Men in the City
Encyclopedia
Men in the City is a 2009 German comedy film
directed by Simon Verhoeven
with Christian Ulmen
, Nadja Uhl
and Wotan Wilke Möhring
. The film was followed by Männerherzen... und die ganz ganz große Liebe in 2011.
, fails with Internet dating
, music producer
Jerome Ades, portrayed by Til Schweiger
, passes from a sentimental break-up story to another. Roland Feldberg, a train driver
portrayed by Wotan Wilke Möhring
, snubs his wife Susanne Feldberg portrayed by Nadja Uhl
. The girlfriend of Philip Henrion, portrayed by Maxim Mehmet
, becomes pregnant at a young age. Niklas Michalke, a solicitor
portrayed by Florian David Fitz, is terrified by his impending marriage, while Bruce Berger, a singer portrayed by Justus von Dohnányi
, tries to pursue his singing career.
, Germany
.
Writing and production credits
, Germany
, and Switzerland
on 8 October 2009. The film was screened on 23 October 2010 at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival
in San Francisco, United States
.
and the soundtrack album
for Men in the City was produced by Simon Verhoeven and was released on 9 October 2009 through Universal Music. Verhoeven wrote and recorded the album together with the lead singer of the band Marshmellow Club, Rufus Martin. Simon Verhoeven and Wolfgang Hammerschmid were responsible for the film score
's composition and orchestration that involved about twenty musicians.
The main theme song, "Wonderful
", was written by British
pop rock
singer and songwriter Gary Go
in Jannuary 2009 and released on 16 February 2009, as the first and debut single from his self-titled debut studio album
. The single reached the Top 40 of the British, German and Austrian music charts. Its music video
was filmed on a Berlin
rooftop and includes scenes from the film. Go also contributed to the song "Berlin" with a reinterpretation of his song "Brooklyn", fetured on his debut album. BRIT Award
-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist James Morrison
wrote and composed the song "Watch and Wait".
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Simon Verhoeven
Simon Verhoeven
Simon Verhoeven is a German actor, screenwriter and film director. He is the son of the actor Senta Berger and the director Michael Verhoeven. His filmography as an actor includes Bride of the Wind and The Sinking of the Laconia .-Sources:*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0894207/...
with Christian Ulmen
Christian Ulmen
Christian Ulmen is a German entertainer and actor.-Career:Ulmen started his television career in 1996 as a video jockey on MTV Europe...
, Nadja Uhl
Nadja Uhl
Nadja Uhl is a German actress.She studied at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre in Leipzig between 1990 and 1994, beginning her career as a theatre actress at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam in 1994...
and Wotan Wilke Möhring
Wotan Wilke Möhring
-Life and work:He grew up in Herne. His father was an Army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. One of them, Sönke Möhring is also an actor....
. The film was followed by Männerherzen... und die ganz ganz große Liebe in 2011.
Plot
Five men attend the same gym in Berlin. None of them seem to have anything in common, but all five have not enough confidence to meet or develop relationships with the opposite sex, and what it really means to be a man or what women expect of them. Günther Stobanski, portrayed by Christian UlmenChristian Ulmen
Christian Ulmen is a German entertainer and actor.-Career:Ulmen started his television career in 1996 as a video jockey on MTV Europe...
, fails with Internet dating
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
, music producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Jerome Ades, portrayed by Til Schweiger
Til Schweiger
Tilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger is a German actor, director, and producer.He is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers. Since 1968, when the FFA started counting, no other German actor has drawn more people to the cinemas. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.-Early...
, passes from a sentimental break-up story to another. Roland Feldberg, a train driver
Railroad engineer
A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...
portrayed by Wotan Wilke Möhring
Wotan Wilke Möhring
-Life and work:He grew up in Herne. His father was an Army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. One of them, Sönke Möhring is also an actor....
, snubs his wife Susanne Feldberg portrayed by Nadja Uhl
Nadja Uhl
Nadja Uhl is a German actress.She studied at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre in Leipzig between 1990 and 1994, beginning her career as a theatre actress at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam in 1994...
