.

"Ein Freund von mir" is a slow-paced film that tells the story of young urban professional Karl (Daniel Brühl) who by chance gets to know casual labourer Hans (Jürgen Vogel). The movie is almost entirely devoted to showing the development of their friendship and the numerous tests it has to pass. I think the director keeps an excellent balance between dialog and visuals throughout the whole movie - it is neither dialog-heavy nor does it shy away from showing very authentic conversations when they are necessary. Authenticity for me is probably the most important quality of the film. Not once did I have the feeling that a scene couldn't have easily happened "in real life". While this does not necessarily make a good movie (after all, real life can be pretty boring), it adds immensely to this one because much of its appeal consists of identifying oneself with various situations in the movie. In that sense, many many scenes really worked for me.

"Ein Freund von mir" is a thoughtful, moving but still quite funny movie that never has to try hard to get its story across, for me the best film I've seen since Linklater's "Before Sunrise".