Bungalow

Midsummer. On the way back to barracks following a manoeuvre, 19-year-old Paul stays behind unobserved at a motorway service station. When his company leaves, Paul sets off for his parents’ bungalow; his mother and father are away on holiday. He is surprised when his older brother Max and Max’s girlfriend, Lene, turn up. The trio’s carefree sojourn comes to an end when the army catches up with Paul. The brothers’ knee-jerk reaction is to revert to their old familiar roles. A sense of responsibility, the urge to rebel, and Lene, who oscillates between the two young men according to her mood, all serve to make them prisoners of this place which takes them back to their childhood, and to fill them with anger and desire.
Ulrich Köhler’s first film already explores the themes he has extensively revisited in subsequent works: disorientated people alienated from their own families, on the search for stability; and rebels prepared to risk everything to avoid getting stuck in the rut of conventional social expectations and connect instead with their true selves. An intensely laconic tale of existential turmoil.
by Ulrich Köhler
with Lennie Burmeister, Devid Striesow, Trine Dyrholm, Nicole Gläser, Jörg Malchow, Maria Hagewald, Frank Breitenreiter, Steffen Münster, Michael Abendroth, Frederic Neurath, Helke Sander, Lou Castel, Walter Zimmermann, Dirk Jansen
Germany 2002 German 85’ Colour

With

  • Lennie Burmeister (Paul)
  • Devid Striesow (Max)
  • Trine Dyrholm (Lene)
  • Nicole Gläser (Kerstin)
  • Jörg Malchow (Stefan)
  • Maria Hagewald (Dunja)
  • Frank Breitenreiter (Frank)
  • Steffen Münster (Teacher)
  • Michael Abendroth (Cigarette Man)
  • Frederic Neurath (Arne)
  • Helke Sander (Couple at the Railway Station)
  • Lou Castel (Couple at the Railway Station)
  • Walter Zimmermann (Innkeeper)
  • Dirk Jansen (Truck Driver)

Crew

Director Ulrich Köhler
Screenplay Ulrich Köhler, Henrike Goetz
Cinematography Patrick Orth
Camera Assistant Ute Freund, Carol Burandt von Kameke
Editing Gergana Vogt
Sound Johannes Grehl
Sound Editing Thomas Knop
Sound Mixing Pierre Brand
Art Director Silke Fischer
Costumes Birgit Kilian
Make-Up Antje Holzapfel
Assistant Director Lars Henning
Production Manager Sabina Doerr
Location Manager Nicolas Reichelt
Producers Peter Stockhaus, Tobias Büchner
Commissioning Editor Christian Cloos
Co-Production ZDF Mainz

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Produced by

Ulrich Köhler

Born in Marburg, Germany in 1969, between 1989 and 1991 he studied art in Quimper in France, followed by philosophy in Hamburg and then visual communication at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg, where he received his degree in 1998. He also made his short films there. His feature films Bungalow (2002) and Montag kommen die Fenster (Windows on Monday, 2006) screened at numerous festivals and won prizes both in Germany and abroad. Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness) premiered in the 2011 Competition where it won the Silver Bear for Best Director. His film In My Room screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography

2002 Bungalow; Panorama 2006 Montag kommen die Fenster; Forum 2011 Schlafkrankheit; Competition 2018 In My Room

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019