Grill Point is a 2002 German drama film directed by Andreas Dresen. Its original German title is Halbe Treppe, which means "Halfway up the Stairs" in English, and was the real-life name of the snack bar shown in the film.

Grill Point
Directed byAndreas Dresen
Written byAndreas Dresen
Produced byPeter Rommel
StarringSteffi Kühnert
Gabriela Maria Schmeide
Thorsten Merten
Axel Prahl
CinematographyMichael Hammon
Edited byJörg Hauschild
Music by17 Hippies
Distributed byUniversal
Release date
  • 3 October 2002 (2002-10-03)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

Grill Point was heavily influenced by the Dogme 95 manifest (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

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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.

Cast

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Only four professional actors were used in the film.

The band 17 Hippies who wrote and performed the music appear throughout the film as "the musicians".

Reception

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References

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  1. ^ "Awards 2002". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ Blaney, Martin (14 January 2003). "Grill Point wins top German critics prize". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
  3. ^ "FESTIVALS: Discovering Brazilian Breezes and Asian Airs in the Windy City; the 2002 Chicago Film Fes". IndieWire. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
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