"Halt auf freier Strecke" or "Stopped on Track" is a German 105-minute movie from 5 years ago. And it was the big moment in the spotlight for Andreas Dresen, Milan Peschel and Otto Mellies. All three won German Film Awards for their work here. Writer and director Dresen is one of the most successful filmmakers from the former GDR. Peschel has worked in film for a long time, frequently as supporting actor to Schweighöfer. Mellies was roughly 80, in the final years of his life and career probably, when he made this one and it was (according to IMDb) the first award he ever won. And the film itself also won the Lola for Best German Film of the Year. Everybody involved with this one was probably a bit disappointed that the movie was not picked to represent Germany at the Oscars back then.

But now let us talk a bit about the story. The film begins with a couple in their 40s talking to a doctor when they are informed that the husband has terminal brain cancer. They only went there because he had some apparently not so serious headaches. This shows how things can entirely change from one day to the next. Live your life to the fullest, you have no idea how much time you have left. The rest of the movie is about the medical treatment he receives, the way he deals with his family and his family deals with him and his declining health until he dies in the final scene. It is certainly a fairly depressing watch from start to finish. Comedy is basically non-existent and you also have to be very attentive, so you won't miss any of the very few somewhat positive and uplifting moments.

As a whole, it was a realistic depiction of dying I believe and Dresen also did a good job with everybody else except the main character. The same story in reality where it certainly happens a lot too in a similar manner may not have looked much different. Still, sometimes I felt that the film still could have delivered a bit more on the emotional side, occasionally i found it a bit sterile for the subject, but I guess Dresen did not want to become it too much of a tearjerker and that's perfectly fine too. And there were also a handful scenes I did not like and that I could have done without, for example the early scene when the protagonist talks to a little machine about how he is supposed to tell his children about his illness. That was when Dresen overshot the mark, but I can forgive him because the positive moments easily outweighed the good. I also believe that despite the bleakness this film is an example which will have a much bigger (emotional) impact when watched on the big instead of the small screen. It may be very difficult to catch this film at a theater because of the time passed, but if you get the chance, then don't miss out on it. I highly recommend "Halt auf freier Strecke", even if the second half was inferior to the first and the song during the closing credits was also a weak choice.

The movie 'Halt auf freier Strecke' draws a realistic story of a family facing a great loss. The film begins from the beginning of an end: at the clinic where a doctor gently delivers a death sentence for a father of a family.

In the story, the parents' roles are solid and their mutual relationship is pictured in a beautiful but not overly romantic way. Outsiders to the nuclear family remain uncomfortable with the thought of death throughout. Amazingly that happens even to the close ones. Only those that are facing death at the daily basis seem to be okay with the idea.

The daughter's role remains strangely distant throughout the movie. It is likely intentional from the director, as for a teenager the thought of someone's death might feel distant. However, if it were one's own father, I would imagine that the response would not necessarily be like the one pictured in the film, especially that the family seems like perfectly average.

The film is probably a great chance for going through one's feelings for anyone who has experienced a cancer death of a close person. For others, it surely is a chance to stop for 110 minutes to think what it would mean for oneself if something tragic suddenly happened in one's own life.

As a non-German viewer, it is refreshing for a change to see good movie-making from Germany motivated by something else than the currently hot "multi-kulti" topic. …and something that made me feel great at the end regardless of the theme was the soundtrack - German rock (when played at the right place at the right time) is just awesome!

It's a German film, and it's good - hallelujah! That was pretty much my initial reaction after watching this cancer drama, before the pain set in. For when you've been in the situation the film describes, you'll go through the exact motions you may have felt when taking care of a loved one who dies. Other than just about any other film I've seen on the subject, no sappy music sets in, no brilliant actors use their characters to showcase their abilities. It's just the story of an ordinary worker with a wife and two kids who gets diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor and chronicles his last months with a camcorder.

Director-writer Andreas Dresen is a seasoned TV director and documentary film maker, which defines his visual style. But unlike most German directors, he's making the best out of his possibilities by sticking to a very naturalist mise-en-scène, focusing on creating 'special moments' which drive the story. That allows him to take the spectator's attention away from the actors. It's a style that already worked very well in 'Cloud 9', for which he received the Cannes a special Cannes 'Un Certain Regard' public prize, before winning the award itself with this film. He is, however, essentially a documentary film maker, so his best film so far is most definitely 'Herr Wichmann von der CDU' (2003),which is about a provincial election campaign.

Still, 'Stopped on Track' will probably stay with you longer than most films of the past year, as it's dealing with a reality that concerns everybody, but is usually considered taboo in film. While people die so often violently on screen, it's quite a shock to see someone die from a disease, even if it's just fictitious; so the importance of this film is to make us wonder which is the appropriate way to deal with death, a question to which it gives mature and even beautiful answers.