The Call of the Toad ( Unkenrufe ) ( Wrózby kumaka )

The Call of the Toad (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Original Title: Unkenrufe
Alternate Title: Wrózby kumaka
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
100 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2005 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )
Poland ( Russia, Eastern Europe )

Directed By:
Robert Glinski

Written By:
Günter Grass
Cezary Harasimowicz

Actors:
Krystyna Janda ..... Aleksandra Piatkowska
Matthias Habich ..... Alexander Reschke
Dorothea Walda ..... Erna Brakup
Bhasker Patel ..... Chatterjee
Udo Samel ..... Vielbrand
Marek Kondrat ..... Marczak
Mareike Carrière ..... Johanna Dettlaff
Joachim Król ..... Karau
Zbigniew Zamachowski ..... Priest Bieronski
Aleksandra Kisio ..... Iwonka
Krzysztof Globisz ..... Wróbel
Miroslaw Baka ..... Mechanic
Justus Kranz ..... Young Alex
Dominik Klaumann ..... Tommy
Frederick Lau ..... Fähnleinführer

Synopsis:

Drama based on the novel by Günther Grass, tracing the relationship between a German man and a Polish woman, both in their 50s. Alexander (Matthias Habich) is a German university professor who meets Aleksandra (Krystyna Janda), a Polish restorer, in Gdansk in 1989. In an attempt to contribute to the reconciliation of their historically warring nations, the couple set up the Polish-German Cemetery Society, a non-profitmaking organisation devoted to burying the dead in the soil of their homelands. The project infuses them both with purpose and energy, but their intentions become hazy as they realise they have inadvertently hit on a lucrative business model.

Alexander and Aleksandra, both widowed, meet in Gdansk in 1989. They find they have something in comon in that he had to leave Gdansk when he was young and she too had to leave her hometown of Vilnius in Lithuania when young. They come up with the idea of forming a foundation which would provide for burials in a person's hometown, reconciliation cemetries for Germans in Gdansk and for Poles in Vilnius. After some problems the foundation is formed, however, as time goes by commercial considerations begin to overtake the original idealistic intention.

Alexander and Aleksandra set up a foundation for people to be buried in their hometowns of Gdansk and Vilnius, in reconciliation cemeteries. But their idealistic hope of international understanding is soon overtaken by capitalism.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 21 October, 2011.