Again the Audio Commentary translated

Part 2

(Marc driving home)

HK: And I have to take up the cudgels for you here, because the terrible, the terrible way that comes up when you work for television, to get the things across in as few takes as possible, which is of course also owed to the circumstances, but it's wonderful when you work with a director who gives you the space to do another take, and another one, until you can reach another level. And until you are deepening the matter. Sometimes till exhaustion, but simply knowing that you haven't given anything away.

(Marc taking a bottle out of the fridge)

SL: Here there was a mic in the fridge, I remember. That malfunctioned from time to time. (laughs)
HK: And this I thought was so cute, how Katharina with her sleepy voice...
SL: Yes, that's great.
HK: And, please note, with Marc's t-shirt...
SL: The one he's wearing at the very end...
HK: The one he's wearing at the very end. And she, her decision, she wanted to wear Marc's t-shirt over her baby bump, and...
SL: While Marc is cheating on her.
HK: Yes. Very nice.
SL: By the way, the baby bump is also very well-made in my opinion.
HK: Didn't we have two or three different ones...
SL: We had two and three for the different stages but it's extremely difficult to get a relatively real baby bump.

(Marc and Katharina hugging)

MR: I think it's great that this isn't illuminated too cleanly.
SL: Yes.
MR: That it obtains such an idiosyncrasy. Because of the natural light.
SL: Yes, yes.
MR: Which was predefined, so to speak. That you didn't adjust it artificially.

(Family dinner)

HK: This is a scene with text for a change. (all laughing) The big speaking scene. There are not that many where...which is great, I like that. Because of that it appears a little stemmed, just like it is during dinner, right? Then there is talk, wheather it's important or not.
SL: By the way, the viewers often assumed that Frank and Claudia, who we just saw, Oliver and Stephanie, that they were related to you. Because in the script it was never said that you are best friends, and many people always thought that this is familiar.
HK: That he's my brother, or what?!
SL: That he's your brother-in-law.
HK: Ah, ok!
SL: Yes.
HK: Something like that, yeah...
SL: Here I have to say again that we were really lucky with all the side characters here, Oliver Bröcker, Stephanie Schönfeld, Maren Kroymann, Luis Lamprecht, I think this all harmonizes very well, yeah.

(Kay showing up at the police station)

HK: Here it was brave, here it was brave, but there wasn't another way, that here Kay as well doesn't...there isn't told much in between. He just appears here. It's a brave statement but I think it works, how he enters.
SL: We thought very long about wheather this time lapse isn't too extreme, if we need something, some picture that tells how time is going by...
HK: But by almost scaring the viewer - now he's there - they are in the same emotional situation like Marc himself, because Marc is dumbfounded as well, and here, and it's left open how much time has passed. There has passed a week, or two, but emotionally the same thing that Marc lives through carries over to the audience. And that I think is another consequent good decision. In every scene something new happens like in a picture-book.
SL: Yes.
HK: It's always pushed forward, the story, and you get into an undertow.

(Locker room scene)

SL: Here by the way a big compliment for the equipment, because the whole locker room was built, and, into the big entrance hall of the university, and it looks absolutely barrack-like in my opinion, it turned out really great.

(Marc pushing Kay into the locker)

SL: And great light again, color matching with the ... (PrivateBozz note: some device I don't get), there we adjusted a lot afterwards...
KR: But it's really because you are so close, if there was some distance, I don't know if it would have the same atmosphere.

(Shower scene)

MR: A very great actor, Shenja...
SL: Shenja Lacher, great yes. Amazing how he plays Gregor.
MR: What an energy.
SL: By the way, with Oliver Bröcker there are two more very big scenes on the extras that we decided against very late in the process of editing, we decided against them because they didn't quite fit in timing-wise. We lost the flow because they are longer dialogue scenes...
HK: And a little too narrative...
SL: Too explanatory, but it's worth taking a look at the extras, because they turned out very nice scenes.

(Second bowling scene, Marc scoring)

SL: Yeees! You remember...what's his name, not the dude, but...
MR: The Big Lebowski.
SL: The Big Lebowski. (laughs)
MR: The dude is correct.
HK: And here gradually Kay invades every level of Marc's life.
SL: Yes. Also the private life.
HK: And also comes into the private life for the first time, and he doesn't know at all what kind of private life Marc has.
MR: I remember this as well, I believe Britta had to leave soon.
HK: Right! Britta was ill, the actress.
MR: And I had to reach into the empty space somehow... Somehow it was really strange with the acting to someone. Or who had to leave again? Katharina had to leave? Didn't she have to leave as well one time? (all laughing) Constantly somebody was absent.
HK: No, Britta Hammelstein I believe had a bad fever that night.
MR: Yes, then it's a little construed, and then you have to do quick quick, but it still adds up.
HK: Yes. But this was a tricky scene. Because everybody needed their moment, had to be captured, and it had to be done quickly once again.

(Marc and Kay in the bathroom)

SL: This I also like a lot.
HK: Yeah. The two boys. (laughs) In the bathroom.
SL: 'Now you know it', no, 'That's how it is', exactly. Yes.

(Marc lighting a cigarette outside of his house)

SL: And smoking again. (laughs)
HK: Yes. And what's coming across very well...how does he deal with it?

(Bettina coming into the room)

MR: And she suspecting something already. Like a cat that's sneaking around.
SL: By the way, I was approached afterwards because Marc is saying now...
HK: Of course!
SL: ...'he already bugged me at training' (PrivateBozz note: in the German version he's saying the same but using a common idiom that literally says 'he was already going on my sack at training'), and this ambiguity. But in the script you really didn't realize this yet.
HK: I have...yes... Of course everyone's jumping at that. 'Haha, he was going on his sack!'
MR: And it's strange that people are always looking for such funny moments. When something is so depressing, such a movie, that they get downright released, like in the hospital later on.
HK: Yes. That's right, as if you wanted to free yourself somehow...

(Jiu Jitsu training scene)

SL: Oh yeah, here as well, here we had to choreograph for a long time... With a Jiu Jitsu trainer, who explained some exercises to us. And that's of course difficult with so many people and extras who then have to do these exercises.
MR: So, that was the 20th slap probably...
SL: Yeah. We shot this unbelievably often.
HK: But you can take it quite well.
MR: I enjoy that, I'm into that...
SL: Max, you've been martial artist for how many, for 15 years?
MR: Ha! Ha.

(Marc putting the training equipment into the closet)

HK: Haven't there been other ideas to do this as well?
MR: This also came up very fast somehow, we have to get going.
HK: Well, the time pressure was always there, but we were pretty well prepared. But...
MR: The solution had to be kept as simple as possible. But anyway here it was shot, counter shot...
HK: Here again often laughter because of the audacity and straightforwardness of Kay: 'but if you want to run again sometime...sorry that I'm here, but if you'd like to...' (Max laughing) And, and of course he likes to, even though he can't explain it.

