Summer in Berlin (2005)
"Sommer vorm Balkon" (original title)

A tragicomic movie which focuses on two women and their daily struggle for survival during a summer in Berlin. Katrin, a jobless single mom, and Nike, a nurse, live in the same house and ... See full summary »

Director:

Andreas Dresen

Writer:

Wolfgang Kohlhaase

Stars:

Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl, Andreas Schmidt

7 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Inka Friedrich	...	Katrin Engel
Nadja Uhl	...	Nicole 'Nike' Pawelsky
Andreas Schmidt	...	Ronald
Stephanie Schönfeld	...	Tina
Christel Peters	...	Helene
Kurt Radeke	...	Oskar
Vincent Redetzki	...	Max
Hannes Stelzer	...	Herr Neumann
Lil Oggesen	...	Charly
Maximilian Moritz	...	Rico
Veit Schubert	...	Apotheker
Fritz Roth	...	Chef Puppenfirma
Traute Hoess	...	Chefin Agentur
Olaf Burmeister	...	Vorzimmermann
Herbert Olschok	...	Bewerbungspartner

Storyline

A tragicomic movie which focuses on two women and their daily struggle for survival during a summer in Berlin. Katrin, a jobless single mom, and Nike, a nurse, live in the same house and are best friends. Although always dating the wrong men and still pursuing for happiness, they don't lose their humor and spend many nights together on Nike's balcony, drinking and chatting. However, Nike gets to know the trucker Ronald one day...

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | friend | balcony | drinking | alcohol | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [de] Official site [us]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

5 January 2006 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Summer in Berlin

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Peter Rommel Productions, X-Filme Creative Pool

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nadja Uhl kept a small, red chest of drawers from her character's bedroom set.

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Soundtracks

"Ich liebe das Leben"
Performed by Vicky Leandros

User Reviews

solid, yet average

Although this was hailed by the critics in Berlin as yet another masterpiece of German film-making I can't really see anything special here. Solid acting, solid script, solid camera; but at no stage does this film become more than the sum of its parts. Its set in the trendy part of former east Berlin and revolves around the friendship between unemployed shop window decorator Katrin and the stereotyped blonde Nike, an old people's nurse. At first glance they have nothing much in common apart from living in the same house, both being single and both having taken an unhealthy liking towards vodka. The plot itself is rather trite; we just fade in on their everyday problems and yup, you've guessed it, there are men involved. Then, after the usual complications that come with love, friendship and too much drink we fade out again. To give the whole thing a little more depth, a kid is thrown in for good measure. Still, after the credits rolled in I asked myself, whats the point? Three days later I couldn't remember much of it anymore. True, there are some good lines and a few mildly amusing scenarios, but the story stays rather predictable all the way through. I reckon this film is supposed to depict life as it is but if life is that dull, I don't really see any reason to make a film about it. My summers in Berlin are usually a bit more entertaining, that much I know.