The Flying Classroom: remake of the popular children’s book by Erich Kästner, adapting the story about the quarrelling boarding school pupils to the present day with slight modifications.
Plot and background
When the gifted pupil Martina (Leni Deschner) gets the chance for a scholarship to the coveted Johann Sigismund Gymnasium, she can hardly believe her luck. The thought of boarding school life in the idyllic Alpine town of Kirchberg, far away from the Berlin high-rise housing estate where she grew up, sounds exciting.
But as soon as they arrive, tough Jo (Lovena Börschmann Ziegler), boxer Matze (Morten Völlger) and little Uli (Wanja Valentin Kube) make it clear how things work at the school: The city kids at the boarding school and the “outsiders” from the rural town have been enemies for generations. Even the well-meaning boarding school principal Justus Bökh (Tom Schilling) cannot change this fact. The fact that the strict headmistress Kreuzkamm (Hannah Herzsprung) is also the mother of Ruda (Franka Roche), the leader of the externals, does not make the situation any easier. And then there is the mysterious non-smoker (Trystan Pütter), who leads a drop-out life in a railway carriage.
Even though Martina does everything she can to pass the exams and get the scholarship she has longed for, she gets caught between the fronts sooner than she would have liked. Even a joint play at the end of the year doesn’t solve the eternal conflict, but a dramatic accident changes everything…
“The Flying Classroom” – background, cast, cinema release
Director Carolina Hellsgård brings Erich Kästner’s popular book of the same name into the present day with “The Flying Classroom”. Kästner’s novel from 1933 has already been filmed three times. While the first films still stuck closely to the book, the last film version from 2003 already made some changes to the story. A trend that can also be expected in the latest screen adaptation. For example, one of the main characters, the class leader Martin Thaler, becomes the clever Martina, played by Leni Deschner (“Alfons Zitterbacke – Endlich Klassenfahrt!”) in the latest film.
And with the rest of the well-known cast, compared to the previous films, a little more diversity is to be expected. Tom Schilling (“Oh Boy”), Trystan Pütter (“Ku’damm 56”), Hannah Herzsprung (“Traumfrauen”), Lovena Börschmann, Wanja Valentin Kube (“Es ist nur eine Phase, Hase”), as well as the young newcomers Franka Roche, Holly Schiek, Leander Schumann, Aaron Sansi and Morten Völlger were in front of the camera in other roles.
The Flying Classroom” will be released in German cinemas on 12 October 2023.