(Marc driving home)

SL: Oh, this drive which I find important, we pressed it in somewhere in passing, I believe.
HK: We did it at the very end.
SL: At the very end, yeah.
HK: Somehow at the last day of shooting.
SL: Yes, I believe it was the last day of shooting, yeah.
HK: Somehow we were on that field and did all these car drives.
SL: Yes, right.
HK: We went back there.

(Marc sitting down besides sleeping Bettina)

HK: Here we also asked ourselves... What's driving him here? What book is she reading anyway?
SL: The Lightness of Being.
HK: Can you see that?
SL: No, I don't know, I don't have a clue what it is.
HK: I believe it was something psychological. Well, who knows what book this is. (Stephan laughing)

(Marc closing the door in front of the mirror)

HK: Here the confrontation with his reflection, also a spontaneous decision that's also nice.
SL: I think it's great, too. There we had to build a ramp for the (? PrivateBozz doesn't understand) because the reflection was actually much too dark, and in the swivel pulling up...
HK: But the darkness, the darkness, this is also...there comes a truth up from deep down, there's something frightening about it.

(Kay and Marc getting out of their cars in the rain)

SL: The rain day. Difficult shooting day, shooting with rain as it is, and it took a lot of time until the rain tripods were positioned, and then of course we had the problem that after every take everybody was soaking wet, and when you wanted to shot the take again... The costume had to be changed, the make-up had to be done anew, the hair blow-dried etc, and that's why such things are always very elaborate.

(Marc and Kay kissing)

SL: This turned out a great scene between you two as well in my opinion. And I'm also happy, because we thought long about this, rain costs so much time, shall we do this in the rain, shall we leave out the rain...
MR: More than anything, what exactly are we telling there? Who takes whom and how, who's active and who's passive...
SL: We thought very long about this, right.
HK: Afterwards a journalist told us that there exists a term for what...
MR: For who's the active and who's the passive.
HK: ...for the passive and the active. So Max is the power button (PrivateBozz note: LOL, it's actually Max' misheard version that stuck with them...hilarious), so to speak , in our...in our relationship. (all laughing)
MR: The sausage king.
HK: Power button alias Max Riemelt the Sausage King. (laughs)

(Kay and Marc *beep*

MR: Yeah.
HK: Yeah. Why is he called sausage king, this you will learn later.

(Kay and Marc smoking in the car)

SL: Well, here I was approached after some screenings by two or three actors...no not actors, viewers, I wanted to say (laughs), who said 'well listen, actually it doesn't go that fast with the sex'. In regards to...
MR: Yeah, from the...
SL: Yes...
MR: It's insane, isn't it? What kind of realities are always adduced then.
SL: This I like extremely, this scene here.
MR: Yeah.
SL: Also, we've also been asked a lot: 'didn't they have safer sex?', and in the deleted scenes there's also a scene that didn't make it into the movie where Marc's mother finds condoms while doing the laundry, and that's how we wanted to tell that they do have safer sex, but we didn't want it too directly, we wanted to tell it en passant. And since the scene didn't end up in the movie we've been approached a lot, well, that this is quite risky what the boys are doing there.
MR: Which still isn't far from reality.
SL: That's right, yes.

(Marc arriving late to the appointment with Bettina)

HK: This I like a lot as well, that he stumbles from this world of rain and this charged sexual situation into such a hard reality, into such a hard reality of mother, father, child and prenatal classes.
SL: Yes, yes.
HK: A beautiful contrast again, given by the script.
SL: (laughs) The shirt is also still slightly wet. (all laughing)
HK: When you...

(Marc following Bettina to the car)

HK: And from this moment on Marc is in, from now on he's willing to not let his lie show somehow, isn't he? Or, or, is in the middle of the affaire, and tries to cover it up. And now...
MR: It's unbelievable what this architecture and these pictures are triggering inside me.
HK: Here?
MR: Aversion against this dump.
HK: Yes, right, we were shooting in Ludwigsburg, and the two of us, as Berliner... Are you Berliner as well, Stephan? No...
SL: No, not by birth, no. But since 10 years now...
MR: No, but especially my encounters there.
HK: (laughs) Oh god...
SL: What encounters are you talking about?
MR: With the hotel manager.
SL: (laughs) Ok. So this is actually going to become...
HK: If he'll be watching the DVD, the hotel manager...
MR: Yes, best regards to the hotel manager.
HK: From me as well.
MR: We'll never see each other again.

(Marc and Bettina talking at the car)

SL: Here it actually hadn't been raining at all, we had to do a complete wet-down at the parking area, sprinkle the car, since it had been raining in the previous scene, to get a realistic connection...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I upset you, don't stress
Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet

Part 3

(Marc making breakfast)

SL: I remember... (laughs) ...Bele, who made the set decoration, said to me at the beginning: 'Egg scenes, extremely difficult, we'll need at least 40-50 eggs.' Me: 'Bele, you're talking nonsense. We'll shoot this 3, 4 times and need maybe 6, 7 eggs.' And in the end we actually baked 30-40 eggs.
HK: Of course. Of course. And I remember here that we were thinking back and forth, how...
MR: What kind of eggs?
HK: Do you have to...
(laughing)
SL: Organic eggs...
HK: Yes, that was the big question.
SL: And from the battery farm, are that white eggs or brown eggs?
HK: Yes, yes, sure. That's what I wanted to say. (laughs)

(Marc on the phone)

MR: Well now this is a little obvious, that's the only thing that's a little strange, why Marc isn't...
HK: ...hanging up.
MR: Exactly.
SL: Well, the longing is there after all.
MR: Yes, but in that moment, so to speak...
SL: Yeah.
MR: Yes, that's so risked, the whole thing. You can argue that, but...
SL: But isn't it even more strange when the telephone is ringing and he doesn't answer it?
MR: Yeah, well he could say I'll call back, don't have time right now, or something...
SL: He's quasi doing that.
HK: I'm doing that. Well, it was even bigger, it was written a little bigger even, and we tried to make it as short as possible, and we decided for dramaturgic reasons that we wanted a moment of longing and a little moment of joy...
SL: Great, Katharina here again.
HK: Great, yes. And recklessness...
MR: Yes, that's the manner, exactly.
HK: And also a risk. Sometimes you have something self destructive inside yourself, that you're even gambling with what you have. And he isn't clear anymore, he isn't so clear anymore.

(Marc and Kay running)

HK: And now a wonderful important sequence starts between the two of them.
SL: And the ending that we chose for this scene finally came completely from one of these improvised things... Well actually it was...what is totally...well this moment, which is totally important...

(Marc kicking Kay playfully)

HK: Totally beautiful.
SL: ...because we have so few truly great moments between the two of you, because it's always strained, the relationship, and...

