Die Ökonomie der Liebe

Marie and Boris were in love once and have two daughters and a lovely house that Boris has done up mostly by himself. Somewhere along that journey the love has been reversed and now Marie can not abide the sight of her husband. They seem to have arrangements to cohabit until finances have been sorted but things are steadily falling apart.

The film can be a hard watch as anyone going through a relationship meltdown or who has gone through one will know. The ways they chose to humiliate each other seem to know no bounds. Then we have the guilt trips and the fumbling make ups.

It has the feel of a very well observed and constructed film. All the actors are great especially the children. What it does get for its unrelenting realism is a bleak and almost depressing film. This is as far from a 'feel good' film as you can possibly get – think 'Kramer Vs Kramer' only with better wine. As an artistic endeavour though it does have to be applauded for its achievements – but I had to watch something more cheery afterwards so do be warned.

The film succeeds to shed light into the fallacies of a family, the distancing of the couple, the financial issues, and the stress associated with raising up children. The main actor, Berenice Bejo plays an awesome part of bringing out the feelings of the stressed mother who has put all effort in raising up her children, sacrificing everything else, including her husband. The husband is a secondary figure in survival mode, trying to make sense out of what is happening, occasionally exploding but most of the times playing his share in raising up the kids, of course in a less successful way than their mother and her expectations.

The film shows the natural carelessness of the father, the hate that builds up in the mother towards her husband, the dynamics of parenthood and the impediments of divorce, which encompasses the mother's dream of freedom.

I loved the spontaneous and unsuccessful way the father tries to keep the family together, the mother's unsuccessful effort to keep the kids happy while trying to get rid of the husband, the animal-like behaviors of a failing husband and the moments of bliss in the kids' eyes when they phantasize that their parents could be again together in love.

As in every family battleground the kids are the ultimate losers, without the mother realizing that her alienating behaviour sacrifices her only goal: her kids' happiness. The father, devastated by his continuous failure to link the family ties together, behaves in ways that he regrets and does not realize that it is this behaviour that leads to the withrawal of his wife. The film is very successful in showing this familiar downward spiral and the doomed destiny of a family caught in it.

A divorce is never easy and such settings have been plainly used by movies in any countries. This movie however adresses a specific topic, as the matter is on separate maintenance, money and housing. Here, the focus is not the fight for the children, as almost always in such movies. This topic is addressed through a specific situation: if the couple separates after years of common life, they continue to cohabitate, because of the money issues the man has and because they couldn't find an agreement on the split.

I felt this movie had somehow two parts, one with the conflict between the former couple, the rising of tension, the dynamics. At that time, I would have given it a 8: well shot, well directed, we are faced with a situation that can't last. The second part tries to go on with the story, with the objective to make things move and reach a conclusion. It was necessary but less successful.

... considering divorce rates are so unwaveringly high... many can relate to the tale being told... it's a very well-made-acted-film that has realism going for it... one reviewer mentioned when they have watched something of this depressing a nature, they need allow time to then find something more uplifting right after... guess similar can be said about failed relationships.

This film is a rather realistic and also depressing drama. The true story and also accurate description of the daily trench war, domestic trench war between a man and a woman married since fifteen years and who see their couple fall apart like an iceberg in hot summer. It is highly depressing because it is so close to reality for many many folks. Some sequences are very disturbing, such as the one when the man comes inside the house, during the diner with his wife's friends...You have the feeling to watch real life events and people talk like in real life. I thought of another film also starring the outstanding Berenice Bejo: LE PASSE, released three years ago. The story was not really the same but the directing and acting were very similar.

Don't miss it. But not if you are with your wife or husband and you get through a major crisis. Because that would not make it. Choose BRICE DE NICE instead.