Free Fall (2013 film)

Freier Fall

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Stephan Lacant
Produced by
  • Daniel Reich
  • Christoph Holthof
Written by
  • Karsten Dahlem
  • Stephan Lacant
Starring
Music by Dürbeck & Dohmen
Cinematography Sten Mende
Edited by Monika Schindler
Production
company
Distributed by Edition Salzgeber
Release dates
  • 8 February 2013 (2013-02-08) (Berlin)
  • 23 May 2013 (2013-05-23) (Germany)
  • [1] ([1])
Running time
 100 minutes
Country Germany[2]
Language German
Box office $599,721[3]

Free Fall (German: Freier Fall) is a 2013 German drama film directed by Stephan Lacant who also wrote the script with Karsten Dahlem, and starring Hanno Koffler, Max Riemelt, and Katharina Schüttler. The film tells the story of police officer, Marc Borgmann (Koffler), who lives with his pregnant girlfriend, Bettina Bischoff (Schüttler). Whilst on a training course, Borgmann meets fellow police officer, Kay Engel (Riemelt), and a romance develops between the two men. Borgmann is torn between his love for Bettina and his new found feelings for another man. When Engel disappears for a while, Borgmann realises his life is rapidly going into "free fall", as he cannot meet the high expectations of the people he knows.[4]

Filming began in Ludwigsburg, Germany, in the summer of 2012. Freier Fall has been compared to Brokeback Mountain and received good reviews following its première at the Berlin Film Festival on 8 February 2013,[2] and at the Frameline Film Festival in the United States on 21 June 2013.[1] The original motion picture soundtrack written by music duo Dürbeck & Dohmen was released digitally online by MovieScore Media to coincide with the film's opening release on 23 May 2013.[5] It made a box office gross of $599,721.[3]

Plot

Marc Borgmann (Koffler), a young police officer, is on a training course for the riot control unit. He is struggling at the police academy, being somewhat behind his peers in his physical training. Cocky and self-assured, Marc does not initially get along with his roommate at the academy, Kay Engel (Riemelt). They have a physical confrontation during a training exercise, but afterwards Marc apologizes for his aggressive behavior and they become friends. The two begin jogging together regularly, and during one jog, Kay kisses Marc as they share a cigarette, though he tells him that it was merely a joke. A surprised Marc is reluctant to jog again, but on Kay's insistence he goes on a run alone; Kay catches up to him. Despite Marc's initial rebuffs, Kay kisses him and gives him a handjob. Though Marc initially accepts the advances, he is overcome with confusion and runs away. Though he tries to avoid Kay, the latter is transferred into his police unit to fill a vacancy and Marc finds it difficult to ignore him. Eventually Kay shows up with a colleague to a bowling alley where Marc and his family are having a game, and is introduced to Bettina, Marc's pregnant longtime girlfriend; Bettina has just moved with Marc to a house near Marc's parents in order to start their family.

Though Marc attempts to stay committed to Bettina and forget about Kay, he is unable to ignore his feelings and goes back to the jogging trail, where Kay is waiting for him. The two have sex in the rain, and as they wait for their clothes to dry, Kay tells Marc that he enjoyed it. The encounter makes Marc late for a maternity exercise with Bettina, who grows suspicious of Marc's activities. Meanwhile, Marc continues to have intimate encounters with Kay, spending nights with him under the guise of having night shifts, and Kay gives him a key to his apartment. Meanwhile, Marc finds himself less able to sexually perform with Bettina, which he explains is only due to her pregnancy. Marc and Kay later go to a gay bar, where Marc takes ecstasy. The next morning, Bettina rebuffs his advances and asks him if he's seeing another woman, to which Marc responds that he's not. Bettina goes through Marc's phone while Marc is shaving and finds nothing suspicious other than that recent calls from Kay.

Bettina gives birth to a son, and Marc tries to cut Kay out his life. Kay follows his car and stops him in the road, demanding to know why Marc hasn't called in days. Marc tells him that he can't abandon his girlfriend and child, and that it has to be over between them. Kay tells him to accept that he is gay, to which Marc punches him and tells him that their relationship was a one-time thing for him, and that he wants to be left alone. Later, Marc tells Bettina that he feels like he's suffocating.