(Marc and Kay kissing)

SL: Great moment that actually came up by chance, too.
MR: Yes, here a bottle of wodka, and Sten in the bed... (Stephan laughing)
SL: Yes, sex scenes are always hard to film, and...
MR: Yes, of course. But this was also pretty much improvised...
SL: Yes, absolutely, completely improvised.
MR: We went through the positions roughly, and then we had to manage the transitions by ourselves somehow.
HK: And in the end there's included a smaller amount of what we filmed.

(Kay's face, looking at Marc)

HK: But I think this is...
SL: That, that final moment is great.
HK: That is very beautiful, yes.
SL: This look.
MR: That one I'm doing every time, with every woman. (all laughing) That look.
HK: Oh wow.
MR: That's how I get them all.
HK: (laughs) You shouldn't have told me this...

(Marc stepping out on the balcony in the light of the setting sun)

HK: Oh...oh god, look at that...
MR: Now...awesome, yeah...
HK: Romeo and Juliet.
MR: That's how nice it can be...
SL: Great location, I have to say. There we were very lucky to get this filming location, because due to fire protection legalities you aren't even allowed to live there, because there aren't two emergency exits. And it's nice that we finally found a symbol like this for Kay.
HK: Totally. I like Max a lot here, your...you are very, you are very vulnerable there somehow, I think that's totally beautiful. So very blank. I like that a lot.

(Kay offering the keys to Marc)

MR: Often shot with private clothes, I notice. My t-shirt, my undershirt.

(Marc looking at Kay)

HK: Well and the hair.
MR: The hair, the red one...

(Kay closing his hand over the keys)

SL: The great moment when you are withdrawing the keys...
HK: And nice timing-wise here, you can't practise something like that, it comes up in the moment, the looks, I like a lot what is happening here right now.

(Both looking at each other - cut)

HK: And out, yeah. Super scene.

(Marc on the bed, Bettina joining him)

HK: Yes, of course this carries over.
SL: The bad conscience.
HK: The bad conscience.
SL: Great light again from Sten. I totally like it...in many scenes you can see that we mixed blue-orange light, and here's again the blue from behind. It was a light concept that I find really great, with the rust colored light and the blue light. I have to compliment you all again at this point, because the shooting was so...crass and exhausting, we really tried to make a motion picture in 25 days of shooting, and we also had a very long script, and it was also so great that you could, even with other problems that are always streaming in at a shooting, count on you completely, a 100 percent.

(Club scene)

MR: Man, how nice this was! There we went partying, all together, as a team.
HK: Yes, in a disco in Stuttgart.
MR: Exactly.
HK: And it was a kamikaze shoot, right?
MR: In the beginning it was nice and funny, but then it got worse and worse. (laughs)
HK: Yes because of course you were hoping... At one point you realized 'oh my', I mean we have a camera there after all, and we're shooting - even if it's a disco – a very intimate scene here...
MR: Yes, it was indeed an actual disco establishment...
SL: And the unit manager was always running around to everyone who might be in the picture to get a permit...or how do you say, an agreement declaration...how is it called? Extra...
MR: Rights...
SL: Rights...rights assignments... And in the end he had 50 or 60 certainly.
HK: And they only wanted to have fun. (all laughing)

(Kay and Marc taking drugs)

HK: Here sometimes the discussion arises that someone says: 'Is this necessary?' With the drugs, and this as well, into the cliche...
MR: Well cliche is...what you think.
HK: And, we really tried to avoid cliches, and in that sense you ultimately have to arrive at the denominator that in the end a cliche is part of life. These are two young guys, and with the police, that's a cross section through society, and they want to have fun. And maybe it goes with Romeo and Juliet, with love and with being free in that moment.
SL: And above all, I believe anyway...well, that you even say 'gay cliche, now you have to show...'
HK: If heterosexual or homosexual doesn't matter at all.
SL: Absolutely, doesn't matter.
HK: These are young people in modern times and at one point you have to admit maybe that this is a part of it.
SL: I got a problem with the term 'cliche' anyway, because I think, ey, when you ask hundred people for a cliche, hundred people will tell you something different about this term. And in that way it's always a matter of definition anyway.

(Bettina painting the wall)

SL: Great scene here as well, by the way. It turned out really well. Oh god, now I'm praising... (laughs) YOU have to say that!
MR: I would have told the time a little later. If we would have been partying for so long then it wouldn't have stayed before 12, but far after 12.
HK: Did you see what time it is?
SL: Yes it was 20 to 12...
MR: Yes, on the alarm.
HK: 20 to 12?
MR: Yes, I would have made it two or three, and you get up still drugged.
HK: But then the room would have been painted completely already.
SL: With this the movie stands an falls. (all laughing)
MR: Yes, you can argue that as well.
HK: This is an important scene for Marc's development...um, somehow this is some kind of attempt to act out here as well what he's living...what he's living out with Kay. But it's also a helpless liberation, love confirmation attempt - what is still there? But well, I don't want to intellectualize it in any way.
SL: But you did. (laughs)
MR: Yes, here again, the house...the narrowness of the house, I think is very great, the ugly wallpaper and all. Really important in my opinion, the cage, that they both have.

(Bettina pushing Marc away, Marc falling to the ground)

SL: I remember, strictly from the technical side this is quite an act. You have a carpet lying there and you're of course thinking 'how often do we have to shoot that scene and the bucket of paint falls over', right? This means you need so or so many pieces of carpet and so on. So the logistics alone to shoot such a scene, is really... (laughs) At one point, because Katharina had painted the wallpaper that often, the wallpaper started to fall down from up there, then it had to be stapled somehow, I don't know.
HK: Right. Yeah.

(Marc sitting outside, Bettina standing in the door)

HK: Here in this scene there's also something to be said, that the audience thank god doesn't catch in the end... But we shot this scene in the garden of the row house, and around it normal life was taking place, among other things a huge construction area with digger and everything directly in front of that garden. And of course they couldn't stop the construction work completely, and we had again and again extremely loud side noise that you thank god don't hear anymore. But for the concentration in that scene it wasn't easy, as you see.
SL: Yes, Jörg Klaussner who did the sound had to use all kinds of filters that can be found on the market there to get everything out of it.
HK: Um...by the way, another casting scene.
SL: Yeah, yeah.
HK: It's crazy that you often ask yourself the question if you take a scene for the casting that comes from the script or something that isn't from the script at all. In the end when we shot it, it always turned out very different from the way it had been at the casting. But when Katharina got to the casting for example, I remember that, it simply was....she bombed us all away, didn't she, it was unbelievable.
SL: That was insane, the amount of energy that was there between the two of you. I remember, I was sitting with Daniel Reich, our producer, and caster Marion Haack, we were sitting in the back, and it was such an emotional casting that afterwards we needed a little time first to come down again. It was so powerful, as it was with you and Max as well. And then you are totally happy that after searching for so long such constellations are coming up.
HK: And Katharina and I have never done a movie together before. I believe only a very small thing, there we met one time, we knew each other before... But then in the process of casting - that I believe has been quite magical for both of us – and then in the talks, we got closer. And then in the shooting it worked extremely well. And it's crazy, it's the same for us both, that when we see each other again, in private or at some other occasion, it's actually as if you're meeting an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend, it's very strange, well... But as I said, a highly gifted colleague and actress.

