思念

　　One of the standout features from the 2006 Berlin Film Festival competition, this deceptively modest thirtysomething love story is set within the everyday milieu of provincial German life. Markus is a welder and a volunteer fireman with an enviably happy marriage to Ella, his childhood sweetheart. One weekend, the firefighters go on a training session in a neighboring town, and after a drunken night Markus wakes up next to Rose, a waitress. He returns home to Ella, but it seems he is reluctantly and unexpectedly in love with both women. Informed by her own meticulous research and a background in documentary filmmaking, Valeska Grisebach’s approach is mirrored in the subtle performances of her largely nonprofessional cast. “Here a glance or a shift of the head can speak volumes, and the piercing melancholy of Markus’ drunken solo dance is easily on a par with Fassbinder or Denis” (Sandra Hebron, London Film Festival).