Otto Kullberg, an actor with thirty years of cinema fame, is a man that women love and men like. Now and again, he’s had too much to drink. A film has failed because of it and the one he’s working on now, an affair between three people with a good start and a bad ending, is threatening to go the same way.

A second actor is hired to replace Otto in case he falls off the wagon. Telleck, the director, picks out Arno Runge, a little-known and younger theatre actor.
The scenes are shot twice, first with Otto and then with Arno, as the two compete to survive the cutting room floor. Dresen, the film’s director, really explores the different ways in which two actors might play the same role, and often to comic effect. The rivalry features both on and off set as they each vie for the affections of the female leads, two actresses playing mother and daughter with their own tensions both behind and in front of the camera.

Themes of ageing, in the acting world and in love, feature heavily with Otto drinking to the passing of his father whilst simultaneously mourning his youth. Arno however longs for Otto’s experience, with women and with the camera. Much humour comes from the rivalries involved in what is an entertainingly absurd romp, but the film nevertheless offers a genuine poignancy which can only come from what are truly outstanding performances.

Whisky with Vodka has proved a hit world-wide for Andreas Dresen, winning him the Best Director award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival last year.
 

Director's Profile

Andreas Dresen was born in Gera, Germany in 1963. In the early 80s, he began working in theatre and making short films. He studied directing at the HFF "Konrad Wolf" Potsdam-Babelsberg. Since 1992, he has been working as a successful writer and director for film and TV.

Filmography

2008 Wolke Neun
2005 Summer in Berlin
2005 Willenbrock
2002 Grill Point