Learning to Lie

Last updated
Learning to Lie
German Liegen lernen
Directed by Hendrik Handloegten
Written byHendrik Handloegten
Frank Goosen
Produced by Maria Köpf
Starring Fabian Busch
Susanne Bormann
Fritzi Haberlandt
Birgit Minichmayr
Florian Lukas
Distributed byX-Verleih (through Warner Bros. Pictures [1] )
Release date
  • 2003 (2003)
Running time
87 min.
LanguageGerman

Learning to Lie (German : Liegen lernen) is a German film released in 2003. It is based on the novel of Frank Goosen from the year 2000.

Contents

Plot

Beginning in West Germany in 1982, 18-year-old school boy Helmut falls in love with fellow pupil Britta. He starts working for a Peace movement to get to know Britta. Britta, however, suddenly moves to San Francisco to live with her father and whilst there, finds a new boyfriend. Helmut studies literature and politics in his home town and has a relationship with another girl from his former school, now studying medicine on the same university but they break up after having an affair with her roommate. Helmut begins a lot of short affairs with different women but still searches for his first girl.

Years later, in 1989, the Berlin Wall falls and the Cold War ends. Helmut is lying in his girlfriend's bed when his old school friend Mücke calls him, who saw Britta in Berlin. Helmut hurries to Berlin and finds Britta, but she has changed and has become arrogant. Mücke tells him afterwards that he had an affair with Britta and that Britta has had a lot of affairs. Worried by this, Helmut begins a lot of new affairs and his parents get divorced at that time. In 1998, Helmut settles down with a girl who wants a baby with him, but Helmut travels one more time to Berlin to meet Britta for one last time.

The novel

The film is based on the novel Liegen lernen by Frank Goosen from the year 2000. While the novel takes place in Bochum, the film was set in Düsseldorf. The novel has a lot of biographical moments from Goosen, but the story is typical for a West German youth in the 1980s. The novel became very popular through the great '80s revival in western Germany around the year 2000.

Cast

Crew

Related Research Articles

<i>Schtonk!</i> 1992 German film

Schtonk! is a 1992 German satirical film which retells the story of the 1983 Hitler Diaries hoax. It was written and directed by Helmut Dietl.

<i>Vernon God Little</i> Novel by DBC Pierre

Vernon God Little (2003) is a novel by DBC Pierre. It was his debut novel and won the Man Booker Prize in 2003. It has twice been adapted as a stage play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwe Johnson</span> German writer, editor and scholar

Uwe Johnson was a German writer, editor, and scholar. Such prominent writers and scholars as Günter Grass and Hans Mayer declared Johnson to be the most significant writer to emerge from East Germany. During the 1950s, he had troubles with the East German authorities, being treated as a "dissident" both for political reasons and for Modernist experiments in his works which made him opposed to the dominant doctrine of Socialist realism; after moving to West Berlin in 1959, he gained the label of "the author of the two Germanies", as, while criticizing the East Germany as the state which betrayed the Socialist ideals, he didn't regard the West Germany as a viable alternative and opposed the division of Germany in general. His works were dedicated both to East and West German societies and examined the relations between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horst Tappert</span> German actor

Horst Tappert was a German film and television actor best known for the role of Inspector Stephan Derrick in the television drama Derrick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibiana Beglau</span> German actress

Bibiana Beglau is a German actress.

<i>Mephisto</i> (novel) 1936 novel by Klaus Mann

Mephisto – Novel of a Career is the sixth novel by anti-Nazi German-born writer and political refugee Klaus Mann and which was published in 1936 by an Exilliteratur publishing firm based in Amsterdam. It was published for the first time in Germany in the East Berlin Aufbau-Verlag in 1956. The novel, a thinly disguised portrait of German actor Gustaf Gründgens, adapts the Faustian theme by having the main character, Hendrik Höfgen, abandon his conscience and continue to act and ingratiate himself with the Nazi Party to keep and improve his job and social position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Goosen</span> German cabaret artist and author (born 1966)

Frank Goosen is a German cabaret artist and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Tukur</span> German actor and musician (born 1957)

Ulrich Tukur is a German actor and musician. He is known for his roles in Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, Steven Soderbergh's Solaris, the docudrama North Face based on the 1936 Eiger climbing disaster in Switzerland, and as Wilhelm Uhde in Martin Provost's biopic Séraphine.

