Love Wall - DVD

Film: 20 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall - everywhere the event so important for recent German history was celebrated. There the medium film may not remain naturally outside. And so Peter Timm, who has already successfully brought a piece of the GDR into the cinema with "Go, Trabi, Go", brings with "Liebe Mauer" a very sympathetic contribution to the fall of the wall into our home cinemas.

Franzi (Felicitas Woll) has just arrived in Berlin and has moved into a small student apartment right at the border crossing. So she not only risks a look into the East every now and then, but also goes on an extremely cheap shopping spree there. When she returns heavily packed to the West and her shopping bags tear shortly after the border, the young Volksarmist Sascha (Maxim Mehmet), border guard against his will, comes to her rescue. Sparks immediately fly between the two and they arrange a meeting in East Berlin. But secret services on both sides of the wall observe the budding love extremely suspiciously and it does not take long until Sascha threatens to get really serious problems. Now it must be seen if love really can overcome borders and tear down walls.

Admittedly, "Liebe Mauer" doesn't always take reality too seriously. The Stasi methods revealed here, while definitely depressing, have been heavily toned down and sometimes humored for the sake of entertainment. And that's a good thing. Because Peter Timm didn't want to make a drama a la "Das Leben der Anderen". Rather, his film is a romantic love story with comedic interludes. And as such, the film works just fine.

This is due to the story, of course, which is full of beautiful, but also incredibly funny moments. Elements of classic screwball and mistaken identity comedy provide some great laughs, especially in the second half. But above all, of course, is the love story between Franzi and Sascha, which has become so magical thanks to the two main actors. Because in a film like this, the audience has to fall in love with the on-screen couple to some extent in order to be able to sympathize with their love story. Felicitas Woll and Maxim Mehmet manage to do that with very charming and likeable performances that make the characters they portray quite likeable after just a few moments of their screen presence.

This lovable film couple, the light-footed play with well-known East/West clichés, a little drama, a little more humor and a lot of romance made "Liebe Mauer" the most pleasant German surprise of the 2009 autumn movie season. And therefore also applies: absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Well-matched colors, overall sharpness at a good level and decent contrasts make the image quality of the DVD a positive viewing experience. The sound turns out to be rather unspectacular, although the dialogue, soundtrack and ambient noises are mixed quite coherently. Good!

Extras: Much is not to be found here, but for that the few extras can certainly please. First and foremost, the sympathetic Making of (approx. 22 min.), which provides an entertaining look behind the scenes. In addition, there are a few missed scenes (about 5 min.), a photo gallery and the trailer (about 1:30 min.).

Conclusion: "Liebe Mauer" is a likeable comedy about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the great love, which remains especially because of the charming actors in memory. The DVD is technically on a good level, but has hardly any extras worth mentioning except for a good making of and spoiled scenes. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp