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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

What did we do last night?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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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 France

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 ...

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Connections

References Pulp Fiction (1994)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

How to say farewell

As Floyd' s probation has expired he's going to leave Hamburg the next day to see the world. So there's only one night left for him to say farewell to his best friends Ricco and Walter. The movie depicts the funny and sad adventures of the trio during that last night involving an argument with some die-hard Elvis fans, the most nerve-racking table-football match in film history and way too much alcohol.

The whole thing is so beautiful in a bittersweet way that you wish the film would go on forever. You want to see more about Ricco's family, about the barflies at Horst's and especially about Telsa, the girl next door (who is played incredibly cute and vulnerable by Julia Hummer in her film debut). But if a film is too short it's always a compliment, not a fault.

Sebastian Schipper in *his* debut as a director really knew what he was doing, although (or because?) he sometimes doesn't play by the established rules. For example he uses refreshingly little dialogue for a german film and he even lets it go on for a few more minutes after the last words have

been said, telling the end just with images. And those images are brilliant since the director of photography was Frank Griebe ("Lola rennt"). IMO the movie gets 9 out of 10.