Love in Thoughts (2004)
"Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken" (original title)

A posthumous look at the last days of Guenther's life as he, his best friend, and his sister let loose on a four-day binge of alcohol, drugs, and sex.

Director:

Achim von Borries

Writers:

Hendrik Handloegten, Annette Hess,

Stars:

Daniel Brühl, August Diehl, Anna Maria Mühe

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Brühl	...	Paul Krantz
August Diehl	...	Günther Scheller
Anna Maria Mühe	...	Hilde Scheller
Jana Pallaske	...	Elli
Thure Lindhardt	...	Hans
Verena Bukal	...	Rosa
Julia Dietze	...	Lotte
Buddy Elias	...	Dr. Frey
Luc Feit	...	Zipfer
Marius Frey	...	Bittner
Holger Handtke	...	Wieland
Jonas Jägermeyr	...	Pit
Roman Kaminski	...	Vorsitzender bei Gericht
Christoph Luser	...	Macke
Tino Mewes	...	Django

Storyline

Weimar, Germany, in 1927. Best friends Günther and Paul ask themselves: is that really it, the highest point in life? They are convinced that they want to enjoy their lives to the full and without compromises - and they demand the same of love. Together with Günther's sister Hilde they spend a weekend in a summer house in the country, outside Berlin. Paul is fascinated by the girl and falls in love with her. And at first it looks like Paul's feelings are returned. But Hilde loves another. Secretly, she's meeting with a young, good-looking boy named Hans - Günther's former lover. But Hans, who works in the kitchen of a restaurant/dance club, is a young man from a much lower class. Then an excessive party takes place in the garden of the summer house. When Hans surprisingly joins the celebration, a roller coaster ride of feelings is set into motion which soon gets very much out of control.

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Plot Keywords:

love | summer house | friend | best friend | germany | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

24 November 2004 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Love in Thoughts

Filming Locations:

Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

X-Filme Creative Pool, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Arte

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The film is set in 1927, the song "Mir ist so nach dir" which was played in the film was 1930 released.

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Quotes

Paul: Love is the only reason for which we are willing to die. Love is the only reason for which we would be willing to kill. Therefore, we swear to end our lives once we no longer feel any love. And we will take all those along who robbed us of our love.

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Soundtracks

"Die Liebe in Gedanken"
Read by Daniel Bruehl and Anna Maria Mühe

User Reviews

German sleeping pill

Recent years the German cinema did surprisingly well with some unexpected successes and this movie "Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken" tries to profit from this revelation but in no way it can be a contender. This story (based on a true facts) has already been filmed in the 20's and a second one during the 60's, but now director Achim von Borries claims that this is the definite version (what else could he say, anyway?). Everything is set in the twenties which was a good time for Germany as there was no sight from the dark forces that were to come. It was also the days of the rise of psychology and some youngsters (the most famous actor among them is Daniel Brühl who is appearing in almost every German film there is made these days) are building up their "suicide-club". The rules are simple but hard. Love is the only reason to live, love is the only reason to die for and therefore life must end if there's no love to be found and those who have betrayed that love will be taken in death as well. The love is at its most free vision as there is both homosexuality (which was back then immoral) and even incest. Von Borries could have made a very interesting film with this but it looked like it was more a trip into poetry rather than coming up with good cinema. The dialogs are far too bland, the acting sucks and it's filmed with such an uninteresting eye that it sets the viewer asleep. German cinema has found its reincarnation today but this film doesn't belong to that current wave.