''Men in the City'' (german: Männerherzen; literally "Men's Hearts") is a 2009 German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Simon Verhoeven Simon Verhoeven (born in Munich on 20 June 1972) is a German film director, screenwriter, film producer, former actor, and occasional film music composer. Life and family Verhoeven is the son of international screen actress Senta Berger and BAF ...

with Christian Ulmen,

Nadja Uhl Nadja Uhl (; born 23 May 1972, in Stralsund) is a German actress. Uhl grew up near Stralsund, in the town of Franzburg. She lived with her mother in a three-generation house, shared with aunts and her grandparents, who had moved in shortly ...

and

Wotan Wilke Möhring Wotan Wilke Möhring (born 23 May 1967) is a German actor. Biography Möhring was born in Augustdorf near Detmold and grew up in Herne. His father was an army officer and his mother worked as a teacher. He has a sister and two brothers. On ...

. The film was followed by ' in 2011.

Plot

Five men attend the same gym in Berlin. None of them seem to have anything in common, but all five have not enough confidence to meet or develop relationships with the opposite sex, and what it really means to be a man or what women expect of them. Günther Stobanski ( Christian Ulmen) fails with

Internet dating Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Jerome Ades (

Til Schweiger Tilman Valentin Schweiger (; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor, voice actor and filmmaker. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin. Early life Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers. He grew ...

) passes from a sentimental break-up story to another.

Train driver A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

Roland Feldberg (

) snubs his wife Susanne Feldberg (

). The girlfriend of Philip Henrion (

Maxim Mehmet Maxim Mehmet (born 2 July 1975) is a German film actor. He inherited his Turkish surname from his Crimean Tatar grandfather. He lived with his spouse in Berlin before he moved to Vienna.Florian David Fitz Florian David Fitz (born ''Florian Ingo Ulrich Fitz''; November 20, 1974) is a German actor, screenwriter and film director. Filmography Film Television References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitz, Florian David 1974 births Living ...

) is terrified by his impending marriage, while the singer Bruce Berger (

Justus von Dohnányi Justus von Dohnányi (born 2 December 1960) is a German actor, best known for portraying Wilhelm Burgdorf in 2004 film ''Der Untergang''. Life and career Born in Lübeck, von Dohnányi is the son of conductor Christoph von Dohnányi and actress ...

) tries to pursue his singing career.

Cast

* Christian Ulmen as Günther Stobanski *

as Roland Feldberg, a railroad engineer *

as Susanne Feldberg, Roland's wife *

as Jerome Ades, a music producer *

as Niklas Michalke *

Jana Pallaske Jana Pallaske (born 20 May 1979) is a German actress and singer for the rock band Spitting Off Tall Buildings. Partial filmography * '' Alaska.de'' (2000), as Sabine * ''Jeans'' (2001), as Nina * '' Engel & Joe'' (2001), as Joe * ''Baader'' ...

as Nina Hellmich *

as Bruce Berger, a singer *

Inez Bjørg David Inez Bjørg David (born 6 February 1982 in Århus) is a Danish actress who has appeared primarily in German productions. Life She went to a theatre school in Copenhagen and took private acting classes. She appeared in many German movies, tv ...

as Maria Hellström * Liane Forestieri as Laura Sandner *

Fritz Karl Fritz Karl (born 21 December 1967) is an Austrian film, television and stage actor born in Gmunden, Upper Austria. He is one of the busiest Austrian actors. Private life Karl lives in both Munich and Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code ...

as Martin *

Fahri Yardım Fahri Ogün Yardım (born 4 July 1980) is a German actor. Biography Yardım was born in Hamburg, Germany, where his parents moved from Turkey. He is best known for his portrayal of Hüseyin in ''Almanya – Welcome to Germany'' and as inves ...

as Loco *

Palina Rojinski Palina Rojinski ( Rozhinskaya, russian: Палина Рожинская; born 21 April 1985) is a Russian-German television presenter and actress based in Germany. From 2009 to 2011, she hosted ''MTV Home'' on MTV Germany, and since 2011 has hos ...

as Sabrina Silver *

Birge Schade Birge Schade (born 7 February 1965) is a German film actress. She appeared in more than ninety films since 1989. Selected filmography References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schade, Birge 1965 births Living people German film a ...

as Pflegerin Beate * Carl Heinz Choynski as Vater Feldberg *

Bastian Pastewka Bastian Pastewka (born 4 April 1972) is a German actor and comedian. In Bochum, he first became known to a wider audience in Germany around 1996 as a regular cast member of the comedy show ''Die Wochenshow'' (engl.: The Weekly Show), essentiall ...

as Father *

Dennis Gansel Dennis Gansel (born 4 October 1973) is a German film director, writer and actor . Life and career Gansel was born in 1973 in Hannover, West Germany, where he graduated from high school in 1993. Gansel worked in the festivals for film and televi ...

as Lars

Themes

The main theme of the film is the search for love and happiness, and the fear of being alone, but love is a battlefield and it's worth fighting for the woman you love.

Production

''Men in the city'' was financed by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg Gmbh Film and German Federal Film Board Film Financier, and filmed in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ;Writing and production credits *

–

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

* Jo Heim –

director of photography The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

* Quirin Berg –

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

* Max Wiedemann – film producer * Stefan Essl –

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

* Silke Faber –

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...

* Thomas Stammer –

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

* Anja Dihrberg –

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

* Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion Gmbh & Co. kg –

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Pictures Germany –

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

Release

''Men in the city'' was first released in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on 8 October 2009. The film was screened on 23 October 2010 at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, United States.

Home media

The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release of the film was premiered on 2 December 2010 in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Film distributors

Ster-Kinekor Ster-Kinekor is a South African-based cinema company, and the country's largest movie exhibitor. It represents 60-65% of the market, having 56 cinema complexes consisting of 400 screens and 64,000 seats; 154 of those screens being 3D cinemas. It ...

– theatrical distributor *

Pictures International – foreign theatrical distributor * Independent Distributors – foreign theatrical distributor * Beta Film – theatrical distribution sales

Music and soundtrack

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

and the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

for ''Men in the City'' was produced by Simon Verhoeven and was released on 9 October 2009 through

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. Verhoeven wrote and recorded the album together with the lead singer of the band Marshmellow Club, Rufus Martin. Simon Verhoeven and Wolfgang Hammerschmid were responsible for the

's composition and orchestration that involved about twenty musicians. The main theme song, " Wonderful", was written by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

singer and songwriter

Gary Go Gary Baker, known professionally as Gary Go, is a British songwriter, producer, composer and media artist. He has written and produced songs performed by artists including Rihanna, Robbie Williams, Steve Angello, Benny Benassi, Gryffin, Take That ...

in January 2009 and released on 16 February 2009, as the first and debut single from his self-titled debut studio album. The single reached the Top 40 of the British, German and Austrian music charts. Its

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was filmed on a

rooftop and includes scenes from the film. Go also contributed to the song "Berlin" with a reinterpretation of his song "Brooklyn", featured on his debut album.

BRIT Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

-winning English singer-songwriter and guitarist James Morrison wrote and composed the song "Watch and Wait".

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* * * * * {{Refend Films directed by Simon Verhoeven 2009 films 2009 comedy films German comedy films 2000s German-language films Films set in Berlin 2000s German films