Max Minsky und ich (2007)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Anna Justice

Writers:

Holly-Jane Rahlens (novel)
Holly-Jane Rahlens (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 September 2007 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Zoe Moore	...	Nelly Sue Edelmeister
Emil Reinke	...	Max Minsky
Adriana Altaras	...	Lucy Bloom Edelmeister
Jan Josef Liefers	...	Benny Edelmeister
Monica Bleibtreu	...	Risa Ginsberg
Susanna Simon	...	Melissa Minsky
Rosemarie Fendel	...	Frau Goldfarb
Hildegard Alex	...	Frau Lewi
Wladimir Tarasjanz	...	Wladimir Kasarov
Ralph Misske	...	Schuldirektor
Kay Becker	...	Prinz Edouard
Carina N. Wiese	...	Sportlehrerin (as Carina Wiese)
Maxime Foerste	...	Yvonne
Geraldine Raths	...	Nicole
Laura Berking	...	Caroline
Rainer Reiners	...	Älterer Polizist
Axel Buchholz	...	Junger Polizist
Avitall Gerstetter	...	Kantorin
Lili Zahavi	...	Agnes
Peggy Lukac	...	Ruth
Margarita Broich	...	Sarah
Dennis Habedank	...	Junge im Bus
Julian Maas	...	Akkordeon Bennys Band
Christoph Kaiser	...	Gitarrist Bennys Band (as Christoph M. Kaiser)
Helga Marx	...	Kontrabass Bennys Band
Tim Lorenz	...	Schlagzeug Bennys Band
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Hötte	...	Security Guard (uncredited)
Amelie Litwin	...	(uncredited)
Andreas Schumacher	...	Verleger (uncredited)

Directed by
Anna Justice

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Holly-Jane Rahlens		novel "Prince William, Maximilian Minsky & Me"
Holly-Jane Rahlens		screenplay

Produced by
Stefan Gärtner	....	co-producer
Maria Köpf	....	producer
Ulli Neumann	....	line producer
Kerstin Wiedé	....	producer: sat.1

Original Music by
Christoph Kaiser		(as Christoph M. Kaiser)
Julian Maas

Cinematography by
The Chau Ngo		(as Ngo the Chau)

Film Editing by
Uta Schmidt

Casting by
Simone Bär

Production Design by
Andreas Olshausen		(as Andreas 'Ebbi' Olshausen)

Costume Design by
Beate Scheel

Makeup Department
Kerstin Gaecklein	....	makeup artist
Heiko Schmidt	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sven Fehrensen	....	additional assistant director
Katharina Hofmann	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Malte Euler	....	storyboard artist
Philipp Hübner	....	swing gang

Sound Department
Adrian Baumeister	....	dialogue editor
Martin Gleitze	....	adr recordist
Dirk Jacob	....	supervising sound editor
Matthias Lempert	....	sound re-recording mixer
Carsten Richter	....	foley artist
Martin Rogalski	....	foley editor
Oliver Schnug	....	boom operator
Hanse Warns	....	foley mixer

Visual Effects by
Jan Burda	....	digital artist
Mira Djovcos	....	visual effects producer
Paul Dreisen	....	lighting technical director
Andreas Frickinger	....	layout compositor
Andreas Frickinger	....	visual effects set supervisor
Volker Heisterberg	....	matchmove artist
Jan Maroske	....	digital compositor
Sven Martin	....	associate visual effects supervisor
Eva Matthes	....	digital compositor
Benjamin Seide	....	visual effects set supervisor
Juri Stanossek	....	visual effects supervisor
Jonas Stuckenbrock	....	junior compositor
Sebastian von Overheidt	....	digital compositor
Michael Wortmann	....	technical director

Stunts
Alister Mazzotti	....	stunt coordinator
Wojtek Prygel	....	stunt driver
Wolfgang Stegemann	....	assistant stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Gregor Grieshaber	....	second assistant camera
Glenn König	....	key grip

Casting Department
Marcel Dykiert	....	extras casting assistant
Iris Müller	....	extras casting
Kirstin Plotz	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Koeppl	....	wardrobe

Other crew
Brian Cordray	....	script doctor
Frank Kusche	....	set manager

Production Companies

• X-Filme Creative Pool
• Seven Pictures (co-production)
• Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (funding)

Distributors

• X Verleih AG (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Mecon Media Concept  payroll service
• Tonstudio Hanse Warns  foley stage

Also Known As:

Max Minsky and Me (Europe: English title) (festival title)
Prince William, Maximilian Minsky und ich (Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:94 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Germany:o.Al.

Company:

X-Filme Creative Pool

"LUCAS" from a girl's P.O.V.

This is a pleasant if little film about a young girl who, while awkward and friendless, has a secret crush on the prince of Luxembourg, and hopes to impress him by trying out for the high school basketball team. I don't know how ridiculous that sounds if you haven't seen the movie, but it's not the film's plot line that's charming, but rather the great performances of the young cast, especially Zoe Moore. Moore stars as Nelly Sue Edelmeister, a half German, half Jewish-American girl who belongs to Berlin's growing Jewish population. She doesn't care much for religion, though, and spends much of the film trying to get out of having a Bat Mitzvah. Her real interest is science. She dreams of one day being an astronomer and the movie has a few great special effects shots in which Nelly imagines she's walking among the stars, forming new constellations that uncannily resemble her unattainable dreamboat, Prince Edoard. Later in the film she realizes that the prince is for the birds, when she slowly falls for new-kid-in-town (and basketball expert) Max Minsky. Though the performances were nice, the movie still felt really derivative at times. The whole "genius nerd tries out for sports team to impress an older member of the opposite sex" was perfectly captured in 1986's LUCAS. I also must wonder why the filmmakers chose to cast Adriana Altaras as the "American" mom. According to the IMDb, she is Croatian and grew up in Italy and Germany. The scenes where she had to speak English were extremely hard to buy. She's probably a fine actress, but why cast somebody as a New Yorker if they can't even really speak English? Another gripe I had with the film was the film's soundtrack. At first I thought it was really nice. I then realized that I enjoyed the soundtrack a little TOO much, and now I know why: It's melodically and instrumentally similar to Mark Mothersbaugh's work for Wes Anderson and Yann Thiersen's work in "Good-bye Lenin", both two of my favorite composers. The melodies were just different enough to avoid plagiarism, but the similarities were uncanny. Overall, a cute little movie with a star in the making, but not the most original piece to come along. It is indeed quite nice to see a modern depiction of Jewish families in Germany, and the family friendly tone of the movie makes it one foreign film worth bringing the kids to see.