Schwere Jungs (The Heavies)
Germany 2006

Opening 8 Feb 2007

Directed by: Marcus H. Rosenmüller
Writing credits: Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Philipp Roth
Principal actors: Sebastian Bezzel, Michael Grimm, Antoine Monot Jr., Simon Schwarz, Nicholas Ofczarek

Winter 1936 in the snowy village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, eight teenage boys are anxiously awaiting the start-off for the Youth Championship Competition. Dorfler, a bragging little brat and the leader of the favourite team, gets all the attention. Sure enough: he wins the race! Poor little Gamser is known as an excellent bob-driver but his cheaply built bobsleigh arrives in bits and pieces at the finishing line, getting spiteful remarks from his opponent.

After the war, in 1952, Dorfler (Nicolas Ofczarek) has become a successful businessman, has a beautiful wife (Rike Schmid), has just won his World Champion title of the four-man-bob race and is preparing for the Olympic Winter Games in Oslo. Only one young man, Gamser (Sebastian Bezzel), begrudges him his success – in fact he blames all his own misery and bad fortune on this rich man. His wife Rosi (Liane Forestier), who is pregnant with their first child and tired of this lamenting tells him in no uncertain terms to take responsibility for his own future, to stop the animosity towards Dorfler and use his own abilities and skills. This wakes his fighting spirit and he mobilises his old childhood friends to again challenge Dorfler. By now, all four have grown into rather large young men enjoying drinking beer rather than doing push-ups in the snow. Some hilariously funny scenes had me chuckling in my seat watching Gamser using his imaginative lies and tricks to convince his partners. After a few disasters their determination pays and they qualify for Oslo.

Now the real trouble starts not without more comical situations and misunderstandings, like von Hase (Bastian Pastewka), the rather stiff but eager assistant organiser, surprising the team hugging and rolling on their beds in their 1952 “fashionable” underwear or when Toni (Daniel Zillmann) and Franzl (Michael A. Grimm) are chasing each other naked in all their 200-pound glory. And where has all the team spirit gone? Leusl Peter (Peter Schwarz) is shamelessly flirting with ice princess Mücke (Denise Zich) until his jealous wife Gerdi (Lisa Maria Potthoff) arrives in Oslo and puts an end to it. Gustl (Antoine Monot Jr.) is happily selling illegal sex magazines to other contestants. Depressed Gamser eventually concludes that they need more weight to increase the speed of their bobsled. Joining of the two fighting teams would give them a realistic chance to win. They have to bury their hatchet, assemble the heaviest four men and enter only ONE German team. The big guys have to put aside some big egos for the good of their common goal: Win Gold for Germany!

The film is a light-hearted comedy by director Marcus H. Rosenmüller (Wer früher stirbt ist länger tot). This vibrant winter movie is based on true events letting us feel the atmosphere of the 1950s with no advertising boards stuck all over the beautiful landscape, no sleek sportswear or security guards checking the crowds. (Birgit Schrumpf)