Marc finds his unit being lectured on acceptance, and that discrimination will not be tolerated; he finds out that Kay was found at a gay bar that the unit raided. He shows up at Kay's apartment, to the latter's surprise; after telling him that the raid had been planned for weeks, Marc tells him that he didn't ask for Kay to come in and screw up his life, and accuses him of going to the bar to find other men to sleep with. Kay calls Marc selfish, only thinking of himself and never of his lover. Kay tells Marc that he loves him, and that he isn't sleeping with anyone else. Marc tries to leave but breaks down in Kay's arms.

Kay attacks fellow officer Limpinski following a homophobic incident and Marc is hit in the face after trying to separate the two. Kay visits Marc in the hospital, and though Marc tells him to leave before his mother arrives, the two end up sharing a passionate kiss that Marc's mother ends up witnessing. After catching up to her, Marc's mother tells him that she and his father didn't raise him to be like that, which insults Marc and he goes home alone. Later, Kay arrives to a get-together after Bettina invites him and is confronted by Marc's parents, who tell him to stay away from Marc due to Marc's new family. Kay tells them that he loves their son, which shocks Marc's mother. Marc, overhearing, tells him that it would be better for him to leave.

Marc visits Kay at his apartment to find Kay's face bruised following an altercation with Limpinski. Marc advises him to transfer to another unit to protect himself, and Kay asks about the future of their relationship. Marc returns the key to his apartment and departs, breaking up with him for good. He returns to his own home to find Bettina packing to leave for a few days with their son; she has learned that he has been lying about working night shifts and wants him gone by the time she has returned, questioning what he has been doing with Kay. Marc still does not admit to his relationship with Kay, though Bettina tells him that she might not even want to hear the truth. Marc tries to see her at Frank's house, and admits to his affair with Kay. Bettina asks if he's gay, and when he tells her that he isn't, she asks what he is.

Eventually she returns to the house with their son, but there is a clear distance between them. Marc tries to visit Kay at his apartment to find it empty; Kay has moved, and has also departed from the unit without a word. When Limpinski tries to goad Marc about his relationship with Kay, Marc kisses him and taunts him, leading Limpinski to assault him. Frank witnesses this and implies that Limpinski will be let go for this. Marc, unhappy, visits the gay bar alone, and though he seeks a sexual encounter with another man, he ends up rebuffing him. Back at the house, Marc and Bettina admit to each other that they can't see their relationship going on as before. The film ends with Marc back at the academy, on a jog with his peers as in the first scene of the film; he outpaces them and runs ahead, alone.

Cast

Soundtrack

Free Fall: Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Dürbeck & Dohmen
Released 21 May 2013 (digital only)
Length 35:00
Label MovieScore Media / AWAL
Dürbeck & Dohmen chronology
Anduni - Fremde Heimat Free Fall The Last Mentsch
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
eMusic
Google Play
iTunes Germany

Free Fall: Original Soundtrack was composed by Dürbeck & Dohmen, and released via digital download by MovieScore Media and AWAL on 21 May 2013.[6]

No. Title Length
1. "Wrong Turn"   2:32
2. "Smoking Weed"   2:16
3. "Under the Shower"   1:34
4. "Marc Kissed Kay"   1:27
5. "Nightswimming"   3:19
6. "Run Away"   1:28
7. "Keep Breathing Evenly, Pussy!"   1:39
8. "In the Elevator"   2:13
9. "The Woods: Love"   2:47
10. "The Woods: Running"   2:29
11. "At the Doorstep"   2:47
12. "Police Operation Aftermath"   2:50
13. "Abandoned Apartment"   2:23
14. "Under the Shower II"   2:51
15. "Heading Home"   1:29
16. "Back on the Track (Theme of "Free Fall")"   1:44

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Free Fall (2013 film) release info". IMDB. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Freier Fall". Berlin. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Freier Fall: Box Office Gross". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Free Fall (Freier Fall)". german-films.de. German Films. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  5. ↑ West, Kelly (2011-11-04). "Gays in Movies". Cinema Blend. cinemablend.com. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Free Fall (Dürbeck & Dohmen)". moviescoremedia.com. MovieScore Media. Retrieved 2 November 2014.

External links

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