Old Love - Film Cultural Initiative 08/16

Tickets at www.ki-0816.at

Germany 2026 – 110 min – Directed by Andreas Dresen – Based on a bestseller by Elke Heidenreich – Starring: Dagmar Manzel, Joachim Król, and others

Since retiring, Harry (Joachim Król) has done nothing but grumble, drink wheat beer, and tend to his delphiniums. Or so Lore (Dagmar Manzel) thinks. She clings to her job as a librarian, organizes embarrassing readings, and reveres her poets like prophets. Or so Harry thinks. For an elderly married couple, the two talk an astonishing amount—yet they usually mean something else. When their daughter Julia wants to get married for the third time, a fight is inevitable—and yet it’s only the tip of the iceberg. In forty years of marriage, a lot has piled up. Things are simmering beneath the surface: unspoken questions, old jealousies, arguments over Harry’s indifference, and the purpose of a pressure washer. While Harry tends his garden, Lore dreams of a different life—of travel, of a fresh start. She feels powerless and asks herself with increasing urgency: Is this all there is? What opportunities has she missed? Is it too late for a fresh start at over sixty? Harry drinks his beer, smokes, and remains silent. Yet he senses her distress.

“Probably one of the best German films of recent years. And that’s not least because the film is far more than just a movie for seniors and also has a lot to offer a younger audience—especially since many viewers are likely to see their own grandparents reflected in this elderly couple.” (uncut.at)

Based on a bestseller by Elke Heidenreich and Bernd Schroeder, Andreas Dresen’s “Alte Liebe” tells the story of two people who have shared their lives for many years.

Two people who know each other well—almost too well—who can anticipate almost every thought and gesture of the other, who are sometimes annoyed by the fact that they are no longer surprised, but who also know how to appreciate exactly that time and again. Dagmar Manzel and Joachim Król deliver convincing performances, especially since the dialogue makes it easy for them. Not so much the dialogue from the original novel as that written by Laila Stieler, who manages with astonishing precision to capture the highs and lows—but above all, the only seemingly monotonous everyday life—of a long-term relationship. What began as a casual observation of a marriage develops, thanks to authentic dialogue, into a subtle portrait of a long-term relationship. (tip-berlin.de)

Trailer and tickets at www.ki-0816.at