Jack (2014 film)

2014 film

Jack

Film poster

Directed by| Edward Berger
Written by| Edward Berger
Nele Mueller-Stöfen [de]
Starring| Ivo Pietzcker [de] as Jack
Cinematography| Jens Harant [de]
Edited by| Janina Herhoffer
Music by| Christoph M. Kaiser and Julian Maas
Distributed by| Beta Cinema

Release date

* 7 February 2014 (2014-02-07) (Berlin)

Running time

| 103 minutes
Country| Germany
Language| German

Jack is a 2014 German drama film directed by Edward Berger. The film had its world premiere in the competition section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. It was praised by critics and won several significant German awards.

## Plot

[edit]

10-year-old Jack and his 6-year-old brother Manuel live with their single mother in Berlin. They are closely attached to her, and though she loves them, she neglects her duties as a mother, preferring to go out partying all night and leaving Jack on his own to take care of the household and babysitting his brother. Circumstances lead to the children living on the street for a weekend.

## Cast

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* Ivo Pietzcker [de] as Jack
* Georg Arms as Manuel
* Luise Heyer as Sanna
* Nele Mueller-Stöfen [de] as Becki
* Vincent Redetzki as Jonas
* Jacob Matschenz as Philipp
* Odine Johne as Kati
* Johann Jürgens as Mattes
* Atheer Adel as Ophir
* Anthony Arnold as Danilo
* Amar Saaifan as Marc
* Justine Ewerth as Tanja

## Production

[edit]

Director Edward Berger co-wrote the script for Jack, his third feature film, with regular collaborator, actress and screenwriter Nele Mueller-Stöfen [de][1] (also his wife),[2] who plays Becki in the film.

Berger said in 2023 that he had always looked for a challenge in filmmaking: "That started with Jack, where the camera was really only on the boy's face, because I didn't want to give the audience any choice but to identify with him".[3][4]

It was a Port-au-Prince production in association with CinePlus, MixtVision, Neue Bioskop, and Zero West; the Jan Kruger and Rene Romert produced the film, along with seven co-producers. Janina Herhoffer was film editor, and the music was by Christoph M. Kaiser and Julian Maas.[1]

## Release

[edit]

The film had its premiere in the competition section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.[5][6][1]

Jack's international distribution was handled by Beta Cinema of Munich.[1]

## Reception

[edit]

The film was well-received by critics. Ştefan Dobroiu, writing on Cineuropa, praised the screenplay, Jens Harant's cinematography, and the acting, in particular the performance of Ivo Pietzcker [de] as Jack.[7] Guy Lodge of Variety concurred.[8]

Chris Binding, writing in Flickfeast, compared the film to Truffaut's 400 Blows in its subject matter, but differing in its ending, in that it leaves "on a note of hope rather than horror". Binding called the film "Deeply character-driven and beautifully shot,... part family–drama, part psychological road movie".[9]

Leslie Felperin, writing in The Hollywood Reporter, was less complimentary, saying that the film covered similar ground to that of films like Ursula Meier's 2012 film Sister, and not saying anything new. Felperin praised Pietzcker's performance, but criticised the script for not giving more of Sanna's backstory.[10]

## Accolades

[edit]

Jack was one of eight films shortlisted by Germany to be their submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards,[11] but it lost out to Labyrinth of Lies.[12]

It was also nominated for several awards, winning some. These included:

* 2014: Deutscher Regiepreis Metropolis (German Directors Guild Awards), Best Film and Best Director awards, for Jack[13][14][15]
* 2015: Bavarian Film Awards, Best Young Producer, for Jack[16]
* 2015: German Film Prize in Silver for the Best Feature Film for Jack (also nominated for Best Direction and Best Screenplay)[17][15][13][14]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Lodge, Guy (7 February 2014). "Berlin Film Review: 'Jack'". Variety. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
2. ^ "Grant Recipient Details". VATMH. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
3. ^ Berger, Edward (8 March 2023). "Edward Berger: "All it takes is a good script"". The Talks (Interview). Interviewed by Heidmann, Patrick. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
4. ^ Berger, Edward (21 February 2023). "'All Quiet on the Western Front' Director Edward Berger: 'I Could Never Say I'm Proud to Be German'". Variety (Interview). Interviewed by Davis, Clayton. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
5. ^ "Berlinale 2014: Competition Complete". berlinale. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
6. ^ "Jack". Berlinale. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
7. ^ Dobroiu, Ştefan (7 February 2014). "Berlinale: Jack impresses with great performances". Cineuropa. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
8. ^ Lodge, Guy (7 February 2014). "Berlin Film Review: 'Jack'". Variety. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
9. ^ Binding, Chris (21 June 2014). "Jack (2014)". flickfeast. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
10. ^ Felperin, Leslie (7 February 2014). "Jack: Berlin Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
11. ^ "Germany Picks Final Eight Titles to Vie for Oscar Submission". IndieWire. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
12. ^ Roxborough, Scott (27 August 2015). "Oscars: Germany Picks 'Labryinth of Lies' for Foreign Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
13. ^ a b "Berlinale 2019 – Panorama: All My Loving". German Films Quarterly. 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
14. ^ a b "Conclave". Marrakech International Film Festival. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
15. ^ a b "Villa Aurora Grant Recipients 2015". VATMH. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
16. ^ "Audi Festival of German Film 2015". 8 April 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2025 - via Issuu.
17. ^ "Edward Berger". Die Agenten (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Jack at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Works directed by Edward Berger

Films|

* Jack (2014)
* All My Loving (2019)
* All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
* Conclave (2024)
* The Ballad of a Small Player (2025)

Miniseries|

* Deutschland 83 (2015)
* Patrick Melrose (2018)

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