For our initiative “German cinema is (still) great!” Every month we choose a German film that we particularly liked, inspired or fascinated, to editorially accompany the cinema release – regardless of size – as a blockbuster! This month the choice is “A whole life“, which will be shown in various German cinemas from next Thursday, November 9, 2023:
And that is what the story, which spans decades, is about: in the 1920s, Andreas Egger, as a little boy (Ivan Gustafik), ends up with the farmer Kranzstocker (Andreas Lust), who regularly beats him up (and once even broke his leg). As Andreas (now Stefan Gorski) grows into a strong young man, he finally rebels against his tormentor. He leaves the farm and helps build the first cable car in the area. This is followed by the Second World War and an engagement that ends in catastrophe, before Andreas looks back on his life as an old man (now August Zirner) and decides to take the bus to the last stop. Perhaps there is something to discover beyond his valley…
Particularly spectacular was the construction of the cable car, which also claimed many lives among the construction workers. You can see how director Hans Steinbichler and his team achieved all this in the insightful making-of:
Lead actor Stefan Gorski in the FILMSTARTS podcast!
Every film we select for ‘German cinema’ is [doch] great!”, you will also receive your own podcast episode from us (you can listen to Canvas Love where there are podcasts, or right here after this paragraph). We have Stefan Gorski as a guest for the film love episode of “A Whole Life”: In the interview with FILMSTARTS author Markus Tschiedert, the conversation covers, among other things, the similarities with the other Andreas Egger actors and the blockbusters by Leonardo DiCaprio:
For us, “A Whole Life” is a real highlight – visually stunning and moving! This is the conclusion of our 4-star review: “This new adaptation offers great cinema – powerful, crazy and truthful. Just everything that a lifetime can produce. With the end of the Heimatfilm hype, the mountains have largely disappeared from the screens – but in view of films like ‘A Whole Life’ we should dare to see more mountains in German cinema again.”