''Baby'' is a 2002 German drama film directed by

Philipp Stölzl Philipp Stölzl (born 1967 in Munich) is a German director. He began to direct music videos in the mid-1990s and directed his first feature film in 2002. Life and career Philipp Stölzl was trained as a set and costume designer at the Münchner ...

, starring Alice Dwyer, Lars Rudolph and

Filip Peeters Filip Peeters or Philip Peeters (born 2 December 1962) is a Flemish actor. He is well known for his work in the television series ''Salamander'' as Paul Gerardi and ''Zone Stad'' as Didier Francks. He is one of a few Flemish actors who have been ...

. It tells the tragic story of a father, his daughter and the father's best friend, after the wives of the two men have died in a car crash. The film was Stölzl's feature-film debut.

Cast

Alice Dwyer Alice Dwyer (born Alice Deekeling; 1988) is a German actress. In 2003, she received the silver Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented ...

as Lilli *

Lars Rudolph Lars Rudolph (born 18 August 1966) is a German actor and musician. He appeared in more than ninety films since 1984. He won the Max-Ophüls-Preis in 1997. Partial filmography References External links * 1966 births Living people G ...

as Paul *

as Frank * Christian Grashof as Stiefel * Hamid Bundu as Tommy * Irina Platon as Lana * Mischa Hulshof as Johann *

Fedja van Huêt Fedja van Huêt (born 21 June 1973, in The Hague) is a Dutch stage and film actor. Van Huêt received his professional training at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was in the ensemble of the theater companies RO Theater and Theaterc ...

as Polizist * Marc Prätsch as Wachmann * Illa Schöppe as Ramona

Release

The film premiered on 2 July 2002 at

Filmfest München The Munich International Film Festival (german: Filmfest München) is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/earl ...

. It was released theatrically in Germany on 26 February 2004.

Reception

David Rooney of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote:

A suspenseful melodrama about an unorthodox family unit, ''Baby'' represents a slick but distancing feature debut for German commercials and musicvideo director Philipp Stolzl, who made clips for
Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, ...
, Faith No More, Garbage and Madonna, among others. Blighted by a script that fails to create even one engaging character with any evident emotional transition, the film aims for a droll, dark register but comes off as merely smug and cold.

References

External links

* 2002 drama films 2002 films Films directed by Philipp Stölzl German drama films 2000s German-language films 2000s German films {{2000s-Germany-film-stub