(Bettina checking Marc's phone)

SL: By the way, this scene here used to be - according to the script - directly behind the scene where you are leaving breakfast and talking to Kay on the phone. It came subsequently. But during editing we found that it was way too early for Bettina to have this mistrust, for this there should have happened more in between, so that's why we moved the scene farther back eventually.

(Marc and Bettina at the ultrasonic testing)

HK: Crazy, right? How present Kay always is, even when...
SL: Even when he's not there.
HK: ...even when he's not there.
SL: Yes, Absolutely.
HK: Completely.
MR: Because of what now?
HK: Well he's there! I believe...
SL: He's sitting here. (laughs)
HK: Through Marc! (laughs) Here at my side. But, but...
MR: Many have said that, yes.
HK: Yes, it's insane, you're like...like, always there, there inside his head. In there. (short silence) And it was funny, wasn't it, that...that Katharina and Max only met at the end, and when Katharina arrived she knew the main scenes between Kay and Marc had been filmed already. And it was a huge agitation for her, because she was always thinking 'Oh god, what happened there?'.
MR: 'I hope I can top that!' (laughs)
HK: Hopefully she can top that in the relationship. And that's of course immensely exciting for an actress because she knew it's the counter story, that runs between the love of Marc and Bettina and Marc and Kay... And then at the day of shooting, I believe at the bowling bar, when you met on set for the first time, she was constantly running after me, and we were like... (Stephan laughing) It really was...it was a great energy that carried over, that was really nice.
SL: In my opinion we had a very intense time at the shooting. Well...
HK: Yes. (Max laughing)
SL: With all the negative and positive aspects.
HK: No, but you have to...you really have to say it once, that this movie was truly made with the greatest efforts. And was everything but a walk in the park, and I believe we all lost a lot of nerves, a lot of nerves, and put a lot of us into it.

(Marc and Kay sitting in front of the bed)

MR: An improvised scene.
HK: Yes.
MR: From the origin, the making...
SL: Yes, yes.
MR: Yes... (PrivateBozz note: spoken like a dreamy sigh, actually)
SL: And where I'm totally glad, because it was left out at first, but Björn Koll from Salzgeber thought the scene was great between the two of them when he was watching the raw cut, and then the final cut, and in the final cut the scene wasn't included at first, and in the end I'm totally happy that it ended up in the movie again. Because it gives such an emotionality between the two of them, and a tenderness that we haven't seen before from this side.
HK: Yes.
HK: There you see again what gift it can be if you have the necessary space, the necessary budget, that you can shoot stuff additionally that you can select from afterwards.
SL: Yes.
HK: Do we need another breath that lies between rythmically, and so on.

(Marc and Kay on the balcony)

HK: I like that, now he's slowly starting to give him the cold shoulder, somehow he wants out now, I think that's nice, the energy that's coming up now between the two of them.
SL: I also remember, we didn't have time anymore because the sun was setting, which I think is great, a great atmosphere, but we only could film 3 or 4 takes.
MR: Yeah.
SL: And so we were under great time pressure there.

(Kay left alone on the balcony, putting his head on the hand)

SL: (laughs) You look so great here, how you're propping yourself up there. (all laughing)
MR: Usually it's not so good to be so commenting, but in this case it fits.

(Marc being filmed holding his son)

HK: Yes, um...Max addressed it once, it's always strange to film with a...
MR: A baby.
HK: ...a baby, a real baby. For me privately hard to imagine that there are people who give their little baby – as careful and cautious as you are with the living being – and they were very touching, the parents, who were always on set, most of the times... So, a real baby.
MR: To throw something so innocent into such a dirty business...that's quite hard. And contradictory.

Part 4

(Marc being celebrated at work)

HK: This Shenja...
MR: Yes.
HK: ...wonderful.
MR: He's so great.
HK: There are always such great energies coming up. He's almost playing all the other colleagues as well. (Max laughs) I mean, in the end...a lot of supporting roles that each for itself brings a whole world along. The thread between Bettina, who you see here, and...
SL: You mean Britta.
HK: Uh, Britta...and Frank, that was a separate world that tells itself in the deleted scenes...
SL: Absolutely.
HK: But it would have taken the viewer away from the focus. But they have actually an affair with one another as well, and the, the...what's her name, Britta, right? The character Britta, she starts something halfway with Kay, which is only an alibi on Kay's side. And that's nicely thought, but in the final version of the movie quite reduced.
SL: It simply became too much.
HK: It became too much, yeah.
SL: According to the script Oliver was having an affair...

(Baby making a face in the bathtub)

HK: Super cute here.
SL: ...with Britt, and...exactly. And this, as you already said, can be seen in the deleted scenes.
HK: But the great thing about this, in the end it's all palpable, and it's this from inside to the outside fleshing out of the script that is often ignored. Everyone has a world, even if it's not completely told, and I think in the end it's of benefit to the whole movie. Because everyone shows up with a story, even if they are there only for a short time. This is often ignored.

(Car scene, Kay cutting Marc)

SL: First day of shooting.
HK: Oh, there's another nice story about the first day of shooting.
MR: Your hair? (all laughing)
HK: The hair definitely... The hair for one, but you have to say that this here was actually some kind of stunt scene. You get passed, you have to pull over on a spot that I believe was covered with pebbles, and then you had to see to it that I stop right behind him, and that went super fine, where you always shouted into the microphone: 'Now we'll do it a little faster! And still faster! Ok, we'll do it one time!'. And of course, classic, the last time I completely skidded with the car over these pebbles and drove full throttle into Max, and so at the first day my film car was scrap already.
SL: (laughing) The film car was scrap, that we also only had one of.
HK: That we only had one of, and for a low-budget production like this, you have to say, was a dodgy start.
SL: And the other car was only rented, and there was also somehow...because it was slighty contorted at the back and so on.
HK: Sure. But things like that happen.
SL: Yes, things like that happen. *beep* happens.

(Marc getting back into the car, Kay turning around)

HK: But your hair turned out rather short... (all laughing)
MR: Yes... That also wasn't...wasn't really planned. But you always had to adjust on each side, and at one point they were very short. But in the end it's very great for the character.
SL: Yes, I think it's great.
HK: Super, super. It fits. Practical.
MR: Exactly. Not too vain.
HK: Yeah.
SL: No, here I have to say regarding the makeup artist, because we really tried to create something authentic, and they accomplished that very well. Well, that it really doesn't...
HK: Yes, I agree.
SL: ...doesn't look made-up. Which really is a kind of art to create.
HK: Except of the dyed hair.
SL: Except of the dyed hair. (laughs)

(Marc sitting back at the wall after scrubbing the blue spot)

SL: This scene also was about to be kicked out because of time issues... I think it's great that we somehow managed to put it in.
SL: Also a very important scene.
HK: Important scene, especially of course in connection with the scene that follows now.

