MFDB

Storyline

Two married couples in their late thirties living in Frankfurt/Oder. Although they are all friends, their relationship has become pretty staid of late. A typical evening spent watching holiday slides together makes it abundantly clear that both their friendship and their marriages have become nothing more than a dull routine. It’s high time the cards in the game of life were reshuffled. Chris hosts a radio show; he and his second wife, Katrin, don’t have an awful lot to say to each other – either in bed or anywhere else for that matter.Uwe spends almost all the hours that God gave him grafting at his snack bar,“Grill Point” and he neglects his wife, Ellen and the kids. No wonder that the lonely Ellen and Chris – who is just dying for something to happen – begin to get closer to each other. A chance meeting between these two leads to a secret love affair. However, their relationship is soon discovered and, before they know it, a whole new round in the game of life commences.At last, they begin to ease out of the rut of their daily grind and life begins to pose something of a challenge once again. All at once, minor miracles are no longer impossible – even in a place like Frankfurt/Oder.One only has to believe in them! In the film’s final credits,Andreas Dresen gives his four leading actors credits as screenwriters; this marriage merry-go-round was indeed created by the film’s protagonists during the course of the shoot.Not only did the actors in this film determine the content, they also influenced the rhythm and dramaturgy of this tragicomic story of everyday life, thus lending the term ‘actor’s film’ a entirely new dimension.

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2002
Competition
Jury Grand Prix - Silver Bear
Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas