Gigantic (1999)

Three friends from Hamburg spend one last night on the town before one of them leaves the city forever.

Director:

Sebastian Schipper

Writer:

Sebastian Schipper

Stars:

Frank Giering, Florian Lukas, Antoine Monot Jr.

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Giering	...	Floyd
Florian Lukas	...	Ricco
Antoine Monot Jr.	...	Walter
Julia Hummer	...	Telsa
Jochen Nickel	...	Snake
Albert Kitzl	...	Elvis
Guido A. Schick	...	Dulle
Silvana Bosi	...	Walters Oma
Marcnesium	...	Typ mit Rastalocken
Johannes Silberschneider	...	Hans
Barbara de Koy	...	Irmgard
Gustav-Peter Wöhler	...	Horst
Michael Sideris	...	Dieter (as Mischa Sideris)
Hannes Hellmann	...	Klaus
Peter Franke	...	Meister

Storyline

In the port town of Hamburg, Germany, Floyd decides that he's shipping out to South Africa and Singapore now that his two-year probation for an unspecified juvenile offense has been completed. When he shares the news with his devoted friends Chubby, a mechanic, and Ricco, a fast-food cook and would-be b-boy, they can't comprehend their thoughtful friend's willingness to trade camaraderie for a wider view of the world. Overcoming their anger and bewilderment, the guys decide to spend one last night with Floyd, but the problem, as always, is how to find some fun. A succession of fast-food restaurants, parking garages, and local watering holes chronicles the inherent boredom of life in the provinces. But a run-in with a convention of dragster-racing Elvis impersonators sends the boys and their friend Telsa Julia Hummer on a series of adventures that veers from the farcical to the almost-tragic.

---

Plot Keywords:

fast food | cook | mechanic | fast food cook | fast food restaurant | 

---

Taglines:

What did we do last night?

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German Italian

Release Date:

30 September 1999 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Gigantic

Filming Locations:

Alter Elbtunnel, St. Pauli, Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

X-Filme Creative Pool, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Arte

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 72 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
Floyd: The first thing that I can remember is when I got a sparkler from my mother on New Year's Eve. The sky was full of rockets and fireworks that exploded and sparked. That was loud. But I wasn't afraid. I just held my sparkler up to the dark sky... and shook it like crazy. I shook it so hard, so incredibly hard, as hard as I could. And even harder. Until I couldn't any more and on and on. Senseless and harder and harder. And I was small. And so was the sparkler. But I was part of the ...

---

Connections

Referenced in Klassenfahrt - Geknutscht wird immer (2004)

---

Soundtracks

If Only
Written by Robin Proper-Sheppard
Performed by Sophia
Courtesy of The Flower Shop, London

User Reviews

The best movie, but maybe not for everyone

I cannot quite explain it, but this movie is the best I have ever seen in my life. I hate people who say sentences like this. So maybe I have to hate myself. But I have seen many, many movies and very good ones too, but this one got me from the first minute. And after thinking more than one year about it, I still cannot remember a better one.

But please note: 1) This is a German movie, more precisely from northern Germany. Maybe you have to live in this place or you have to know people from this area to understand the movie and its fantastic story and marvelous actors.

2) The movie itself isn't very dramatic, it's easeful and unagitaded. You maybe dislike it, when you love action movies or ribald humor.

3) It's primarily a movie for men. Women may dislike it, because the topics are mainly men-bound (foosball, soccer, cars, music) and the pictured feelings are men-feelings and men trying to cope with them.

4) Real hard men may dislike this movie too, because it's a soft movie (no blood, no boobs, no weapons) showing men trying to cope with their feelings.

When all this doesn't bother you, you may spot one of your all-time favorite.

Enjoy.