Toter Mann (“dead man” in English and the German expression describing the position of a swimmer floating on its back, legs together with arms stretched out to the side) opens in a thermal spa where a young woman is floating in that very same position. Her name is Leyla. A man observes her. He meets her again and falls in love with her. His name is Thomas and he’s a lawyer. But after their first night together, Leyla vanishes. She later re-surfaces in another city, gets a job in a factory canteen and meets another man. His name is Blum and he has spent the last fourteen years in prison and undergoing psychiatric treatment. But now, given another chance in life, he is taking part in a re-socialization program. Thomas, meanwhile, is looking for Leyla and finds a clue. He pursues it and is led to Blum, who also happens to be his client. As he realizes the connection it is almost too late. Leyla and Blum have disappeared… —http://www.german-films.de
Christian Petzold was born September 14, 1960, in Hilden, as the oldest of three sons. He grew up in Haan, where he went to school and finished his high school degree in 1979. After finishing civil service, Christian Petzold went to Berlin in 1981 and started to study German studies and dramatics at Freie Universität Berlin. After his graduation in 1989, Petzold continued to study at Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb). During his studies, Christian Petzold worked as an assistant director for Hartmut Bitomsky and Harun Farocki – who contributed to all of Petzold’s later feature films – and worked as a film critic for several newspapers and magazines.
After several short films, including Süden and Das warme Geld, Petzold finished his graduation film for dffb, Pilotinnen, in 1994. The film production company Schramm Film Koerner & Weber participated in the production of Pilotinnen and Petzold continued to collaborate with the… read more
