Stopped on Track

The movie 'Halt auf freier Strecke' draws a realistic story of a family facing a great loss. The film begins from the beginning of an end: at the clinic where a doctor gently delivers a death sentence for a father of a family.

In the story, the parents' roles are solid and their mutual relationship is pictured in a beautiful but not overly romantic way. Outsiders to the nuclear family remain uncomfortable with the thought of death throughout. Amazingly that happens even to the close ones. Only those that are facing death at the daily basis seem to be okay with the idea.

The daughter's role remains strangely distant throughout the movie. It is likely intentional from the director, as for a teenager the thought of someone's death might feel distant. However, if it were one's own father, I would imagine that the response would not necessarily be like the one pictured in the film, especially that the family seems like perfectly average.

The film is probably a great chance for going through one's feelings for anyone who has experienced a cancer death of a close person. For others, it surely is a chance to stop for 110 minutes to think what it would mean for oneself if something tragic suddenly happened in one's own life.

As a non-German viewer, it is refreshing for a change to see good movie-making from Germany motivated by something else than the currently hot "multi-kulti" topic. …and something that made me feel great at the end regardless of the theme was the soundtrack - German rock (when played at the right place at the right time) is just awesome!