(Marc distressed on the couch, Bettina coming in)

HK: Especially because you know that he's at a point now... But I'm again explaining the movie. Shall the viewers think something up by themselves. I know that here we...

(Bettina looking at Marc)

HK: ...yes, I like the scene, I'm shutting up now. Well, I know that here we... (Stephan laughing)
ST: Well...
HK: ...really... Sometimes it's the question how you deal with the...the...well, with the...how shall I say, with the spontanity of the impulses, the emotionality. And I know that here we both (PB note: he uses the word 'aufmachen', which I don't understand in this context), and there were different takes, were we played very subtle, I believe, differently, Katharina as well.

(Marc says he doesn't get any air)

HK: I think this is great. Totally beautiful. Here the house appears again, doesn't it?
MR: Yes. The feeling of oppression.
HK: Yeah.
MR: The cage.


At this point I lost the ambition to finish the translation, maybe someday I'll continue, but if someone else wants to take over please feel free to do so. :-)





~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I upset you, don't stress
Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet

Wow, thanks for your work. Those interviews you translate before and this provide a lot of intriguing information...

Thank you so much for taking the time to translate this and putting it up on the site - it was so interesting to read. I know it must take ages, but if you did ever get chance to translate the rest of the commentary it would be soooo much appreciated! Thanks again.

PrivateBozz, thank you very much for transcribing and translating a large portion of the Freier Fall audio commentary. It's exceedingly enlightening. I'm absolutely dying for the rest but don't understand German well enough. Would anyone be willing to take over transcribing and translating the last portion of the commentary? I have an mp3 of it, if needed. I would even consider donating some funds as incentive to offset the cost of time spent. As I'm sure others might too? It would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone! I finally found enough time and enthusiasm to finally finish the translation, and I'm very glad about it because I too often leave stuff unfinished.. :-) I hope you'll have fun with it, even though the movie becomes more depressing here.



Part 5

(Marc says he doesn't get any air)

HK: I think this is great. Totally beautiful. Here the house appears again, doesn't it?
MR: Yes. The feeling of oppression.
HK: Yeah.
MR: The cage. What's also great, this came to my mind related to the drives, is that there are always the same shots that always bring up the theme so to speak, the kind of reflection that the figure has, always when he drives in the car the processing starts and always it goes down another level.
HK: Mhm. Some people...or, rather few, but some people said 'oh god, it's wearing me down that they don't talk with each other', and my thinking always was, because I liked about the movie that this is one of its themes: how can you put that into words?
MR: That the imagery is put in the foreground.
HK: First of all the imagery is in the foreground, so you don't explain everything up front for the viewer, and I think that's very realistic because often communication is the main problem in relationships, in interhuman relationships. And I think that hits the mark very well.

(Marc's superior addressing the unit the day after the raid, Marc looking confused and alarmed)

(all laughing)
MR: Like the boy without lollipop.
(all keep laughing throughout the scene)

(Marc catching up with the others in the hall)

MR: That hall.
SL: That hall...we had to dub this completely because of the steps, not because of the steps of the actors, but because there's walking a whole team in the front.

(All sitting in the police car)

SL: But it turned out fine. It's often hard to get it done well, but...
MR: There we sat in the tub again, that was shaken back and forth.
SL: Exactly, people from outside who the shook car..
HK: And threw at it, too, right?
SL: Threw...no, that was at the beginning, here wasn't the drive to the operation.
HK: Right.
SL: Here the look from Britt, it was to Oliver, actually, that was referencing the relationship that they actually had.

(Shower scene)

HK: There he was, the sausage king. (all laughing)
MR: Well.
HK: Well. That's like it is.
SL: The tattoo is real, isn't it? (meaning the tattoo on Hanno's back)
MR: Yeah.
HK: The tattoo is real.
MR: Real. (using the english word)
HK: Looks a little like a pizza.
MR: (laughing) Quattro formaggi.
HK: Quattro formaggi...(all laughing) The tough boys...

(Kay coming home, finding Marc in his appartment)

MR: There we got painted blue patches that you can't really see.
HK: Yes, because initially there was a scene of a hard operation...
MR: ...that should have been told.
HK: ...that should have been told. but it also worked without it.

(Marc standing up)

MR: This scene we had rehearsed thousands of times, or rather...
HK: And filmed!
MR: Yes, and filmed, and came up with new sequences and new choreographies again and again. But in the end it was very simple after all, or stayed simple.
SL: Yeah, it was rather hard to shoot as well, because it was relatively low-key, also only a little light, but still with long focal distance...
MR: And we, completely charged up, had to keep positions in that small room...
HK: And in all directions, we basically did a full turn.

(Marc throwing Kay's stuff over)

MR: And the way we artificially got ourselves to be upset... we really didn't believe ourselves anymore. That's how I assessed it.
HK: Yes, but we then are, and I liked that...
MR: Look how fogged the window is.
SL: Because of your breath. (laughing)
HK: Right! That's madness... After this we were wiped out completely.
SL: Yes, this was really hard.
HK: We were completely beat.
MR: You notice this, that there has been put something into it...no matter what it is.

(Kay telling Marc that he loves him)

MR: (murmuring) What about me?
SL: Here the lighting concept very distinct, rust and blue.
HK: Right.

(Kay grabbing Marc)

MR: Yeah, and a silhouette can tell a lot as well.

(They hug, then kiss)

MR: All's well that ends well, I'd say. Now they have each other back, and there the movie could end as well. But no...
HK: It's not that simple.
MR: Exactly. That's the message of the movie, so to speak. It's not that simple.

(Marc at home again)

HK: Here it was funny, when you shoot, you often shoot along motifs, and this moment when Marc comes in through the door we have about five times. And we started joking about it: how can you walk through the door in a different way?
SL: Exactly, let's shoot it from the right, from the left, from the front... (all laughing)
HK: At one point such a door motif has been done to death. But it's possible to do it different.
MR: But the posture is always similiar, isn't it? Depressed.
HK: Depressed.
MR: Exactly. It's getting more depressing each time.
(laughing)
MR: Again a beautiful mood from the light, green this time. And slight rust.

(All standing in line in the canteen)

HK: Oh yeah. I love the way he orders goulash. (Max laughing) Goulash!
SL: The look from Shenja is super as well here.
MR: The way he's already planning... (Max and Stephan laughing)
SL: By the way, the cooks in the backround are the original cooks of the university canteen.
MR: They had their fun as well.
SL: Yes, absolutely.

