''Stopped on Track'' () is a 2011 German drama film directed by

Andreas Dresen Andreas Dresen (born 16 August 1963) is a German film director. His directing credits include ''Wolke Neun, Cloud 9'', ''Summer in Berlin (film), Summer in Berlin'', ''Grill Point'' and ''Night Shapes''. His film ''Stopped on Track'' premiered at ...

. It premiered in the

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

section at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition. American filmmaker Terrence Malick won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for t ...

. The film won the Prize Un Certain Regard, the top award for best film in the section. The win was shared with the South Korean film ''

Arirang ''Arirang'' ( ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "arirang, arirang, arariyo" (""). It is estimated that the song is more than 600 years old ...

'', directed by

Kim Ki-duk Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic Art film, art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit ...

Plot

The 44-year-old family man Frank Lange has a proper job and lives with his wife Simone and their children Lilly and Mika in a modern serial house when he learns he suffers with an inoperable

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

and has only but a short time left. Supported by his family he uses an

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

to keep daily records of his decline.

Radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

and chemical treatment take their toll on him. Eventually he grows too weak to leave the house and has

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

s during which his tumour seems to appear as a vain actor in a

late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...

hosted by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's established

TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people who garnered fam ...

Harald Schmidt Harald Franz Schmidt (born 18 August 1957) is a German actor, comedian, television presenter and writer best known as the host of two popular German late-night shows. Early and private life A son of refugees who fled from Sudetenland (now Cz ...

. His children are increasingly overstrained and so is his wife Simone. The tumour deprives Frank from memory, orientational ability and even control of basic body functions. Fighting the pain with always stronger doses of morphium he loses his true personality and finally his

speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...

. Having become a nursing case of the highest degree he dies at last in his home amidst his family. When actually everybody is lost for words, his daughter Lilly, an ambitious diver, utters: "I have to attend training".

Cast

Milan Peschel Milan Peschel (born in 1968) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than fifty films since 1999. Selected filmography References External links * 1968 births Living people German male film actors Actors from East Berlin Male ...

as Frank * Steffi Kühnert as Simone * Mika Seidel as Mika * Talisa Lilli Lemke as Lilly *

Otto Mellies Otto Mellies (19 January 1931 – 26 April 2020) was a German actor on stage, in film and television, and a voice actor. He was known for his performance of the title role of Lessing's ''Nathan the Wise'' on stage 325 times. Life and career M ...

as Frank's father Ernst *

Christine Schorn Christine Schorn (born 1 February 1944) is a German actress. Schorn has appeared in multiple films and TV shows including '' Apprehension'' (1982), '' According to the Plan'' (2007) and ''Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge'' (2012). Filmograph ...

as Frank's mother * Ursula Werner as Simone's mother * Marie Rosa Tietjen as Simone's sister *

as himself

Reception

Accolades

*Rated as ''Besonders wertvoll'' (English: "Especially valuable") by Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung *2012 ''

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

References

External links

* * * 2011 films German drama films 2010s German-language films 2011 drama films Films directed by Andreas Dresen 2010s German films German-language drama films {{2010s-Germany-film-stub