Die Abfahrer
- Ludger Schnieder: Lutz
- Anastasios Avgeris: Sulli
- Beate Brockstedt: Svea
- Tana Schanzara: Mother v. Lutz
The downhill is a German film from 1978, created under the direction of Adolf Winkelmann.
For financed by WDR production with a budget of 200,000 D- Mark was available.
Action
Atze, Lutz and the Greek Sulli are three young unemployed who sell in Dortmund in the late 1970s in the backyard of a working class district of the time. The circumstances are shaped by the progressive withdrawal of heavy industry in the Ruhr area, so the prospects of the three protagonists to find work, are significantly limited.
When one evening a dispute between Atze and Lutz looming, whether one should view the currently running football match at the nearby restaurant or not, suggests Atze before, instead the temporarily parked in the driveway to the back yard truck a moving company for a spin to companies.
Atze who has purchased the appropriate license in the army, gained access to the cab and finds a spare key. The three familiarize yourself with the vehicle on the road, but without first knowing that the parking brake is defective and therefore occasionally triggers.
The original plan to drive only a short round, give to the men when they meet at a gas station the young Svea who has just fallen out with her boyfriend. Without further ado, the quartet travels in Svea's hometown Münster to drop them off there. Once there, they decided, however, continue on with the other. Together you drive spontaneously after victories, which is thought to be a scheduled destination point of the removal van due to that found in the vehicle transport documents.
Meanwhile, a warning to the driver of the stolen truck is directed on the radio already that its defective brake and continued driving is dangerous. When a call comes in Dortmund Atze learns that the smelter, are employed in large parts of the population of his native district, will close. Then you decide to return.
Reviews
Hellmuth Karasek ruled in the mirror, that " romance is not a question of exotic geography, but something that happens in the mind of the fugitives and transfers it to the spectators ."
The time wrote: "one develops from the other, the film is so casual and witty as his characters and their sayings ." The filmdienst was: " With humor, spontaneity and authenticity describes the first film in simple and clear pictures of the situation and the lifestyle of the young unemployed; designed with a lot of realism in detail contribution to the characterization of the people in the Ruhr, their aspirations and problems. "
Awards
Adolf Winkelmann was awarded in 1979 for this film, the film tape in silver of the German Film Award in the then evaluated category " Other full-length feature films ." 1980, the film was awarded the Television Award of the DAG.