Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe

The brilliance of this film is on several levels. The visual effects and the direction of Helmut Dietl perfectly compliment the writing (script by Dietl and Patrick Süßkind) and the superb cast. In addition the all the visual appeal, the music is not to be missed.

This is a film that you will either love or hate, that's what it comes down to. I think that if you enjoyed Eternal Sunshine (Vergiss mein nicht) you will enjoy Liebe. There is a balance of raw emotion coupled with the humour that is always missing from straight up dramas.

The problem people seem to have with this film is the distinction between whether we are supposed to think that Dietl is making a joke or if he is serious about the possible existence of eternal love, die einzige große Liebe I'm Leben. I believe that Deitl wants to show us that it's possible, but that humans inevitably screw it up.

The movie is excellent and one of the few deeply touching me. I had tears in my eyes all the way home. It is a wonderful movie about "true love" and what "true love" on this world really means. It shows that even the greatest love on Earth can not stand the persistence of memory, the impermanence of the body and the insignificance of all our day to day actions. While it doubtlessly demystifies "true love" on one side, on the other side it shows how powerful it is and that the world is empty, dark and meaningless without it. Especially the casting of Alexandra Maria Lara as "Venus Morgenstern" is as brilliant as it gets. She is not only a stunning beauty; she also has so much soul and amiability in her eyes, she should get an academy award for it. The movie basically is re-telling the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. For this, it is re-using the wonderful music of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Opera. The scenes in the underworld are generally well done, but when Venus (aka Eurydice) sings out her love for Mimi (aka Orpheus), even the God Hermes starts crying and EVERYBODY in the movie theatre will start crying too. However, the movie has one big drawback. The movie is a mirror: it makes only sense to people who have already experienced deep love and loss in their life. For all the others, it will be just "kind of a weird story" as some of the comments here already show. The movie comes with a reflection of feelings of love and loss but only to those who already learned about this before. For the others, it will certainly just be a quite silly comedy. I hope the small group of the others will prevail. This movie is not mainstream.

I saw this film when I was in Frankfurt. I had seen trailers for it, but I had no real idea what it was going to be about. The film sometimes seem to move too quickly or too slowly, but it tells the story it sets out to tell, and does so really well. It is a strange film, in the way that German films can be strange (I mean this as no bad thing, Goodbye Lenin, or more appropriately Run, Lola, Run.).

There are many recurring ideas and images in the film, which is something I alway appreciate. Despite the difficulties I had understanding the language, I understood the story, many of the jokes, and the characters' relationships to each other.

The music, the setting, the mythology used and the "twist at the end" (I didn't see it coming because I am not particularly familiar with the myths used) left me breathless. I also walked back into see it again. (But I had neither the time nor the money.)

Mimi with the help of her love (Venus) is becoming successful as a music star, which Venus can't digest. While not being so overly happy with the trailer, the movie itself was great. I've seen it on DVD and even there the pictures and all the beautiful scenery comes out. Even more important, the main actors are great, not forgetting to mention the side characters. Heino Ferch dressed up as Hermes playing the most surprising (at least to me) role of his movies. Alexandra Maria Lara already seen in the Downfall stands out as well. The most important thing is though, that it is not just comedy or tragic it is 1.) harmony of these two together with great shots and visualization 2.) it is about acting and 3.) about the storyline. I can only recommend it.

honestly i don't think, that this movie wants to prove that everlasting love is a myth. i have seen it few hours ago, and i found it really, really good. actually its a very good romantic piece. it balances itself very smart between a comedy and a drama. to recognize some actors/actresses its recommended for you to know some famous German TV-celebrity of todays, but also very enjoyable even without this knowledge. some visual effects are very well done, especially at the end. This movie is not flat. not at all! Be prepared for some very deep thoughts about meaning of life, meaning of love, spiced up with humor and sometimes with very surrealistic scenes. worth watching, its a not-common piece with very good acting, and with a beautiful music. Alexandra's voice is amazing. 9/10