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Film Archive

Willenbrock

Another View 2005 / Willenbrock / Germany 2004

Bernd Willenbrock, the owner of a second-hand car mart in Magdeburg, flits between his work and his lovers. But that doesn’t stop him loving his wife Susanne. Things change, however, when the Willenbrocks are assaulted in their country cottage by two dangerous robbers. The hitherto contented businessman loses his confidence, and that’s just the beginning....

Willenbrock Willenbrock

Synopsis

Bernd Willenbrock is the self-assured owner of a second-hand car mart in Magdeburg in East Germany. He loves his wife Susanne, but occasionally slips out to see his lover Vera (a university teacher), and right now he also has his eye on the daughter of his new night watchman, the student Anna. Bernd doesn’t see anything wrong in what he is doing, since he believes one should live life to the full. Everything changes when thieves break in to his company, and later he and his wife are attacked in their cottage by two robbers. The hitherto satisfied and well-balanced man loses all confidence and succumbs to fear. Moreover, his love affairs start to show cracks.... Respected German director Andreas Dresen adapted the award-winning novel of the same name by Christoph Hein, highlighting the affliction of everyday life in Germany’s "Eastern zone", a theme running through his work to date. The contradictions in the eponymous hero, played by Dresen’s constant, Axel Prahl, may make him atypical, but there are people like that out there.

About the film

108 min / Color, 35 mm

Director Andreas Dresen / Screenplay Laila Stieler / Dir. of Photography Michael Hammon / Music Jens Auandt / Editor Jörg Hauschild / Producer Norbert Sauer / Production UFA Filmproduktion GmbH / Cast Axel Prahl, Inka Friedrich, Anne Ratte-Polle, Tilo Prückner, Andrzej Szopa
www: www.bavaria-film-international.de

About the director

Andreas Dresen

Andreas Dresen (b. 1963, Gera, Thuringia) began as a film amateur, and then worked in various professions for DEFA studios. He studied at the Konrad Wolf Film Academy in Babelsberg and is a member of the Academy of Art in Berlin. As one of the few East German filmmakers, he made a name for himself during the 1990s with stylised bittersweet comedies about ordinary life in the eastern part of the unified country. His most popular films are Night Shapes (Nachtgestalten, 1999; German Film Award in Silver, Best Actor at the Berlin IFF) and Grill Point (Halbe Treppe, 2001; Jury Grand Prix - Silver Bear at Berlin), both screened at Karlovy Vary. Alongside several documentaries, he filmed the symbolic story Silent Country (Stilles Land, 1992), the comedy My Unknown Husband (Mein unbekannter Ehemann, 1994-TV), and the tragicomedy set in the GDR during the 1970s Changing Skins (Raus aus der Haut, 1997-TV).

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