Directed by:
Eoin MooreCinematography:
Bernd LöhrComposer:
Warner PolandCast:
Charly Hübner, Christiane Paul, Steffi Kühnert, Andreas Schmidt, Esther Zimmering, Edgar Selge, Franziska Walser, Thorsten Merten, Adrian Moore, Alice Dwyer (more)Plots(1)
The recession's got the people in a headlock. They are grappling, struggling, sweating, but there's no escape. And while they are sweating, why not really sweat? So Toni, Karin, Dani, Monika and Norbert meet regularly every Thursday in the Berlin sauna "Schwitzkasten" (Sweatbox), run by the sister and brother team Nadine and Jost, to brood over the situation in the country and life in general while wallowing in mud pack and massage. Toni, long-term jobless and impotent, has lost all confidence to return to his old profession. Karin, who has opened her own business, makes a nuisance of herself by trying to sell useless things to anyone who crosses her path. Stewardess Dani, who thinks the best is just about good enough for her, finds out that the world runs on different time when she's out of work. Monika, incorrigible do-gooder, has enjoyed an academic education with the result that she goes on social welfare until she decides whether to marry and have kids or teach sewing to women in Rwanda. And finally there's Norbert, the Goethe expert who writes the speeches for his wife, a liberal member of parliament. The microcosm of the sauna opens his eyes to the world as it really is. Will he at least have the courage to do something about it? In his latest comedy Berlin-based Irish director Eoin Moore presents the naked truth about the state of the nation under the sign of the economic crisis. (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Charly Hübner
East Germany
Best movies:
The Lives of Others (2006)
3 Days in Quiberon (2018)
Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger (2006) (TV movie)
Christiane Paul
East Germany
Best movies:
Generation War (2013) (series)
Paradis Express (1997)
The Wave (2008)
Steffi Kühnert
East Germany
Best movies:
Stopped on Track (2011)
The Same Sky (2017) (series)
The White Ribbon (2009)
Andreas Schmidt
West Germany
Best movies:
Life Is All You Get (1997)
The Counterfeiters (2007)
Guys and Balls (2004)
Esther Zimmering
East Germany
Best movies:
Böseckendorf - Die Nacht, in der ein Dorf verschwand (2009) (TV movie)
Vivere (2007)
München 72 - Das Attentat (2012) (TV movie)
Edgar Selge
Best movies:
Hamsun (1996)
The Experiment (2001)
The Poll Diaries (2010)
Franziska Walser
West Germany
Best movies:
Fashion Victims (2007)
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Thorsten Merten
East Germany
Best movies:
Curveball (2020)
Vom Atmen unter Wasser (2008) (TV movie)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Adrian Moore
Best movies:
Lessons of a Dream (2011)
Certified Copy (2010)
Friendship! (2010)
Alice Dwyer
Germany
Best movies:
The Girl with Nine Wigs (2013)
Remembrance (2011)
Distant Lights (2003)
Vera Baranyai
Best movies:
Lotta & die alten Eisen (2010) (TV movie)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Lotta & die großen Erwartungen (2012) (TV movie)
Zoe Moore
Germany
Best movies:
Das goldene Ufer (2015) (TV movie)
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Paula Paul
West Germany
Best movies:
Barefoot (2005)
Gigantics (1999)
C'est pas moi, c'est mon tic (2011)
Cornelius Schwalm
West Germany
Best movies:
Le Vent de la liberté (2018)
Three (2010)
Amour Fou (2014)
Sabine Urig
West Germany
Best movies:
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Sources of Life (2013)
Tarif de nuit (2001)
Ralf Dittrich
Germany
Best movies:
Mogadishu Welcome (2008) (TV movie)
Frantz (2016)
54 Hours (2018) (series)
Ezard Haußmann
German Empire
Best movies:
Death Is Called Engelchen (1963)
Sun Alley (1999)
Five Cartridges (1960)
Kathleen Gallego Zapata
Best movies:
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
Der Zürich-Krimi (2016) (series)
Sektion - Die Sprache der Toten (2002) (TV movie)