Bis ans Ende der Nacht

Till the End of the Night
Robert wears a leather jacket and his hair rather long. He is by no means your average cop – at least not the kind to be found in most German movies. As an undercover investigator, he is tasked with gaining the trust of a criminal, Victor, by faking a relationship with Leni who has been released on parole to play along. They manage to make contact with Victor at a dance class: Robert and Leni – he gay, she trans – make a great couple and soon have the criminal on the hook. Or is it he who has entrapped them? And ultimately, are there not more feelings at play in this supposedly fake love affair? We would not be in a film by Christoph Hochhäusler if there were any simple answers or truths. His clever plot is pure oscillation, and the result is an ingenious portrait of the emotional intellect that is as witty as it is touching. The film is a (not entirely drug-free) trip along the director’s trademark Möbius strip of genre and auteur cinema. Added into the mix is one of the most beautifully nostalgic soundtracks of the year, a worse-for-wear romantic atmosphere with a Fassbinder-like charm and, finally, an ensemble cast that breathes life into all of puppet master Hochhäusler’s deceptive manoeuvres, death wish included.
by Christoph Hochhäusler
with Timocin Ziegler, Thea Ehre, Michael Sideris, Ioana Iacob, Rosa Enskat, Aenne Schwarz, Gottfried Breitfuß, Sahin Eryilmaz, Ronald Kukulies
Germany 2023 German 123’ Colour

With

  • Timocin Ziegler (Robert Demant)
  • Thea Ehre (Leni Malinowski)
  • Michael Sideris (Victor Arth)
  • Ioana Iacob (Nicole Gilly)
  • Rosa Enskat (Monika Sterz)
  • Aenne Schwarz (Nadia Saric)
  • Gottfried Breitfuß (Pawel Kaiser)
  • Sahin Eryilmaz (Armin Strauss)
  • Ronald Kukulies (Thomas Benck)

Crew

Director Christoph Hochhäusler
Screenplay Florian Plumeyer
Cinematography Reinhold Vorschneider
Editing Stefan Stabenow
Sound Design Rainer Heesch, Matz Müller
Sound Mixing Hubertus Rath
Sound Jörg Kidrowski
Costumes Ulrike Scharfschwerdt
Production Design Renate Schmaderer
Make-Up Elisabeth Dietrich, Stefanie Lange
Casting Ulrike Müller
Assistant Director Agnes Karolski
Production Manager Edgar Cox
Line Producer Sascha Verhey
Producer Bettina Brokemper

Christoph Hochhäusler

The director, writer and publicist was born in Munich, Germany in 1972. His films Milchwald and Eine Minute Dunkel both screened in the Berlinale Forum. He also directed an episode of the anthology film Deutschland 09 which was presented in the Berlinale Competition. His work has won numerous awards including a Special Grimme Award, the Günter Rohrbach film award and the Berlin Art Prize. He is co-founder and co-publisher of the “Revolver” film magazine. Between 2017 and 2021, he was senior lecturer in directing at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin. Bis ans Ende der Nacht is his sixth feature film.

Filmography

2003 Milchwald 2005 Falscher Bekenner 2009 Séance; short film 2010 Unter dir die Stadt 2011 Eine Minute Dunkel; TV film 2014 Die Lügen der Sieger 2023 Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023