(Kay hitting Marc with the elbow accidentally)

SL: Oh here with the elbow kick we cut out a lot, I remember.

(Marc spitting blood in the sink, shot from behind)

MR: Again a cinema shot, right?
SL: The one from behind?
MR: Yes.
SL: Yes.
MR: That's where the difference is. Also to have a motif like that that has such cold concrete...that was real luck. It looks so expensive in my opinion, doesn't it? Very elaborate the motif.
SL: Yeah. Are you in the women's restrooms here or..? Is there the men sign in the backround?
HK: Ey, rewind.
SL: (laughing) Yes, let's rewind, I didn't see it. It's also always difficult to shoot with blood, with the continuity, I remember that was...
HK: I remember it sucked, well not sucked, but as an actor you have to trust...
SL: What did you have there, a cotton pad with blood or something, and you squeezed it...
HK: We had some small sponge soaked in blood that I had pushed into my nose...
SL: With your own blood of course.

(Marc sitting in the hospital hall)

HK: Here, this scene, also one of my favorites. I laughed so hard when we rehearsed this, when you, Max, are walking in. I like...I like the mischief in you here. (laughing) I think it's really nice.
SL: Yes. Kind of like: 'You wuss!' (all laughing)
HK: Yes, it's so nice, because they are so affectionate in this scene after all. And also the changes that came to be...

(Kay grabbing Marc's face who complains)

(all laughing)
HK: This, when in the last moment Kay (he means Marc) holds him back after all and wants to have him there...uh, Marc (correcting himself).

(Kay about to leave)

SL: Yes, there.

(Marc grasping Kay's arm)

HK: Something small tells everything. And now...
SL: The red rain coat. (all laughing)
MR: The laugher.
SL: Yes, that's really funny, no matter where on this earth we showed the movie, this scene was making people laugh each time.
MR: Especially right here.

(Marc running to the elevator)

SL: (laughing) The expression of Maren (Kroymann) was great as well.
HK: There's so much horror in it, and so much...shock, it's a shock.
SL: For me it was a shock when we were sitting at the Berlinale, premiere, 600 people in the cinema, and then they were laughing at this scene. And I thought: *beep*, did something slip here? Because it was a dramatic scene in the script, and then all of a sudden there was laughter, but I think it was more of a liberating laughter. Not laughing down or laughing at.
HK: It's also because of the drama, because of the embarrassment and the tragedy that can make you laugh.
MR: But also laughing at the Babbittry of society, it's a mirror of this in a way.

(Marc and his mother in the car)

HK: This is a scene that we shortened and cut down in the end, which made it more tight, and it tells a lot in a non-verbal way.
SL: While the light was done for the set, you, Hanno, and Maren and I, we three sat in the car and shortened the dialouge radically which is really good for the scene.
HK: Yes, there's always so much that you don't have to say.
SL: Here rust and blue again. (laughing)

(Kay asking his mother how they raised him)

SL: In this scene Maren actually hit you.
HK: Here, by the way, the house again.
SL: The house? What house?
HK: The house. We shouldn't have moved into the house.
SL: I see, yes that's right. I'm glad we cut out the hit.
HK: The slap.
SL: The slap, yes.
HK: It's palpable. The boundary crossing is palpable enough because of what she says. And hurtful enough.

(Barbecue)

SL: Great idea from Sten with the orange sunblind.
HK: (laughing) Well I had my problems with the orange sunblind.
SL: I really like it.
HK: You love it, I know.
MR: It reminds me of the east.
HK: The east! It's got an east-look, yes.
SL: (laughing) That's also great, the way Frank is sitting in the backround.
HK: This was also shortened a little, this scene, right?
SL: This was shortened, it would be about, what was Frank saying again? 'Maybe he's bi.'
HK: Something like that.
SL: Bettina is saying 'I didn't know he was gay' and then Frank says 'Maybe he's bi', well there was more dialouge that we shortened.

(Bettina asking about Marc's mother, Marc lighting a cigarette)

SL: And the cigarette. The obligatory.
MR: The obligatory, yeah...
SL: A man smoking at the grill, lonely, abandoned. (laughing) The small guy.
HK: Yes, very cute.

(Marc holding his child in front of the mirror)

HK: Very important moment.
SL: This scene should not have been filmed as well, you remember? We said this is so important for us...
HK: Yes, we wanted... (he breaks off because he's losing his mic or something)
SL: Thank god, because this is such an important picture in my opinion.
HK: Yes, totally important. We wanted to be able to decide which brings across the emotional bond between father and child, we also wanted one where the child is sleeping on his chest because it's such a beautiful picture. And we didn't have enough time there, but thank god this scene is in the movie. So important.

(Baby party, the men position the pole outside)

MR: We were sweating so much that afternoon. It was the hottest day of the year. And the longest stint.
SL: The hottest day, and we had to shoot about seven minutes. Yes, it was unbelievable.
MR: And most of it got thrown out after all. The whole speech that I had, or...
SL: A big script scene was thrown out, where...
MR: The parents in the backround.

(Kay arriving)

HK: Exactly, originally Kay would have made some kind of hidden..
MR: Yes, he puts himself in the pillory, he outs himself in front of everybody again, makes it official...but this wasn't necessary. Therefore... Now it is like it is.
HK: Yes, and also this intruding into the...
MR: ...the ideal world.
HK: ...ideal world by Kay tells itself completely.

(Marc at the fridge, hearing his parents talk to Kay)

MR: And the parents...
SL: Oh, who's in the living room? (laughing)
MR: Yes, this we had to film a few times as well until the sound was right.
HK: Yes, yes, yes and then always during the edit the decision, where's the focus between the two, that's significant.

(Kay leaves)

SL: Right, after this there was a scene originally where Kay goes outside, gets on a chair and delivers a speech in fron of the audience, where he practically reaches out to Marc to come out as well.

(Marc and Bettina in the bathroom)

MR: This then consciously leaves undone and ridicules Shenja, or rather the role of Gregor, which causes Gregor's anger towards Kay.
SL: Exactly.
MR: And whereupon he then beats him up.
HK: Here are two conflicts that intensify, for one Bettina realizing that there is actually something between Kay and Marc, even if she can't put it into words, and the homophobia of the colleagues that is beginning to escalate.
SL: But as fate willed, after filming I was driving home in the train to Berlin and get a call that material is missing, we had material damage. And a big part of this speech, a lot of takes weren't there anymore. They had vanished.

(Marc walking through the hall to Kay's appartment)

SL: And I had a major crisis in the train, beause this was always a very important scene in the script. But then in the edit we realized it was good to leave it out. So in the end it turned out well, but you don't know in that moment, you are coming from the shooting, you think there's an extremely important scene...

