The Light
by
Tom Tykwer
Tom Tykwer ( Run Lola Run, Babylon Berlin ) returns to the big screen! Starring Lars Eidinger and Nicolette Krebitz, this exhilarating drama about a modern family on the brink blends emotional depth with Tykwer's signature visual flair.
The Engels family, based in the bustling heart of Berlin, is a tumultuous and fractured unit consisting of parents Milena and Tim, both in their late forties, 17-year-old twins Frieda and Jon, and 8-year-old Dio. Each of them is struggling with their own personal chaos after losing the common bond that once held them together as a family. When Syrian immigrant Farrah enters their lives as a housekeeper, she unexpectedly sets the disparate family on a new track. Quickly, each family member forms a profound and enigmatic connection with Farrah, falling individually for her focused yet mysterious persona. The Engels gradually unveil their past wounds and fractures to Farrah and they start to reconnect with each other after years of estrangement. But ultimately, they understand that Farrah has been seeking their family for a long time and is now leading them on a journey into the unknown...
Genre
/ Language
/ Length
Drama
/ German / 162 minutes
Original title
Das Licht
directed by
Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN, CLOUD ATLAS, BABYLON BERLIN)
director of photography
Christian Almesberger (CLOUD ATLAS, THE EMPRESS)
screenplay by
Tom Tykwer
produced by
X Filme Creative Pool in co-production with Gold Rush Pictures, Gretchenfilm, B.A. Filmproduktion and ZDF
Cast
- Lars Eidinger (DYING, PERSIAN LESSONS, BABYLON BERLIN)
- Nicolette Krebitz (AEIOU, WILD)
- Tala al Deen (A THIN LINE)
- Julius Gause
- Elke Biesendorfer
Press Quotes
“A big story, with life-changing undertones... that rare work of the cinematic art that can be enjoyed at face value...Add in the cool cinematography by Christian Almesberger and the extraordinary performances, in which Eidinger's nakedness in form and essence is matched by the vulnerability and ability of his co-stars for an ensemble piece which also features the city of Berlin as an absolute movie star. In his Director's Statement Tom Tykwer writes, “I've tried to make a mad, beautiful film.” I'm here to tell you, he succeeded completely. The Light is a big story, with life-changing undertones and the ability to help us save the world around us. And in the process, maybe even #Us, ourselves.”
E. Nina Rothe, International Cinephile Society
“One couldn't have wished for a more exciting film to kick off the festival. No one is prepared for this cinematic ecstasy... The Light is an imaginatively powerful experience that is second to none. The Light flashes so brightly and with such a haunting frequency that it is impossible to escape. You have to experience this film to believe it. It remains to be seen just how much the Berlinale has changed under Tuttle. In any case, The Light is a promising, unpredictable entry point into the program that takes us around the world... German cinema is rarely as intrepid, hungry and curious as The Light .”
Matthias Hopf, Moviepilot.de
“The Light is a great film, a revelation. Because it covers all these topics. But it deals with them with ease and empathy. And with a lot of humor. The Light is great cinema. A master is back. The supposed excess length flies by. The Berlinale has a real highlight on the first day. And that whets the appetite for ten more days of light shows in the dark.”
Peter Zander, Berliner Morgenpost
“The Light is real and great cinema! It has been a long time since we have seen a film like this from Germany. The Light has the daring that is missing from many German films that play it safe. This film is different and it doesn't try to hide it.”
Ulf Pape, GQ.de
“The Light, a film that mercilessly illuminates the local cosmos of Berlin, but at the same time can keep up with international cinema. As so often, Tykwer challenges his audience on many different levels, and that's what you want from the cinema.”
Stefanie Dörre, tip-berlin.de
“Everything matters to me. Everything concerns me. It concerns us all. If that is the bottom line of a film that has just taken you on a 160-minute rollercoaster ride of emotions, moods, ideas and conflicts, that comes straight out with its message, takes you by storm and then doesn't stop picking you up and demanding, putting pressure on, letting you take part, that puts all its eggs in one basket, then you can say: Fuck yeah! This is how you want to be sent out of the cinema, this is what going to the movies is all about.”
Thomas Schultze, The Spot Media & Film
“A wild film between the earthly and the supernatural, dream and reality.”
SWR Kultur
E. Nina Rothe, International Cinephile Society
“One couldn't have wished for a more exciting film to kick off the festival. No one is prepared for this cinematic ecstasy... The Light is an imaginatively powerful experience that is second to none. The Light flashes so brightly and with such a haunting frequency that it is impossible to escape. You have to experience this film to believe it. It remains to be seen just how much the Berlinale has changed under Tuttle. In any case, The Light is a promising, unpredictable entry point into the program that takes us around the world... German cinema is rarely as intrepid, hungry and curious as The Light .”
Matthias Hopf, Moviepilot.de
“The Light is a great film, a revelation. Because it covers all these topics. But it deals with them with ease and empathy. And with a lot of humor. The Light is great cinema. A master is back. The supposed excess length flies by. The Berlinale has a real highlight on the first day. And that whets the appetite for ten more days of light shows in the dark.”
Peter Zander, Berliner Morgenpost
“The Light is real and great cinema! It has been a long time since we have seen a film like this from Germany. The Light has the daring that is missing from many German films that play it safe. This film is different and it doesn't try to hide it.”
Ulf Pape, GQ.de
“The Light, a film that mercilessly illuminates the local cosmos of Berlin, but at the same time can keep up with international cinema. As so often, Tykwer challenges his audience on many different levels, and that's what you want from the cinema.”
Stefanie Dörre, tip-berlin.de
“Everything matters to me. Everything concerns me. It concerns us all. If that is the bottom line of a film that has just taken you on a 160-minute rollercoaster ride of emotions, moods, ideas and conflicts, that comes straight out with its message, takes you by storm and then doesn't stop picking you up and demanding, putting pressure on, letting you take part, that puts all its eggs in one basket, then you can say: Fuck yeah! This is how you want to be sent out of the cinema, this is what going to the movies is all about.”
Thomas Schultze, The Spot Media & Film
“A wild film between the earthly and the supernatural, dream and reality.”
SWR Kultur
Selected Festivals & Awards
75th Berlin International Film Festival
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