"Der See der Träume" is a German television movie from 2006, so this one is almost 15 years old now, maybe more than 15 already depending on when you read this review. The translation of the German title here is "Lake of Dreams", although this is not the offical English title I suppose with how titles in other languages also sounded completely different. But the German title already makes clear how much of a failure this entire project is. First of all, it sounds so cheesy and second of all, there is not really a lake playing any role in this movie, certainly not a dominant role and pretty much not a small role either. They just went for something that is easy to remember for audiences I suppose, but story reference is 0/100. Then again, these 90 minutes we have here are another Regina Ziegler film production and if you know a bit about German (small screen) films, then you know the gigantic amount of movies she worked on in the past (or her production company did) and how almost all of these films are really failure level. The writer and director this time was Wolf Gremm, who is today, if at all, remembered for his work on a Fassbinder movie, but in the 2000s he also worked on a handful of cheesy romance drama movies like this one here. I am pretty sure the others are just as bad, but I cannot be the judge of that now. This one here certainly is. There is so much emotion in the film and almost all of it feels fake. This mostly applies to Michael von Au's character about his deceased wife, about his struggles at work when a woman is first severely beaten up by her boyfriend, then killed by him later on and von Au's character has a great amount of regrets if he could have done something to keep it from happening and if so, then what he could have done. Away from that, he has that tear-filled meltdown when he meets the female protagonist for the first time. Or the first time again because they were high school sweethearts or something, but now they are 15-20 years older. And what happens immediately afterwards? Right, they end in bed. Right after the tears. Are you kidding me? Now that felt just bizarre and aren't we supposed to believe that the female protagonist still struggles with the situation with her husband, who apparently left her for a much younger woman. BBut hey no prob I guess if she is ready to have sex immediately afterwards with somebody else. Oh well, they are having such a deep connection. That explains it right? And justifies it. That sex scene was more graphic than I expected though for an afternoon movie here. I mean there are no boobs or anything visible, bit normally these films are as harmless as it gets.
The most known cast member is probably Charles Brauer, but he really does not have great screen time or material He plays the main character's father giving her solace at her childhood home. Said main character is played by Ursula Buschhorn by the way, a German actress who was in her mid-30s at that point. She is not good, that much is safe. But I still felt that von Au and and also Greiling, who plays her husband, were worse. Especially the latter was a truly negative surprise. His line delivery was so stale and weak that it felt very cringeworthy. Of course, the way how his character was written was not helping at all here. With that I mean how after he had this affair for a year, all of a sudden it is over and he realizes he does love his wife indeed and wants her back. How realistic. We should only see now that the woman is the one who has all the choices what and whom she wants. Admittedly, in that scene Buschhorn really was soo bad when we see her struggling with this new information. Her face expression. She was trying so hard, but could not make it work credibly. Later on, in the second half, Maria Burghardt shows up. She plays the female protagonist's daughter and I found it a bit cringeworthy how she acts as a friend and supporter to her mother against the unlikable father because of what he did. It is the same as almost always with Regina Ziegler and this kind of movies. Highly anti-male because the target audiences are women working at home to watch this in the afternoon, although I wonder ith how emancipation is much more a thing now than back in 2006, perhaps this idea is going to change one day. Or they just don't make these films anymore. or considerably fewer. Which is actually a great thing. Now, as for this one here: As if we did not have enough pseudo drama already, they took it to the next level of failure and made sure the main protagonistg is pregnant all of a sudden. Such a strong and confident woman, but hey birth control may not be her thing right? Oh my. Then of course we also get the guaranteed drama that the baby is not healthy after being born and we should be worried if it is going to live. And as the baby seems to have been fathered by the husband, there is also the option that she will get together ith him again and not the sensitive police officer, who by the way is also physically strong as we find out on one occasion. Right what women want no? A hunk who is fighting his demons. I applaud every woman who sees through this charade. Of course, at the very end all is good again. The baby (girl I think) is healthy and she is together with the cop and they are happy and her ex-husband is also coping well with the situation. So as fine as everything in this movie may be at the very end, as much of a mess is this film altogether. I expected something really weak and a complete absence of talent and they sure made it happen. Fat thumbs-up for this movie. Really keep your distance here. Highly not recommended.
The most known cast member is probably Charles Brauer, but he really does not have great screen time or material He plays the main character's father giving her solace at her childhood home. Said main character is played by Ursula Buschhorn by the way, a German actress who was in her mid-30s at that point. She is not good, that much is safe. But I still felt that von Au and and also Greiling, who plays her husband, were worse. Especially the latter was a truly negative surprise. His line delivery was so stale and weak that it felt very cringeworthy. Of course, the way how his character was written was not helping at all here. With that I mean how after he had this affair for a year, all of a sudden it is over and he realizes he does love his wife indeed and wants her back. How realistic. We should only see now that the woman is the one who has all the choices what and whom she wants. Admittedly, in that scene Buschhorn really was soo bad when we see her struggling with this new information. Her face expression. She was trying so hard, but could not make it work credibly. Later on, in the second half, Maria Burghardt shows up. She plays the female protagonist's daughter and I found it a bit cringeworthy how she acts as a friend and supporter to her mother against the unlikable father because of what he did. It is the same as almost always with Regina Ziegler and this kind of movies. Highly anti-male because the target audiences are women working at home to watch this in the afternoon, although I wonder ith how emancipation is much more a thing now than back in 2006, perhaps this idea is going to change one day. Or they just don't make these films anymore. or considerably fewer. Which is actually a great thing. Now, as for this one here: As if we did not have enough pseudo drama already, they took it to the next level of failure and made sure the main protagonistg is pregnant all of a sudden. Such a strong and confident woman, but hey birth control may not be her thing right? Oh my. Then of course we also get the guaranteed drama that the baby is not healthy after being born and we should be worried if it is going to live. And as the baby seems to have been fathered by the husband, there is also the option that she will get together ith him again and not the sensitive police officer, who by the way is also physically strong as we find out on one occasion. Right what women want no? A hunk who is fighting his demons. I applaud every woman who sees through this charade. Of course, at the very end all is good again. The baby (girl I think) is healthy and she is together with the cop and they are happy and her ex-husband is also coping well with the situation. So as fine as everything in this movie may be at the very end, as much of a mess is this film altogether. I expected something really weak and a complete absence of talent and they sure made it happen. Fat thumbs-up for this movie. Really keep your distance here. Highly not recommended.