Forklift Driver Klaus - The First Day on the Job

Infobox Film
name = Forklift Driver Klaus - The First Day on the Job


image_size = 250px
caption = Konstantin Graudus as Klaus
director = Stefan Prehn
Jörg Wagner
producer = Michael Sombetzki
writer = Jörg Wagner
Stefan Prehn
narrator = Egon Hoegen
starring =
music =
cinematography = Matthias Lehmann
editing = Andrea Stabenow
distributor =
released =
runtime = 9 min
country = GER
language = German
budget = €90,000
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.staplerfahrerklaus.de/
amg_id = 1:291209
imdb_id = 0289477

"Forklift Driver Klaus - The First Day on the Job" (in German, "Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag") is a short film from 2000 about the first day of Klaus' work as a forklift driver. The film is a parody of work safety films from the 1980s.The film was written and directed by Stefan Prehn and Jörg Wagner. Konstantin Graudus plays the role of Klaus, and Egon Hoegen is the narrator. It adds to the air of authenticity that the narrator'svoice is well known from road safety films.

The film quickly became famous, much thanks to its splatter film violence, which fans regard as comical due to its extreme nature.As well as receiving several awards, it was made available on DVD by Anolis Entertainment in 2003. However, this is a region 2 DVD intended for distribution in Germany only. A worldwide release is scheduled for 2007 with dubbed English, French and Spanish audio.

Plot

The film is presented as a safety instruction video for forklift truck drivers and shows the first day of work for newly-qualified forklift truck driver Klaus. The film highlights in a gory manner the dangers of unsafe operation of machinery. As the film progresses the injuries/deaths become more brutal, beginning with things like a man falling from the fork lift after he was lifted improperly, and ending with the most violent: a stray chainsaw that had been on when the arm using it was cut off drives itself around before reaching a man who has already been cut in half and hit on the head by an emergency warning bell (which has fallen off the wall due to its overuse thanks to Klaus, hitting the man), and it is stopped by tool. As it cuts through the tool, the man stares at the example of what the saw is about to do to him. Finally the saw breaks the tool and drives into the man, and we see a POV shot of his guts being chopped up. The film ends after Klaus is killed by decapitation and two men are left stuck to the fork 'prongs' screaming. The truck drives off into the sunset as the men continue to scream.

Awards

The film has won many awards, including:
* The "Canal+ International Award for Best Short Film" at the Cinema Jove Festival Internacional de Cine València in 2001
* The "Jury Award for Best Short Film" and the "Audience Award for Best Short Film" at the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival in 2001
* The "Audience Award for Short Film" and the "Special Prize of the European Broadcasters Jury for Best Original Idea" at the "Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film" in 2002
* The "Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Award" at the "Day of the German Short Film" awards in 2002
* The "German Film Critics Award for Best Short Film" at the "German Film Critics Association Awards" in 2002
* The "Jury Prize for Best Short Film" at the "Fantasia Film Festival" in 2003 (where it also won 3rd place in the "Best Short Film" category

External links

* [http://www.staplerfahrerklaus.de/ Official Site]
*imdb title|id=0289477|title=Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgqeBcdbFJ4 Watch it] on YouTube