So Long, My Heart!
The film relates the story of how three people working in a care home in Mannheim learn to know and love each other.
Holger (Tom Jan), a carer for the elderly, tries to get his life back in order and to escape his unresolved relationship issues in Berlin by moving to southern Germany.
But even in this new setting, he quickly falls for the kitchen hand Barbara (Pola Kinski), who works in the same care home.
The pair’s affection for one another begins to falter when the head of the care team, Petra Opel (Isolde Fischer), declares her feelings for Holger.
Claiming to have seen ‘ghosts singing pop songs’ (Mardi Gras.bb) in the building, the slightly mad Mrs Kramer (Lieselotte Langer) injects some momentum into the story. The old, feeble lady with her Zimmer frame becomes a metaphor for awakening and for life itself.
“The protagonists are absolutely magnificent, and the film has a tragicomic charm to it that you don’t often find in cinema.”
Swiss Radio DRS
“A touching comedy about ordinary, lonely people, an outstanding feel-good movie without any shallowness or false compromise.”
Berner Zeitung
Director’s note
“Since 2001 we have been continuously developing our principle of improvisation. We have found time and again that improvisation is considered to be a kind of accidental product. We want to stress that improvisation is an art form and a craft for us.
Improvision, for us, means constantly paying attention to the ‘here and now’, whether in the kitchen, on the stage, in music or in film. Improvisation needs you to be able to relate to, and be aware of, each other.
The interaction between jazz musicians illustrates that perfectly: the musicians’ interplay does not just follow their own intuition, but also clear rules, particularly working with pre-existing ideas (or rhythms) and developing them further.”
“A wiser, more heartwarming, more compassionate film that conveys the characters rather than just exploit them is hard to find these days.”
Stuttgarter Zeitung
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Awards
_____________________________
Special Critic’s Award - Schermi d’Amore IFF Verona, 2007
Audience Award - 30th Grenzland Filmtage Selb, 2007
Best Feature Film - 5th Non-Budget IFF Cuba, 2007
Grand Prix - 15th IFF Varna, Bulgaria, 2007
Special Jury Award - Listapad, IFF Minsk, Belarus, 2007
Cast & Crew
_____________________________________with: Tom Jahn, Pola Kinski, Isolde Fischer, Lieselotte Langer
Stefan Hillebrand, Oliver Paulus - screenplay
Stefan Hillebrand, Oliver Paulus - directors
Stefan Hillebrand, Oliver Paulus - producers
Daniela Knapp - director of photography
Diana Wagner - production design
André Bigoudi - editor
Ramón Orza - sound design
Stefan Müller, Hendrik Wilhelms - sound mix
Doc Wenz & Mardi Gras.bb - music
a Motorfilm - Frischfilm Production
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