Absolute Giganten

Nighttime in Hamburg. Three friends, sworn comrades, terrorise the city in an old car that has been turned into a real racing monster with great affection. The slightly melancholy Floyd, the cheeky and explosive Ricco and the large softy Walter have a night out together as they have done many times before. Yet there is a major difference between this night and all the others that they spent together. After years having made gigantic plans about a future dream life, Floyd turned words into deeds. Next day he will sign on to a container ship sailing via Capetown to Singapore. The film gains its attraction from impressive night footage filled with neon lights, a stimulating pop-soundtrack and especially thanks to the convincing acting of the protagonists. Frank Giering and Florian Lukas are among the most interesting new faces of German cinema. The film also includes many nice finds and inventions climaxing in a table soccer duel between the friends and some shady cowboys, that can match the shoot-outs of the great spaghetti westerns. The production company calls the film a ‘melancholy comedy’ – an accurate description, because the friends’ pranks are overshadowed by the approaching departure of one, but also by the many minor encounters with characters scarred by life in a threadbare city.