. The girlfriend of Philip Henrion, portrayed by Maxim Mehmet
Maxim Mehmet
Maxim Mehmet is a German film actor. He inherited his Turkish surname from his Crimean Tatar grandfather. He lives in Berlin- Selected filmography :* NVA * A Hero's Welcome * The Red Baron...
, becomes pregnant at a young age. Niklas Michalke, a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
portrayed by Florian David Fitz, is terrified by his impending marriage, while Bruce Berger, a singer portrayed by Justus von Dohnányi
Justus von Dohnányi
Justus von Dohnányi is a German actor. His father is the German conductor, Christoph von Dohnányi and his grandfather was the German jurist and member of the German resistance, Hans von Dohnanyi.-Biographical details:...
, tries to pursue his singing career.
Cast
- Christian UlmenChristian UlmenChristian Ulmen is a German entertainer and actor.-Career:Ulmen started his television career in 1996 as a video jockey on MTV Europe...
as Günther Stobanski - Wotan Wilke MöhringWotan Wilke Möhring-Life and work:He grew up in Herne. His father was an Army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. One of them, Sönke Möhring is also an actor....
as Roland Feldberg, a railroad engineer - Nadja UhlNadja UhlNadja Uhl is a German actress.She studied at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre in Leipzig between 1990 and 1994, beginning her career as a theatre actress at the Hans Otto Theater in Potsdam in 1994...
as Susanne Feldberg, Roland's wife - Til SchweigerTil SchweigerTilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger is a German actor, director, and producer.He is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers. Since 1968, when the FFA started counting, no other German actor has drawn more people to the cinemas. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.-Early...
as Jerome Ades, a music producer - Maxim MehmetMaxim MehmetMaxim Mehmet is a German film actor. He inherited his Turkish surname from his Crimean Tatar grandfather. He lives in Berlin- Selected filmography :* NVA * A Hero's Welcome * The Red Baron...
as Philip Henrion - Florian David Fitz as Niklas Michalke, a solicitor
- Jana PallaskeJana PallaskeJana Pallaske is a German actress and singer in the rock band Spitting Off Tall Buildings.-Filmography:* Alaska.de , Sabine* Jeans , Nina* Engel & Joe , Joe* Baader , Karin...
as Nina Hellmich - Justus von DohnányiJustus von DohnányiJustus von Dohnányi is a German actor. His father is the German conductor, Christoph von Dohnányi and his grandfather was the German jurist and member of the German resistance, Hans von Dohnanyi.-Biographical details:...
as Bruce Berger, a singer - Inez Bjørg DavidInez Bjørg DavidInez Björg David is a Danish and German actress.- Life :She went to a theatre school in Copenhagen and took private acting classes. Fluent in German, she featured in featured in the filmlets "The Date", "Dasein" and "Wilde Jungs"...
as Maria Hellström - Liane Forestieri as Laura Sandner
- Fritz KarlFritz KarlFritz Karl is an Austrian film, television and stage actor born in Gmunden, Upper Austria. He is one of the most busy Austrian actors.-Private Life:...
as Martin - Fahri Ögün Yardim as Loco
- Palina Rojinski as Sabrina Silver
- Birge Schade as Pflegerin Beate
- Carl Heinz Choynski as Vater Feldberg
- Bastian PastewkaBastian PastewkaBastian Pastewka is a German actor and comedian.He first became known to a wider audience in Germany around 1996 as a regular cast member of the comedy show Die Wochenshow , essentially a mock news program...
as Father
Themes
The main theme of the film is the search for love and happiness, and the fear of being alone, but love is a battlefield and it's worth fighting for the woman you love.Production
Men in the city was financed by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Gmbh Film and German Federal Film Board Film Financier, and filmed in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Writing and production credits
- Simon VerhoevenSimon VerhoevenSimon Verhoeven is a German actor, screenwriter and film director. He is the son of the actor Senta Berger and the director Michael Verhoeven. His filmography as an actor includes Bride of the Wind and The Sinking of the Laconia .-Sources:*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0894207/...
