COMEBACK
Deutschland 2007 – Director: Maximilian Plettau – German and English with English subtitles – Length: 79 min.
DOK.FEST Award Winner!
"What keeps me going is goals." (Muhammad Ali)
In a bleak attic in Munich, we find Jürgen "The Rock" Hartenstein living and training. The ageing German ex-professional boxer eschews women and alcohol, and any creature comforts, earning his meagre living as a pub bouncer. He is entirely on his own, with no manager standing behind him, forced to train in city parks and in the dark, seedy attic with his African trainer Markus Kone, while their own gym is built. From a call shop, every week for months, he has been phoning matchmakers in the U.S.A. Because this former German middleweight champion has a dream: he wants to make a comeback. He needs a win against a US boxer to get him back in the game, six years after massive losses forced him to quit. So it’s off to the US boxing capital Philadelphia, to fight despite the odds, knowing that this is the underdog’s only chance...
"Victory is a series of defeats." (Jürgen Hartenstein)
"Jürgen Hartenstein is a tough, working fighter. He takes punches. Max is no puncher. It's gonna be an aggressive, tough fight: The bull against the matador. We’ll see who strikes most." Don Elbaum, Boxing Promoter and Matchmaker before the fight, Philadelphia
Award: OmU-Award of Untertitel-Werkstatt Münster, DOK.FEST 2008
Nominated for the Talent Award of the Bavarian Film and Television Fund, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
English/Original Title: Comeback. German title: Comeback. Writer: Maximilian Plettau. Camera: Maximilian Plettau. Sound: Tim Hägele. Editing: Jörg Adolph, Maximilian Plettau. Music: Dominik Schauer. Production: Loopfilm GmbH. Producer: Oliver Halmburger.