(Marc letting himself in)

HK: But there still was a certain reservation, because we felt that certain things dragged the way it was, and we already knew we'd have to...it's always most important to concentrate on the essence and the main focus, and in this moment it was a consequent and right decision, even if chance helped us in a way.

(Marc stepping onto the balcony where Kay is smoking)

HK: Here in this scene many people think...
MR: ...that Kay is too unstable to want to keep living, which is complete nonsense in my opinion. He's just a dope-head. (all laughing)

(Marc reaching for Kay's bruised face, Kay turning away)

MR: But I also like how this is going apart, so to speak.
SL: You know the old script version where Kay actually attempts suicide...no, not an attempt, he really commits suicide. And thank god we decided against it.
MR: That it isn't too histrionic, so you might have to shed a tear or something like that. You're left in uncertainty and there's a questionmark remaining, which is satisfying in one way but at the same time leaving you unsatisfied, which is also a big quality of this movie, the fact that there remains a lot of room for imgination. For the things that happened, that you have to figure out for yourself sometimes, for example how Gregor beat him up and why, what lead to it, and also for where he will go now, Kay Engel. That's probably what makes this figure so big and gives it all a certain mistery. Which is interesting and appealing.
SL: Absolutely, yeah.

(Marc giving back Kay's key, Kay looking away)

MR: And again, less is more. But sometimes more is more. (all laughing)

(Marc walking through the hall to the elevator)

HK: There was a telephone call planned originally...
SL: A telephone call, right.
HK: Frank calls, saying 'Hey, what's up with Limpinski?'
SL: Right, he had to stop Limpinski.
HK: Yes, he has to stop Limpinski who's losing it...
SL: Right.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I upset you, don't stress
Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet

Part 6

(Marc coming home)

SL: And again entering through the door. (laughing)
HK: And the door again. Right, back into the cage.
SL: A very great scene that's about to come here...

(Marc finding Bettina packing)

SL: And little Benno is sleeping.
HK: Little Benno is sleeping, yeah. In the end in acting it's all about what is being dealt with, emotions, conflict. But what you often undererstimate is that as an actor is you have to manage some strictly organisational procedures as well, especially when you're packing a bag, emptying out a drawer, stowing a baby away, zipping the bag, all that has to be coordinated because it has to be repeated in each take. And that's not too easy, what Katharina is doing here with her props, that she simultaneously has to repeat again and again, and still she has to act the conflict of the scene.
SL: I think it's great that we took the time to search for this. That we said 'Ok, we haven't really found it yet, how and where we're positioning ourselves, what we're picking up how and when...
HK: Yes, and I always become extremely sceptical with directors and cinematographers and light people, and a team in genereal, when this space isn't there for the actor, that you accept that an actor has to be involved with such superficial things such as when and where do I place the bottle, when do I open it. If you don't get this space as an actor you'll decide soon not to do it, which leads to scenes that are static, and something that you would naturally do in normal life you are not doing here. And that's a pity.
SL: And it doesn't come from inside anymore but is a put-on action.

(Bettina packing another bag in the living room)

HK: Here again, packing a bag. This makes it natural, gives it flow, that's great in my opinion.

(Marc at the door begging Bettina not to leave)

HK: And originally these were different scenes, well this should have taken place in different places, in the bedroom, the hall, in the garage, and on the street, the conflict stretched over a whole sequence, and because of various reasons and circumstances it was finally reduced and all of it stayed inside the house. Correct?
SL: Absolutely.
HK: She would have driven away, I would have tried to stop her from getting into the car...
MR: It's an insanely good hand camera, isn't it? With the acuity, you have to realize that he always walked along and got everything.
SL: Such an intuitive feeling for the moment, very important.
HK: Who pulled the acuity again, a very young one, Robert or something?
SL: Robert, yeah.

(Marc sitting outside in the dark, drinking and smoking)

MR: There was a beer drinking scene originally that didn't make it, with Frank and you, where you were sitting in the stadium and got drunk.
SL: Was this later?

(Marc walking to Frank's and Claudia's house)

MR: It was a lot earlier...
HK: Yes, it was after the birth, after the birth I'm sitting celebrating with him my new fatherhood, drinking beer. It was a nice scene somehow but much too explanatory.

(Marc talking to Claudia)

SL: Here also a great moment from Stephanie (Schönfeld), in my opinion. How uncomfortable she is because of you standing at the door.
HK: You really have to say about the colleagues, who are all wonderful colleagues, it's always...for an actor it can be bitter because you comit yourself to the movie, to the story that you want to tell and for which you have to fight as an director, and then in the editing room it happens that you realize 'Ok, we have to cut some story lines'. That's sad, but as previously said, it affected some side characters to keep the focus on Marc's conflict. And some deleted scenes are on it.
SL: Exactly, some of the scenes you can see as bonus.

(Marc talking to Frank)

HK: Scenes as well that go into the friendship between these two, which is really there and which we developed.
SL: A very important scene, that we filmed with the last remaining light which you can see by the light mood. The dawn is starting already, and we didn't have much time to shoot this very important scene. But great, that we still managed to get this intense scene.

(Marc telling Bettina that he doesn't want to lose them)

SL: The location was found on the fly, in passing. This house, and in the end I find it really good, with the garages, with the rose, this petit bourgeois world that it tells...
HK: Doors are playing a big role, I'm noticing. (laughing) That you can open and close...where you can stand in...
MR: Where you are allowed to enter or not.
HK: On the threshold, over the threshold...
MR: That you can open or block for yourself. (all laughing)
SL: When the door is shut in front of your nose.

(Bettina screaming at Marc 'What are you then?')

MR: Well...what are you?
HK: What are you?
SL: When Katharina started yelling I really flinched, that really was... A powerful moment.

(Bettina shutting the door)

HK: Yes, a significant scene that hits the core theme of the movie. And even verbalizes it in this case.... This flower, that you're always seeing at the left...
MR: Yes, insane, it's quite present.
HK: Quite present when you know it.

(Marc leaving the house devastated)

HK: Here a few tears pressed out... (all laughing)
MR: That what was left. Rudi's leftover ramp.
HK: (laughing) Rudi's leftover ramp...

(Marc mowing the lawn)

MR: This also a nice picture.
HK: You like this.
MR: The orange sunblind again.
SL: I like it, yeah.
MR: Well it's these dog days, this...
HK: Are these the dog days?
MR: A nice atmospheric...
SL: Great the way your behind is shown off.
MR: Yes.
HK: Stephan!
MR: The duck walk.
HK: The duck walk.
SL: The lawn mowing scene was also one that almost became victim to the cut because of time reasons, but I think it's great because it tells so much. Marc, lonely all of a sudden in this small city world.
MR: And the attempt to convulsively stick to the daily routine.
SL: To somehow bridge it.

