FREISCHWIMMER

Rico Bartsch (Frederick Lau) is fifteen and an outsider at the Kafka Gymnasium: hard of hearing, unathletic, with a talent for drawing that interests no one there. In a swimming contest he loses to his rival Robert Greiner and fails his Freischwimmer certificate. When Robert dies after eating a poisoned pastry, suspicion falls on Rico. He finds support in his German teacher, Martin Wegner, and their bond of trust grows ever closer – until Rico notices that his teacher has strange habits and views. Andreas Kleinert tells, in “Freischwimmer” (Germany 2007), a coming-of-age story that is both ironic and meant in earnest.

What begins as a school story gradually tips into a psychological crime drama with several deaths and a surprising resolution; critics read the film as an allegorical parody of petit-bourgeois complacency. “Freischwimmer” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2007 in the Spezial Deutschland section.

Shown at the 2007 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2007 · Film Archive