Grill Point

Infobox_Film
name = Grill Point (Halbe Treppe)


imdb_id = 0304126
director = Andreas Dresen
writer = Andreas Dresen
starring = Steffi Kühnert
Gabriela Maria Schmeide
Thorsten Merten
Axel Prahl
producer = Peter Rommel
music = 17 Hippies
cinematography = Michael Hammon
editing = Jörg Hauschild
distributor = Universal
released = October 3, 2002
runtime = 111 min.
language = German
budget = N/A

"Halbe Treppe" is a German movie, released in 2002. The title means "Halfway up the Stairs"; it was the real-life name of the snack bar shown in the film. It was released under the title "Grill Point" in English.

"Grill Point" was heavily influenced by the Dogme 95 movement (although it does not follow all the Dogme rules; it uses some music not performed in-scene, the director is credited, and it is presented in widescreen format). It was shot almost entirely on location in the eastern German city of Frankfurt (Oder) using handheld digital video cameras. Its performance was improvised.

Plot summary

Uwe, owner of a snack bar, and his wife Ellen, who works in a perfume store, are friends with Katrin, who works in a trucking agency, and her husband Chris, a radio DJ. Neither marriage is holding together well; soon, Chris begins an affair with Ellen. When Katrin discovers this, they try, and fail to solve the problem as a foursome; when this fails, the two couples respond to the situation in different ways.

Reception

*The film won the Silver Bear at the 2002 Berlinale (Grand Prix of the Jury)
*2002 Deutscher Filmpreis in silver
*Silver Hugo for Best Direction and Best Ensemble at the 2002 Chicago International Film Festival

Trivia

*The snack bar "Halbe Treppe" was located halfway up the steps to a former department store (hence the name); the building and the steps were demolished in 2006. The real-life owner, Eberhard Urban, makes an appearance as Uwe's assistant.

*Many of the scenes in the film take place in the Oderturm, the tallest building in Frankfurt. The perfume shop and the radio station are as they appeared in the film.

*The dentist's practice scene was real; actor Prahl needed a tooth removed and suggested to Dresen that it be filmed and worked into the plot.

*Uwe and Ellen's apartment is in the largely Plattenbau district of Neuberesinchen. The image on the film poster and DVD box depicts unrelated apartments of a type not found in former East Germany.

*The scenes where Chris and Ellen conduct their affair were filmed at the Hotel Polonia in neighboring Słubice, Poland, which was demolished in 2006.

Main cast

Only four professional actors were used in the film.

*Axel Prahl: Uwe Kukowski
*Steffi Kühnert: Ellen Kukowski
*Thorsten Merten: Chris Düring
*Gabriela Maria Schmeide Katrin Düring

External links

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* [http://www.halbetreppe.de/ Official site (in German)]