(Marc running)

MR: There he's looking like Ben Stiller in Zoolander. (all laughing) That's his new face, Blue Steel.
HK: But the hair, the hair color...
MR: (singing) Wake me up, before you go-go. (Hanno laughing)

(Marc coming home)

HK: And the door.
MR: A door again.
HK: But filmed totally different this time.
SL: (laughing) That's right, filmed out of the kitchen.
HK: Completely different, very close this time and with tilt.
SL: With tilt, yeah.

(Marc realizes that Bettina has come back)

HK: Someone's at home. Nice, how I'm speaking his sub text.
MR: Yes, technical data... (all laughing)
HK: No, but wait, I really liked how it was illuminated by Tobias Vogel, the wonderful lighting technician, head lighting technician, I find this very beautiful with the milk glas, the television atmosphere, that is a great effect.

(Bettina looking)

HK: Evil look.
SL: Also a great idea regarding the sound, from Jörg, that Katharina turns off the volume in this moment and that there's quiet. It's also hard in my opinion to do the sound design for a very quiet movie.

(Marc showering)

MR: This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie.
HK: Really?
MR: Yes. I think this is very great. Her desperation. And the manner in which she...
SL: There we were only four...no five, in this bathroom, and it was so intensive, you really noticed after each take, Sten was wiped out, I was wiped out. It was incredibly intense what happened there between the two of you. And this we also shot six, seven times.
HK: With and without curtain.
SL: Yeah, with and without curtain.
MR: And with curtain, this somewhat abstract look that's super.

(Marc and Bettina hugging)

SL: Here also the question do you edit or not to shorten the scene or do you choose the master..we decided to keep it.
MR: Yes, it's this voyeuristic look through the curtain and uncut, it's totally involved, you're not confused or pulled out of the suspense.
HK: Yes, this really was intense.
SL: I still remember, Hanno, you had a completely red chest from her hits, and between the takes we had to put on Aloe Vera...
MR: Yes!

(Marc in the elevator to Kay's appartment)

HK: But in such scenes, it often happens as an actor that you get a slap, and there's one who deals it and one who has to take it, but the one who deals it often has it harder, because you don't want to injure or hurt your colleague, but you have to do it in a certain manner, because you can't just fake it. And actually the active part is the harder one in such a scene, that what Katharina did there, because I'm the overchallenged one and take it from her and react.

(Marc knocking at Kay's door)

SL: Before this there was originally a completely different block that you can see in the bonus material, where you two are sitting with Claudia and Frank at the bowling alley and try to make the relationship work again in daily life. And there was a great scene between you and Frank at the counter.

(Marc walking through Kay's empty appartment)

HK: Here in this scene I like the camera, there's something intoxicated about it, he's like flying through the airless room, it has something flowing that I like very much, when the door opens and whoom.
MR: The weather also fit, everything cloudy and grey. Sad music.

(Marc sitting down on the ground)

SL: I like the music very much. Tren didn't choose synthesizer strings, but hey have a library of self plugged instruments, and all this they put together, and this bringst the great string sound that I really like.
MR: The string sound of Hanno's hair. (all laughing)

(Marc in the locker room)

MR: And again a great appearance from our magnificent Shenja.
SL: Here we also had a stunt man for the choreography of the hits.
HK: Yes, right. We filmed this at the end, this scene, and it's not so easy to do such physical things at the end of a shooting day. And to do them again and again...
MR: And you actually got injured, didn't you?
HK: In this scene?
MR: Yes, I believe so, something happened, a light contusion or something. Yes, something you told me.

(Marc kissing Gregor)

SL: (laughing) This was a great idea from Shenja to hold his baton between his legs. Jörg and I spend a lot of time thinking about the hits, we wanted full hits, that they sound full and seem realistic, I remeber we tinkered a lot there with the sound of the hits.
HK: There are variants of different endings. We filmed two, three scenes of a farewell that we didn't choose, luckily.
SL: Yes, the farewell scenes were all thrown out.

(Marc in the club)

(Marc taking drugs in the bathroom)

HK: Right, here I remember, the pill, there was also another scene in the script where he finds them in Kay's appartment...right?
SL: Really?
HK: There was something like that.
SL: That has to be a different script. (all laughing)

(Marc getting into the toilet room with another guy)

SL: By the way, the club and the toilets where two different locations. Whe shot this in Ludwigsburg in a pub because we thought the toilets were so great, and the club is shot in Stuttgart separately.

(The guy opening Marc's pants)

MR: This was probably very difficult for you, Hanno? With someone strange...
HK: (laughing) You mean I missed you? Yeah, look, you can see it. (both laughing) It really was weird.

(Marc driving)

MR: And again a car drive.
SL: Again in the car.
MR: And there was a different ending, right? An alternate ending where he jumps the rails.
SL: Yes, where he lets go of the wheel and the car gets off the street...
MR: And flips over. Makes a final picture on the field.
SL: This we also filmed again. Originally we should have done it at the first day of shooting, and then at our re-shooting we filmed this again, which was a good thing.
HK: Super. Good decision.

(Marc stepping out to Bettina.

SL: The orange sunblind. Isn't it amazing?
HK: It's still wonderful, yes.
SL: The picture is great.
MR: Yes, and also the content, that it's so undecided, like it so often is, that even though you're thinking you're rational you can't find clarity in it all.

(Marc and Bettina talking)

HK: Here too was a farewell scene afterwards between the two, with the child.
SL: Yes, where you pack your bags and get inside the cab, and Katharina with the child in the hall.

(Marc in his room at the training camp)

SL: But in the end we chose the more elliptic way of story telling. Because everything is said in this scene. Then a farewell would be something put-on that you don't really need.

(Marc sitting down, looking at the bed)

HK: Exactly, and here back in the room where in the beginning Kay was lying in the bed.

(Marc running with the group)

SL: We took really long for the ending, we worked on the script for four years, and until it got that frame between the running at the beginning and the running at the end, that it becomes something complete, is a process that takes time.
HK: Well I like it very much that it has an open end, and that you can read it the way you want to. Like always everyone is allowed to interpret it the way they want. For me it has something promising.
MR: The running.
SL: Yes, definitely. And it makes appetite for part two. (Hanno laughing) Isn't it like this with Before Sunrise, they got out another part every few years.
HK: Yes, sure.
SL: So in five years there will be Freier Fall 2, I'd say. (all laughing) And here we had the big luck that ... contributed an ending song that fits the movie regarding the mood and atmosphere but also its lyrics.
MR: Yes, it's a song that makes you stay in your seat, where can reflect a little.
SL: Yes that's it!
MR: Thanks.
HK: One year later.
SL: One year later we're sitting here and watching this movie again...it was exciting.
HK: What are we doing now? (laughing)
SL: Now we're going drinking. (laughing)
HK: Okay.



🙌
Now waiting for the sequel.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If I upset you, don't stress
Never forget, that God isn't finished with me yet