"Absolute Giganten" is one of the best examples of "Neuer Deutscher Film". It's wild, has a mostly young cast and feels like permanently in motion. In the film's center are three young men, one of whom is going to leave for Africa in the morning (as we find out 20 minutes into the film). So the trio spends a final night together and meets all kinds of strangely fascinating characters on their journey. The film is written and directed by Sebastian Schipper, his first of so far 4 works. Over 15 years ago, when this was made, Schipper was roughly 30 years old. He is also a pretty prolific actor and, aside from being a current "Tatort" detective, his 2 most known films with regard to performing are "Lola rennt" and Best Picture Academy Award winner "The English Patient". Actually younger than him in this film here were all 3 lead actors and Julia Hummer, who was only 18 when "Absolute Giganten" was made, her first project. This film and a couple more afterward propelled her into the list of most promising young actresses from Germany. Unfortunately, she has not worked too much in the last 10 years or in not too known projects, so not too many remember her.
Another notable thing about the film is its runtime. You hardly find any film today which runs for only 70 minutes (not counting the credits). Also the title does not bear much connection to the story and sounds a bit random. Florian Lukas is the one from the trio who got most awards recognition for its performance, maybe because he was the loudest and most in-your-face from the three. Monot's (still beardless) and Giering's (tragically dead from alcohol poisoning now) characters seem slightly similar actually. Lukas' most known work so far is Good Bye Lenin!. He won a German Film Award for that. Monot's is "Das Experiment" and Giering's is probably "Funny Games" two years before "Absolute Giganten". Funnily enough, all three of them were only supporting characters to more famous German actors in these films (Brühl, Bleibtreu, Mühe).
The German Film Awards honored this movie as the 2nd best of the year behind Oskar Roehler's "Die Unberührbare" featuring Hannelore Elsner in the lead role. A deserved honor. I enjoyed watching this film and its strength is certainly its writing, not necessarily all the dialogs, but the action here feels very fresh and authentic. There are really not many moments that felt predictable. One would be the goalie goal during the table football game. But that is just a very minor criticism. Recommended.
1 out of 6 found this helpful