<i>The Golem: How He Came into the World</i> 1920 film

The Golem: How He Came into the World is a 1920 German silent horror film and a leading example of early German Expressionism. Director Paul Wegener, who co-directed the film with Carl Boese and co-wrote the script with Henrik Galeen based on Gustav Meyrink's 1915 novel, stars as the titular creature, a being in Jewish folklore created from clay. Photographer Karl Freund went on to work on the 1930s classic Universal horror films years later in Hollywood.

<i>Die Feuerzangenbowle</i> 1933 novel by Heinrich Spoerl

Die Feuerzangenbowle is a German novel, later adapted into several films, which tells the story of a famous writer going undercover as a pupil at a small town gymnasium after his friends tell him that he missed out on the best part of growing up by being educated at home. The story in the book takes place during the Weimar Republic in Germany. The novel by Heinrich Spoerl was published in 1933 and was adapted to film three times. The 1944 movie of the same name directed by Helmut Weiss is the most notable adaptation of the material.

<i>Die Feuerzangenbowle</i> (1944 film) 1944 film

Die Feuerzangenbowle is a 1944 German film, directed by Helmut Weiss and based on the book of the same name. It follows the book closely, as its author, Heinrich Spoerl, also wrote the script for the film. Both tell the story of a famous writer going undercover as a student at a small-town secondary school after his friends tell him that he missed out on the best part of growing up by being educated at home. The story in the book takes place during the time of the Wilhelmine Empire in Germany. The film was produced and released in Germany during the last years of World War II and has been called a "masterpiece of timeless, cheerful escapism." The film stars Heinz Rühmann in the role of the student Hans Pfeiffer, which is remarkable as Rühmann was already 42 years old at that time. The title comes from the German alcoholic tradition of Feuerzangenbowle. Rühmann had also starred in So ein Flegel, a 1934 version of the same novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Noethen</span> German actor (born 1959)

Ulrich Noethen is a German actor who has appeared in many movies and TV films.

<i>Jew Suss: Rise and Fall</i> 2010 film

Jew Suss: Rise and Fall is a 2010 German historical drama film directed by Oskar Roehler, dramatising the creative process behind the antisemitic Nazi propaganda film Jud Süß (1940). It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwe Kockisch</span>

Uwe Kockisch in Cottbus, Germany) is a German stage, screen and television actor.

<i>Love from Paris</i> 1957 film

Love from Paris is a 1957 West German romantic comedy-drama film directed by Helmut Käutner and starring Romy Schneider and Horst Buchholz. It was based on the novel of the same title by Gábor von Vaszary. Vaszary also worked on the screenplay. The film premiered on 12 September 1957 in Lichtburg in Essen. The cinematographer was Heinz Pehlke, who used different techniques to convey the mood of the film, including using a concealed camera to capture the sights and sounds of Paris. The original copy of the film is archived at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Blochberger</span> German actor

Ludwig Blochberger is a German actor. He is best known for his appearance in the coming of age movie Summer Storm dealing with issues around sexual orientation. He also appeared on German TV drama programmes including The Old Fox, Tatort and Brittany Mystery. Furthermore he portrayed the Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, in the TV documentary drama Helmut Schmidt - Lebensfragen.

Events in the year 1981 in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anetta Kahane</span> German journalist and activist

Anetta Kahane is a German left-wing journalist, author and activist against antisemitism, racism and right-wing extremism. From 1974 to 1982 she was an unofficial collaborator for the East German Stasi secret police. In 1998 she founded the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which she has led since 2003. She has been a target of right wing hate campaigns since 2002 and of possible terror plans since 2015, which are investigated by the German General prosecutor.

References

  1. Kay, Jeremy (9 September 2003). "Liegen Lernen opens at three for Warner in Germany". Screen International . Retrieved 22 June 2022.