The Invention of Love

The completely unexpected death of actress Maria Kwiatkowsky, who was just 26 years old, not only put an abrupt end to a young life and a promising career in July 2011. Lola Randl's film The Invention of Love, which had just been shot with Kwiakowsky in the leading role, also had to be abandoned after 23 days of shooting - apparently for good. But Randl didn't want to let her talented actress' last work simply gather dust unappreciated in the archives. And so the script was rewritten and shooting resumed nearly a year later. The result is a film as unusual and unique as the actress it honors.

Because Randl has unceremoniously turned The Invention of Love into a wonderfully whimsical movie-within-a-movie story that seems slightly documentary at the start, but then takes on a very original life of its own. When the main actress, Nina, dies, the filming of a feature film has to be stopped. The film was supposed to tell the story of a young couple, Emily and Daniel, who sneak into the life of the wealthy Amine in order to hijack her fortune. After Emily saved the rich woman's life, but she didn't show much gratitude for it, it's now up to Daniel to put the plan into action. He is supposed to win her heart, marry her and thus become her sole heir. The screenwriter has to rewrite the story after the death of Emily actress Nina, especially since many of the most important scenes had not been shot yet. The decision that the set intern, of all people, should now take on the role of Nina doesn't make things any easier. The whole thing gets completely out of hand and the overtaxed director has a hard time keeping the actors and crew in check. But the more the original story changes, the more chaotic the filming becomes. More and more, the boundaries between film and reality become blurred, and at some point even the staff on set no longer know what is now reality and what belongs to the film.

It was a brave decision to continue The Invention of Love in such a drastically altered way after Maria Kwiatkowsky's death. But in doing so, the film perfectly captures the very special character of its late leading lady. It is non-conformist, a little offbeat, but at the same time extremely stirring and profound. The fact that Lola Randl just didn't go the route that other filmmakers in similar situations strive for, by filling the unexpected gap with doubles or CGI copies of the deceased actors, makes her film-within-a-film comedy not only a worthy tribute to Maria Kwiatkowsky, but also one of the most original German works of the year.

Because while the feature scenes completed in the first shoot reveal a film that is nevertheless rather conventional, Die Erfindung der Liebe has been given an unpredictability and an unconventionality by the scenes added in the second shoot that is refreshing and testifies to a great deal of creative passion and personal heart and soul on the part of all involved. This unconventional and light-hearted approach to what is actually a very sad affair not only delights the audience, but would certainly have made Maria Kwiatkowsky very proud. Lola Randl has created a film that runs counter to all expectations, that is funny, biting but also a little bit melancholic and that can be warmly recommended to all lovers of experimental arthouse fare from Germany as a quite wonderful overall package. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp