Tough Enough
by Detlev Buck

Fifteen-year-old Michael Polischka is thrown into a gritty urban world when his mother breaks up with her rich doctor boyfriend. With little money of her own, Miriam is forced to move them into a dumpy apartment in a rough ethnic neighborhood, far from the posh suburbs they had grown accustomed to. Beatings and extortion by a gang of violent bullies makes public high school miser-able for Michael. Life at home isn’t much better since he has to put up with the guys his pretty young mom entertains in her desperate search for a new man. Michael learns the ropes about the neighborhood from his likeable new buddies Crille and his younger half-brother Matze, a couple of neglected and undisciplined delinquents. Not only do they give Michael some street smarts, they also introduce him to petty crime, cutting class and drinking. A chance meeting with urbane crime lord Hamal and his henchman Barut turns Michael’s life around. The thugs take him under their wing, protecting him from the high school gang. Michael’s honest face makes him the perfect guy for drug deliv-eries to local dealers. The teenager handles the tension of these dangerous missions like a pro. Michael proves he’s tough enough, but eventually finds out he’s actually in way over his head.
Detlev Buck made his fame as an actor, director and screenwriter at the
tender age of 22. Following high school and alternate military service,
he made the short film »Erst die Arbeit und Dann…?« (Time to Knock Off),
which quickly became a cult classic. His first feature as a director
was »Karniggels« (Rabbit Fever), which won the Bavarian Film Prize. He
followed up with 1993’s »No More Mr. Nice Guy«, which garnered an
honorable mention at the Berlin Film Festival and two German Film
Prizes. Mr. Buck’s next film, »Jailbirds«, which he directed and starred
in, made stars of the two female leads, Heike Makatsch and Marie
Bäumer. In 2004, he was awarded The German Film Award in Gold as best
supporting actor for his role in »Berlin Blues«, directed by Leander
Haußmann. That same year, he played the role of Colonel Kalt in
Haußmann’s »NVA«. In the spring of 2005, Mr. Buck completed another role
for Mr. Haußmann in the film adaptation of Schiller’s »Love &
Intrigue«.
»Tough Enough« is the first feature film Mr. Buck has directed
for which he did not also write the script.
Selected Filmography as Director
2006 »Knallhart« (Tough Enough)
2000 »Liebesluder« (Bundle of Joy)
1998 »Liebe Deine Nächste« (Love
Your Female Neighbor)
1996 »Männerpension« (Jailbirds)
1993 »Wir können auch anders« (No More Mr. Nice Guy)
Selected Filmography as Actor
2005 »Kabale & Liebe« (Love & Intrigue) Dir: Leander Haußmann
2004 »NVA«
Dir: Leander Haußmann
2002 »Herr Lehmann« (Berlin Blues) Dir: Leander
Haußmann
2001 »Blue Moon« Dir: Andrea Dusel
1999 »Sonnenallee« (Sun
Alley) Dir: Leander Haußmann
1999 »Der grosse Bagarotzy« (The Devil
and Ms. D.) Dir: Bernd Eichinger
1998 »Aimée & Jaguar« Dir: Max
Färberböck
David Kross - Polischka
Jenny
Elvers-Elbertzhagen - Miriam Polischka
Erhan Emre - Hamal
Oktay Özdemir - Erol
Kida Khodr Ramadan - Barut
Arnel Taci - Crille
Kai
Michael Müller - Matze
Hans Löw - Gerber
Jan Henrik
Stahlberg - Dr. Klaus Peters
Director: Detlev Buck
Screenplay: Zoran Drvenkar, Gregor Tessnow
Executive Producer: Claus Boje
Producer for WDR: Michael
André
Producer for arte: Andreas Schreitmüller
Line Producers: Sonja Schmitt, Jan Brandt
Casting: Astrid Rosenfeld
Director
of Photography: Kolja Brandt
Editor: Dirk Grau
Sound
Recordist: Florian Niederleithinger
Production Design: Udo Kramer
Costume Design: Jale Kustaloglu
Original Music: Bert Wrede
Sound design: Dirk Jacob
Format: 35 mm / 24fps / 1:1.85 / Colour / Dolby Digital Srd
Length: 98 min
Original language: German
Original title: Knallhart
Click here for the »Tough Enough« artwork

