Berlin Blues (2003)

In October 1989, the part of the West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg called SO 36, had been largely shut off by the Wall from the rest of the city for 28 years. A lethargic sub-culture of ... See full summary »

Director:

Leander Haußmann

Writers:

Sven Regener (novel), Sven Regener (screenplay)

Stars:

Christian Ulmen, Katja Danowski, Detlev Buck

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Ulmen	...	Herr Lehmann
Detlev Buck	...	Karl
Katja Danowski	...	Katrin
Janek Rieke	...	Kristall-Rainer
Annika Kuhl	...	Heidi
Hartmut Lange	...	Erwin
Martin Olbertz	...	Marco
Uwe Dag Berlin	...	Jürgen (as Uwe-Dag Berlin)
Michael Beck	...	Klaus
Michael Gwisdek	...	Der Trinker
Stephan Baumecker	...	Kiffer
Tim Fischer	...	Sylvio
Karsten Speck	...	Die Lederuschi
Margit Bendokat	...	Mutter Lehmann
Johann Adam Oest	...	Vater Lehmann (as Adam Oest)

Storyline

In October 1989, the part of the West Berlin borough of Kreuzberg called SO 36, had been largely shut off by the Wall from the rest of the city for 28 years. A lethargic sub-culture of students, artists, bohemians and barflys had flourished among crumbling buildings. Part of that microcosm is barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called 'Herr Lehmann' by friends and patrons. He hangs out drinking, sports utter disregard for anything beyond SO 36 and lazily pursues an affair with cook Katrin. His lifestyle is gradually disturbed, when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with Katrin and his best friend Karl starts to act strange. Meanwhile, political turmoil mounts on the other side of the Wall.

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Plot Keywords:

barkeeper | beer | best friend | artist | year 1989 | 

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Taglines:

Bis denn, dann...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Christian Ulmen had to go to nine casting sessions before landing the role of Lehmann.

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Goofs

The position of the dog in the whisky scene changes without visible moving of the dog.

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Crazy Credits

Before the soundtrack, the following can be found: "Alle Tiere im Film arbeiteten ohne Alkohol oder sonstige Drogen und freiwillig mit." [All animals in this film have been working without alcohol or other drugs and on voluntary basis.]

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Connections

Followed by Der kleine Bruder

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Soundtracks

Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart
Written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway
Performed by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

User Reviews

great adaptation of a great novel

As a fan of Sven Regener's (Author of Novel and Screenplay) Band "Element of Crime" I read the book and was really looking forward to see this picture. In some way I was hoping for a better "Soloalbum", an other adaptation of a German so-called "Pop-Novel". After seeing Soloalbum I really had the desire to kill just anyone involved in this movie that was nothing but let's say an average Romantic Comedy, having deleted all the cynicism, the melancholy the humor and the truth which made the book so marvelous.

But let's get back to Herr Lehmann: I got what I hoped for!

Sven Regener carefully adapted his own story for the big screen, transforming some words into images, thoughts into dialogs, leaving out what had to be left out and keeping this special humor that was one of the characteristics of the book. The only thing I missed is the Chapter about the "Ku'damm-Bus", which I would have loved to see on screen, but who cares about this detail...

The cast (consisting of some of the best German On-Screen-Actors of the "old school" and a bunch of great Newcomers) is nearly perfect. It would take to long to name all the actors who played their roles so authentic and sometimes getting into the field of warm-hearted satire. The one that takes it all is obviously Detlev Buck playing Herr Lehmann's best friend Karl in a way that will be remembered for long time, I suppose.

The soundtrack is really cool and the photography by Frank Griebe (besides Michael Ballhaus probably the best German Cinematographer at present) finds the perfect images to illustrate the life of the Boheme in West-Berlin at the end of the 80s.

Leander Haußmann after all succeeded in even topping his first movie "Sonnenallee" and is now responsible for two of the best German pictures of the past years.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

2 October 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Berlin Blues

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

EUR6,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,143,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

Boje Buck Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1