– film directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriterScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:... - Jo Heim – director of photographyCinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
- Quirin Berg – film producerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
- Max Wiedemann – film producer
- Stefan Essl – editorFilm editingFilm editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
- Silke Faber – costume designerCostume DesignerA costume designer or costume mistress/master is a person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film or stage production. He or she is considered an important part of the "production team", working alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers as well as the sound designer. The...
- Thomas Stammer – production designerProduction designerIn film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
- Anja Dihrberg – castingCastingIn metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
- Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion Gmbh & Co. Kg – production companyProduction companyA production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
- Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Pictures Germany – film studioMovie studioA movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
Release
Men in the city was first released in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on 8 October 2009. The film was screened on 23 October 2010 at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival
Berlin & Beyond Film Festival
Berlin & Beyond is an annual film festival based in San Francisco, California featuring new cinema from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.Founded in 1996, the festival is a program of San Francisco's branch of the Goethe-Institut and has become one of the largest and most significant...
in San Francisco, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Film distributors
- Ster-KinekorSter-KinekorSter Kinekor is a South Africa-based cinema company. Its head office is in the Ster-Kinekor Office Park in Sandton, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.-History:...
– theatrical distributor - Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Pictures International – foreign theatrical distributor - Independent Distributors – foreign theatrical distributor
- Beta Film – theatrical distribution sales
Music and soundtrack
The film scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
and the soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
for Men in the City was produced by Simon Verhoeven and was released on 9 October 2009 through Universal Music. Verhoeven wrote and recorded the album together with the lead singer of the band Marshmellow Club, Rufus Martin. Simon Verhoeven and Wolfgang Hammerschmid were responsible for the film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
's composition and orchestration that involved about twenty musicians.
The main theme song, "Wonderful
Wonderful (Gary Go song)
"Wonderful" is a song by British singer Gary Go, released on February 16, 2009, as the first and debut single from his debut album Gary Go. It peaked at #25 on the UK singles chart. The song was conceived as the title song for the German film Men in the City for which also a music video was...
", was written by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
singer and songwriter Gary Go
Gary Go
Gary Baker, also known by his stage name Gary Go is a British pop-rock singer, songwriter and producer. His debut single "Wonderful" was a Top 30 track in the UK, the debut album Gary Go was released May 2009 and reached number 22 in the UK Albums Chart...
in Jannuary 2009 and released on 16 February 2009, as the first and debut single from his self-titled debut studio album
Gary Go (album)
Gary Go is the self-titled debut studio album made by British singer Gary Go. It was released in May 26, 2009 on Decca Records, The Canvas Room and Polydor Records.-Track listing:# "Open Arms" - 5:00# "So So" - 4:20# "Engines" - 3:55...
. The single reached the Top 40 of the British, German and Austrian music charts. Its music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was filmed on a Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
rooftop and includes scenes from the film. Go also contributed to the song "Berlin" with a reinterpretation of his song "Brooklyn", fetured on his debut album. BRIT Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist James Morrison
James Morrison (singer)
James Morrison is a BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Rugby, Warwickshire. In 2006, his debut single "You Give Me Something" became a hit in Europe, Australia, and Japan, peaking in the top five in the UK and New Zealand. His debut album, Undiscovered, debuted at the...
wrote and composed the song "Watch and Wait".
Track listing
Charts
| Männerherzen (soundtrack) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
| 2009 | Austrian Album Chart | 71 |
| "Wonderful Wonderful (Gary Go song) "Wonderful" is a song by British singer Gary Go, released on February 16, 2009, as the first and debut single from his debut album Gary Go. It peaked at #25 on the UK singles chart. The song was conceived as the title song for the German film Men in the City for which also a music video was... " |
||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Chart | Peak Position |
| 2009 | Austrian Singles Chart | 39 |
| 2009 | Italian Singles Chart | 6 |
| 2009 | German Media Control Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... Singles Chart |
40 |
| 2009 | Swiss Singles Chart | 70 |
| 2009 | UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
25 |