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Paths in the Night (Wege in die Nacht)
Germany (1999)
About the film
Walter is 55 and unemployed. He is a former factory manager in the old
East German regime who cannot come to terms with the end of his factory
and his own career. While his wife secures their livelihood by working
in a bar, Walter roams the streets at night with two young thugs
imposing vigilante law and order. But society does not need Walter or
his "benevolent" work. And even the love of his good wife cannot
comfort or save him when he decides to impose his fantasies on the real
world. This is no Charles Bronson in "Death Wish" but a serious
artist's view of the costs of urban alienation. Together with the
cameraman Jürgen Jürges, who has played a leading role in German film
since the seventies, director Andreas Kleinert has created memorable
black-and-white images of contemporary Berlin. A young man, he
skillfully depicts the dilemma of many of the older generation affected
by the collapse of the GDR. Lead actor Hilmar Thate (former
Berliner Ensemble regular) has been much praised in the role of
Walter, and together with Cornelia Schmaus (as his wife)
demonstrates Kleinert's sensitive casting.
"Andreas Kleinert's choice to shoot in black and white gives the
picture a distinctive retro feel, though his precision technique and
low-key irony are solidly contemporary."—Derek Elley,
Variety
Director's filmography
Andreas Kleinert, based in Berlin, started as an assistant at
DEFA-Studio in Babelsberg. In 1989 he completed studies in film
direction at the Konrad Wolf School of Film and Television in the GDR
where his dissertation focused on Andrei Tarkovsky. Since 1990 he has
been working as a freelance screenwriter and director. His student
feature film, Farewell, Joseph (Leb' Wohl, Joseph,
1989) was nominated for a Student Academy Award in 1990 and was
shown at the Locarno International Film Festival.
A selection from Kleinert's filmography includes: Neben der
Zeit (Outside Time, 1994/95) which won Best Film and Best
Actress at the 1996 Cairo International Film Festival, Lost
Landscape (Verlorene Landschaft, 1992) No Man's
Land (Niemandsland, 1995, film essay) and In the Name of
Innocence (Im Namen der Unschuld, 1996-97). Paths in
the Night (Wege in die Nacht, 1999) was the opening film at
the 1999 Directors' Fortnight at Cannes. Since then he has directed
several episodes of Victor Klemperer's Diary for television
(Ich möchte Zeugnis ablegen bis zum Letzten-Viktor
Klemperers Tagebucher, 1999).
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98 min., b/w, 35 mm
German with English subtitles
Director: Andreas Kleinert
Screenplay: Johann Bergk
Dir. of photography: Jürgen Jürges
Sound: Siegfried Busza
Music: Andreas Hoge, Steven Garling
Editor: Gisela Zick
Art director: Gabriele Wolff
Producer: Katrin Schlösser, Frank Löprich,
Ö-film
Production: Ö-film, in co-production with ZDF, and in
co-operation with Studio Babelsberg Independents, Cultural Film
Foundation Mecklenburg-Pomerania and Mitteldeutsche
Medienförderung
Cast: Hilmar Thate, Cornelia Schmaus, Henriette Heinze, Dirk Borchardt,
Ingeborg Westphal, Daniela Hoffmann
Contact: BavariaFilm International
Bavaria Media GmbH
Bavariafilmplatz 8
D-82031 Geiselgasteig
Bavaria Media GmbH
vox: 49 (89) 64 99 2686
fax: 49 (89) 64 99 3720
email: michael.weber@bavaria-film.de
THE HOLLOWAY
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