Grill Point

I want to thank the American reviewer who explained some of the movie-making details of this film, because I was truly bewildered by the quality and the realism of acting. The first time I saw it (maybe a couple of years ago) I rated HALBE TREPPE only a 7. Now, after second viewing, it has become a 10. Out of 1000+ films, I rated only 17 movies this high.

But it was an easy "full tenner". The story is just so engaging and there are no dull moments at all. That's quite an accomplishment for a movie with this subject matter, I think. Also, the cinematography was very competent. It captured everything that had to be captured, every meaningful move and look. When you watch closely, you'll even notice some beautiful outdoor shots.

I like the movie more than several Dogme films I've seen, which are made quite similarly, but in my opinion are less vibrant, funny and involving. HALBE TREPPE makes you think about relationships, commitment, morals and personal conviction. Try to see this one.

The Scandinavian Dogme rules have found their way abroad. That's what I first thought after seeing this movie. No use of artificial sets, everything filmed with a hand-held camera,... even the story reminded me of those movies. Is that a good or a bad thing I hear you think. Well, personally I like that kind of movies, but if you are only used to watch the mayor American blockbusters, then you better leave this movie alone, because this certainly isn't what you will be looking for.

The story of the movie is quite simple. Two married couples, who both have been married for quite some time, see each other regularly. One couple is made up by Chris, a radio DJ and Katrin, who works at a truck stop. The other couple is formed by Uwe, who owns a small snack / grill bar and Ellen, who works in sales at a perfume shop. Ellen isn't very happy in her marriage with Uwe and when she starts an affair with Chris, all seems to get better for her. But then they get caught by Katrin who walks in on them while they are bathing together and everything explodes. Each of them has a completely different way of dealing with it and while some weird things happen around them, the events force them to think about their marriages, their friendship, the relationships with each other and so many more things...

As I already said, this entire movie feels a lot like it has been influenced by the Scandinavian Dogme rules. I know that there aren't too many people who like that, but personally I do. Most of the time it offers honest cinema without too much extra's and that's exactly what you'll get from this movie as well. The relationships between the four leads are real and believable, as are the people themselves (they don't look like smart Barbie dolls, but are normal human beings). Add to this a story which forms the most important part of the movie, that isn't spoiled by some kind of spectacular stunt work, but offers some fine comic relieves so now and then (especially with the band that stands before Uwe's snack bar and grows larger every day even though he tells them to leave) and you know that you have a nice movie.

Overall this is definitely a movie that deserves to be seen by a larger audience. A good story and some fine acting, with this one they prove that a good film doesn't need more. That's why I give it a 7.5/10.

The story of the film is uncomplicated, but very realistic. This is also helped a lot by the actors who improvised the whole dialogues (which gives them the nice charme of the "Didi & Stulle" comics, including the dialect). In the beginning this is very funny, but you stop laughing when you notice that what you are watching is like real life.

I was not sure what sort of film I was going to watch, when I was entering the movie theater, but I liked Halbe Treppe, although it was VERY influenced by Scandinavian Dogma-releases and therefore very hyped in recent German press releases. The story itself is not that much complex: two couples, of the one the man and of the other the woman become unfaithful... But the gags in-between are terrific. There is this running gag on the 17 hippies playing music in front of the snack box, or the other one concerning Britney Spears, whose music is always running in the background, when scenes were shot at the local radio station. Many devices of the Dogma manifesto were used in this film: no artificial setting, laymen-acting, hand camera a.s.o., but the splendour of a "Idioterne" (Lars von Trier, 1998) or "Festen" (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998) is not achieved. Nevertheless, I liked the movie and was surprised, since most recent German releases bored me a lot. 8* (out of 10*)

I excuse in advance for my bad English! It's late and I'm German! :-) When I read the critic that has already been done I get the impression that he hasn't understood the film. This is so much symbolic! The orchestra that is growing more and more during the film is not only because of fun, it means something! Find out yourself what it could mean for you! It's not a comedy film. Not everything that you can laugh about means it is funny. Sometimes people laugh about things which are actually very sad, and a part of THEM too, but they CAN'T see it!! It's a drama, everything about this film is drama, like normal life. The normal life is often so depressing and sad... Well, we try to make the best of it, we laugh... And more and more we loose the gift to see clear. It's our life that is represented in this film. WE ARE that ridiculous. Have you realized the bird that escaped from his cage? In the end it comes back... What could it mean?