Endstation: Tanke

Summary

The Middle of Nowhere

The searing heat of summer isn′t the only thing that dominates this film. It′s also the melancholy of the provinces, so spare in its spoken words. Marek, a petty thief on the run, and Heinrich, a callous financial advisor, meet up one hot day.

Each is unaware that fate awaits them at a forlorn filling station in the countryside of reunited East-Germany. There, in the tiny town of Friedfelde, is where Margot lives and works as a filling station attendant, despite her disability ever since a reckless car accident. Margot daydreams of a better life which could come true if she could only win the prize money for the crossword puzzles she fanatically solves every day - without ever posting them. Marek, who has stolen Heinrich′s car, blows into Friedfelde, a village of 238 souls, and passes himself off as a financial whiz kid. Unwittingly, he stumbles into the pent up anger of the community who thinks that he is the man who not only stole their money but also their pride. One beer-soaked night, the furious mob, armed with lit torches, sets out on a march with fatal consequences. The very filling station to which Marek flees for safety, surprisingly provides the setting for a tender love story, leading up to an explosive showdown.
Playing on the myth of the wild west, The Middle of Nowhere relates deep fears and suppressed emotions running riot on a single summer day somewhere in an emaciated rural district of Eastern Germany.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH