Liebe, Schmerz und das ganze verdammte Zeug

I've been looking for a copy of this wonderful movie for several years. I can't imagine why it's never been released on VHS or DVD. Saw it originally in '73, caught it again on some late night movie channel. Haven't seen it since, but the memory lingers on. I STILL have a crush on Timothy Bottoms, thanks to this sweet and romantic movie! Maggie Smith is also wonderful--such a great actress.

This is a charming story with fun little vignettes (Maggie Smith exiting a "loo" unknowingly trailing toilet paper stuck to her heel) and clever dialogue throughout, set against a trip through beautiful scenery by bus and bicycle.

Yes, it's too romantic. Yes, it's a fairy tale. But it's so lovely. Timothy Bottoms is a loser on a bus trip through Spain where he meets his female counterpart, Maggie Smith. Of course, she's older than he is, but they soon find out they're kindred spirits. This movie is a dream. I, of course, am a romantic, so I loved it from the moment I first saw it, when I was just a kid. If you're a romantic, you'll love it too.

I hear that Alan J Pakula was loved by his actors. I'm sure that's true and Love And Pain And The Whole Damn Thing made me notice, made me feel the love of Pakula for his actors. Here he has Timothy Bottoms in a performance of such beauty that I don;t understand why he vanished, specially after this film and The Last Picture Show. Maggie Smith builds, with Timothy Bottoms, a romantic crescendo more clear and tangible to us, the audience, than to them, those character walking at the verge of the abyss. Beautiful, smart and unforgettable.

I saw this film for the first time when it was coupled with "the main film"...The Dove. Fortunately this film came on first and afterwards, during the preview of The Dove, most of the audience left. They clearly had come to see Maggie Smith. This is an absolutely perfect film and I would love to share it with other people.

After viewing Love and Pain nearly thirty years after it's initial release, I felt that this film had certainly passed the test of time. This sometimes overlooked film is an excellent vehicle for Maggie Smith in a dramatic role; even more believable than her classic, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Initially the film appears to be a very clever, dry comedy, accented by Maggie Smith's prim and proper British morals pitted against Timothy Bottom's portrayal of a rich, but socially awkward American student. From the hysterically funny camping-trailer scene to the bitter-sweet twist at the end, Love and Pain is a timeless treasure worthy of a place on your video shelf!