Love Steaks

Summary

A special love story, crossed by the work environment in which it takes place, which knows how to combine an almost documentary or reality imprint with others that are particularly poetic.

Review

Lara and Clemens (Lana Cooper and Franz Rogowski) are two probationers at a luxurious spa hotel on the Baltic. She as a kitchen helper and he as a physiotherapist. Over time, a special bond will emerge between the two.

This Jakob Lass film could be defined as a particular love story between two totally opposite beings to which picaresque elements are added, due to the way in which Rogowski's character confronts some of the women in the story. Clemens is rather shy, respectful of hierarchies and interested in his work. Lara is impulsive, irreverent, perhaps in this job not by choice and with alcohol problems. As they bond, she is the one in control, making it a series of challenges for Clemens. They are two opposite poles that somehow attract and need each other.

But in the film by Lass (also a co-writer), just as important as the relationship itself is its setting. The power dynamic between Lara and Clemens is part of broader ones corresponding to the workplace, where the interference of managers, colleagues and clients is forcefully felt. On the other hand, the kitchen and the physiotherapy and massage sector could not be more different, a contrast very well marked by the film, although a sequence marks a comical parallelism in part related to the title of the film. It is interesting to compare how both behave inside the hotel and outside it, in that landscape of cold Baltic screens.

Apparently, the only professional actors in the film are the ones that make up the leading couple, while the rest are made up of real hotel staff. This contributes to the imprint at times dry and almost documentary (or reality) of a film that contrasts with others of strange poetry focused on the leading couple.

Cooper achieves with his difficult character all the nuances so as not to hate her and even love her, while Franz Rogowski (later an acclaimed actor in Transit, Undine and Great Freedom) perfectly embodies the naive, slightly angelic and sensitive young man necessary for any story in part picaresque, but at the same time not fully aware or believed in his charm and sensuality and what they provoke.

We are a guest in the lives of two German young people who work with all their naturalness. Immersive, emotional, funny, the film makes you experience the story. The acting is successful, the director jakob lass does a good job. Romantic drama lovers should not miss it. I liked it very much, I recommend it. My grade is 10/8.8. Enjoy watching.

Very nice indie movie with two great leads - featuring the German Joaquin Phoenix ;) - and a cool plot. Cinema in your face. A Boy-meets-Girl-Story in the surrounding of a luxury resort at the Baltic Sea. She has problems with alcohol, he is very shy and reluctant. They meet in the hotel and help each other to overcome their respective shortcomings. I liked the characters and especially the editing. It gives the movie a special look and makes it fun to watch. Lots of apparently unscripted dialogue, fresh and authentic acting. Great music too, German Indie mixed with international stuff. Looks like we are getting - slowly but surely - a veritable scene of young German filmmakers, actors and producers who are able to deliver high-quality work. Recommended for lovers of the German Independent film, such as Axel Ranisch, Tom Lass, Nico Sommer...

I see people weight it like a boring film, but I think it is not a boring film. I liked the fragment per fragment like narrative and mostly enjoyed the film because of it's dynamic style of storytelling. Need to mention that the way characters are uncovered for the viewer is good directorial decision and I liked the film visually as well. Unfortunately I also see, that the stylistic approach of director is not a purely defined and original. The story itself is not a very interesting one for me, however the details (and some scenes) were engaging.

To conclude: 7/10 in its league. Not in open competition. It is shot with 100k under the Babelsberg film school.

It is a very strange dance these two fine young actors do.. you never know quite where it is going.. and you find it hard to take your eyes off them. The audience for such a film will be very small, it is as far from any mainstream film as one can find. But with many such films they can drift off into unwatchable territory, and although this production time and again flirts with going over the edge, each time it returns to keep us involved. And when it's all over, you're not entirely sure what you have witnessed, but feel as though it was worth your time spent.