The Gamblers (2007 film)

The Gamblers

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sebastian Bieniek
Produced by Sebastian Bieniek and Hartmut Bitomsky
Written by Sebastian Bieniek
Music by Zarko Jovasevic
Cinematography Camilo Sottolichio and Vojtech Pokorny
Edited by Sebastian Bieniek
Release dates
  • June 20, 2007 (Shanghai Film Festival)
Running time
 86 minutes
Country Germany
Language German
Budget 2000 €

The Gamblers (German: Die Spieler) is a 2007 German no budget film, and the film with the lowest budget (budget: 2000 €/ shooting time: 10 days) that was ever in the competition of an "A" Film Festival.

The film is based on, but not always loyal to, the novel The Gambler by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, although the film follows more a love story plot than a gambling addiction plot.

Production

The Gamblers was made as a no-budget production in the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB, German Film and Television Academy Berlin) in a seminar taught by Hungarian director Béla Tarr.

It was shot on the Teufelsberg (German for Devil's Mountain), a hill in Berlin that was built from the rubble of Berlin (400,000 buildings) after the Second World War. This is the only location in the film.

Story

In the midst of a world — to an outsider, impenetrable — the house tutor of the deserted General, Alexej Iwanovitsch, once ruled by an uncontrollable addiction to gambling, falls in love with his employer’s stepdaughter Polina. Alexej understands very quickly that he has entered a world ruled by monetary worries and dreams and that, offhand, he is not Polina’s perfect suitor. To him it seems that not only his social position, but also his self-imposed ban from the casino, stand in his way.

Festivals

2007

2008

References

10th Shanghai International Film Festival

External links