Relative Strangers

An interesting and entertaining story of a family that discovers that the husband and father has had a secret life, which unfolds after he dies of a stroke. The wife finds that her husband had another wife and a young child.The story moves between Germany and Ireland and deals with the relationships between and among the two families. A crisis involves them all in the climax to the story, but it seemed to drag out a bit needlessly. Overall, worth a viewing.

Realistic story which maintains interest, though three quarters of an hour could have been cut without much loss. Shown here in one near three hour instalment, the tendency was to come up against almost soap-opera saga, though far less ephimeral in import.

Reasonably good performances crowned by an exceptional Brenda Fricker who more or less saves the day with her steady interpretation; if `her' two adolescent children started off a little weak, their playing improved later on. Lena Stolze was quite convincing in her role.

Apart from that, this is more or less a standard TV production with nothing specific to make it stand out. The car accident on the autobahn was magnificently done. However: the story line makes its impact as you get further into the film, and human emotions become the centre of development in this drama.

Nicely filmed around Dusseldorf, but especially in Dublin and Bray, Eire. The accompanying music is not up to much.

The story is compelling enough, but I was mesmerized by Brenda Fricker. The camera work was excellent as her face was held in the shot for a long enough period of time to really see her face, her thinking processes, her anger, all of it so subtly rendered. The little boy was adorable , too, and there was some decent acting all around. A worthy use of ones time.