Gate to Heaven

Gate to Heaven (German: Tor zum Himmel) (2003)

Along with "The Terminal" & "Up In The Air" as excellent romantic comedies set entirely (or almost entirely) inside airports, this hidden gem is another unique winner from German director Veit Helmer. (The male lead actor, Valeriy Nikolaev, also had a minor role in "The Terminal"- coincidence?) The airport as a microcosm is a fascinating perspective and Helmer uses this to his advantage. Unlike the aforementioned American films, Helmer chooses to never show the public side of Frankfurt International Airport. Instead, audiences are immersed in the after hours, behind the scenes life in the airport- air strips, baggage conveyor belts, concourses, hangars, runways, terminals, and pipes and tunnels included!

This is the sixth film I've seen from him and even though they were not all overwhelming winners for me, they were nevertheless all creative, innovative, and memorable for their unique approach to storytelling. Honestly, it is a mystery why he isn't more widely known, especially in the arthouse film circles that typically adore these experimental and quirky perspectives.

With comedy sprinkled throughout the runtime, a couple quirky supporting characters with their own amusing side stories, and even a couple Bollywood style musical numbers thrown in for good measure, this feel good romance manages to address some serious issues (cultural acclimation, marginalized populations, racism, refugees struggling for asylum, socioeconomic status) without becoming too heavy handed.

We first meet our leading lady Nisha, a cleaning lady that aspires to become an airline stewardess. Her meet cute takes place in an empty airplane after hours where she practices reciting the pre-flight safety briefing to invisible passengers. Our leading man, Aleksei, chooses the same airplane to play out his piloting fantasies. They have instant chemistry and continue to make time for rendezvous in various airport locations, having fallen for each other practically at first sight. His competition is Nowak, a wealthy man out to set the Guinness World Record for having sex in the most places in an airport! Although Nisha has her heart set on Aleksei, Nowak unfortunately can offer the connections and the means necessary to get her hired as a stewardess.

Aleksei is a Russian refugee hiding out from the authorities by living in the engine room next to the pipes and vents in the airport. He works for Dak, a Yugoslavian who takes advantage of the desperate refugees, employing them in the airport for his profit. To be fair, he does have a compassionate side, evidenced by his willingness- albeit with a price- to find someone to smuggle in Nisha's son from India. Alas, things do not go according to plan and her adorable son is locked up and given a lawyer under deportation threat and Aleksei must save the day, lest Nisha resort to Nowak in order to get her son rescued!

Not flawless by any means- implausibility abounds- but this is a romantic comedy, after all, and audiences will be left not only laughing and smiling, but also with a little more insight into airports, cultural acclimation, and how love can overcome both language and physical barriers!

I saw this movie during the San Francisco film festival, 2004. I was disappointed since I was not expecting such one missing specialty and uniqueness in the independent film festival. The German director succeeded in making a cheesy Hollywood style action comedy movie with a limited budget. `Gate to Heaven' is about a refugee's falling in love with another one who lives illegally in the Frankfurt International Airport. The story is usually concealed behind those short, shallow dialogues and cheap jokes. Moreover the story develops and changes so quickly and sometimes it does not leave a taste behind. Finally, looking back, I find nothing interesting about this movie. I got the impression that the director tried to show us there was not so much money needed to make a cheesy Hollywood style action comedy movie, and he succeeded for those who have this taste. Instead of bearing the stress to find tickets for the festival, I better should have gone to my video store and grab a pop corn type Hollywood action comedy.

Ever imagined what is going on behind the scenes at an international airport? This German film gives an imaginative picture of how it might be. Between illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, baggage handlers and various other airport workers, a story about dreams develops. A Indian cleaning lady wants to become a flight attendant and an illegal immigrant from Russia works and lives underground on the airport premises with a group of other Illegals, while dreaming of a career as an airline pilot.

Travelling by baggage conveyor and using other people's ID cards to bluff their way through checkpoints, they take us into the underworld of Frankfurt Airport. A wondrous place, where one can access simulators and parked aeroplanes and move about like fish in the water. Where an illegal immigrant works on one of the museum planes on display to make it airworthy again --to carry him back home to Ulan Bataar.

Sounds like a fairy tale? I believe it *is* a fairy tale, and the makers were taking cues from Bollywood films, not only in the staging of a few dance scenes but also in creating a colourful cinematography for a drab place like an airport. Although a German production, this is a light-hearted comedy, not least thanks to the very international team that got together to make this (German comedies can be very heavy-handed, at times...). Don't expect too much in the way of romance, the storyline is sometimes a bit far-fetched, but it is an enjoyable way to spend an evening in front of the Telly.

Saw it at the SF international film festival. I would call it a light romantic comedy. The storyline a bit contrived but it is imaginative. If you look too much into the movie or over-analyze it then you will miss the whole point. If you are a fan of romantic musical of the previous era then don't miss it (it does a bit more action than your usual musical but that doesn't get in the way of your enjoyment.)

Last but not the least: To me this is the first non-Indian movie, which although is made by almost all non-Indian team, that has a soul of a bollywood film.

I was searching to find info on this film that I saw at the SF Intl Film Fest some years ago and then I saw that there was one review that was very negative and I felt compelled to contradict that review in the extreme.

This film was WONDERFUL. The director was in attendance and explained how it took 10 years to make it, as there were a lot of obstacles to making a film at the Frankfurt Airport, which operates like a city.

Because all the characters were from all over the world, despite it being a "German" film, it's all in English. The director explained how getting help from Lufthansa to do this, he described it as a cleaning crew girl aspiring to become a flight attendant, and a maintenance man aspiring to become a pilot and a love story ensues...and while that is all "technically" correct -- this film while imbued with great wit and humor is a MUCH deeper expose on an underground life and culture of people trying to escape impoverished homelands in a 1st world country. And some of the dangers of living underground in the Frankfurt Airport.

There is a massive 'ode to Bollywood' scene that is wonderful and took a lot of budget -- it's a brilliant film that was worthy of much wider recognition and as you can, see, (as I'm writing this in 2013, 8-9 years after I saw it) what a positive impression it made and what a good feeling I had as I left the theater. I'd recommend this to any film goer as a wonderful film with lots of fun characters, and a mixture of pathos, humor and exposing of some deeper issues.