Three words would best describe this movie - an incredibly beautiful drama! And although the director might've made a better use of the camera, this doesn't spoil the whole movie at all, for it has some very good actors and a brilliant story to boast with.
The most promising young actors of contemporary German cinema - Daniel Brühl (as Paul), August Diehl (as Günther) and Anna Marie Mühe (as Hilde) - all make wonderful performances and tell the story of extremely tangled relationships, where love and happiness, pain and rage twist and turn their lives.
Paul falls in love with Hilde, who, however, appreciates sex and fun more than love. At the time she seems to be much more interested in the ex-boyfriend of her brother - Günther, who himself is still in love with him, though, so, when the three of them decide to spend a weekend in their parent's summer house drinking and having fun and the ex eventually turns up, the passions simply get out of hand.
Substantial for the further development of the story is a suicide club, that Günther and Paul found, based on the idea that we can be really happy only once in our lives and afterwards we're punished for that one moment of immense happiness by having the bitter memory of it. And since they consider happiness to be the essence of life, they decide that once this moment is over, they should kill themselves and the person who took them their happiness/love away, as well, before they feel miserable. And Günther does that.
The beautiful scenery and the unobtrusive but still remarkable score make just the perfect finish to this beautiful story.
Some viewers might find the paste rather slow, but I think that this is the only way to really get close to the characters and understand their motives. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this extremely poetic movie to everyone, but only to those lovers of the European cinema, who would appreciate something very deep, sophisticated and demanding.
The most promising young actors of contemporary German cinema - Daniel Brühl (as Paul), August Diehl (as Günther) and Anna Marie Mühe (as Hilde) - all make wonderful performances and tell the story of extremely tangled relationships, where love and happiness, pain and rage twist and turn their lives.
Paul falls in love with Hilde, who, however, appreciates sex and fun more than love. At the time she seems to be much more interested in the ex-boyfriend of her brother - Günther, who himself is still in love with him, though, so, when the three of them decide to spend a weekend in their parent's summer house drinking and having fun and the ex eventually turns up, the passions simply get out of hand.
Substantial for the further development of the story is a suicide club, that Günther and Paul found, based on the idea that we can be really happy only once in our lives and afterwards we're punished for that one moment of immense happiness by having the bitter memory of it. And since they consider happiness to be the essence of life, they decide that once this moment is over, they should kill themselves and the person who took them their happiness/love away, as well, before they feel miserable. And Günther does that.
The beautiful scenery and the unobtrusive but still remarkable score make just the perfect finish to this beautiful story.
Some viewers might find the paste rather slow, but I think that this is the only way to really get close to the characters and understand their motives. In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend this extremely poetic movie to everyone, but only to those lovers of the European cinema, who would appreciate something very deep, sophisticated and demanding.