The Relativity of Love

Love is a strange game, Connie Francis already knew that. And Otto Alexander Jahrreiss seems to be aware of it too, because in his latest directorial effort Die Relativitätstheorie der Liebe he sends Olli Dittrich and Katja Riemann on a very special journey through the turbulent love lives of German city dwellers. Similar to Tatsächlich.Liebe or Männerherzen, Die Relativitätstheorie der Liebe is also a romance consisting of loosely linked episodes. But where similar works have divided the burden of the stories on the shoulders of dozens of famous stars, the action here is simply stemmed by the two main actors, with each of the two may slip into five completely different roles.

There is, for example, the agency boss Frieder, whose wife Eva has turned in recent years more and more to esotericism, while the joint son is his boredom with air rifle salvos on pigeons. Only in the arms of Eva's twin sister Maria can Frieder still really revive. Peggy from the health authority can only dream of that. For years now, the post-stern civil servant has been lonely, sharing her meager dinner with only sad memories. But that changes when she has to take a closer look at the snack bar of the Lebanese Youssef and an unusual relationship begins to develop between the two.

The beginning of love is long behind Paul and his wife Gabriela. After 35 years, the driving instructor and his hot-blooded wife never miss an opportunity to make life difficult for each other. Even plans for the violent demise of the once beloved partner are not left out. Meanwhile, Alexa, the daughter of the two, must come to terms with the fact that her desire to have a child will probably remain unfulfilled forever. Or does the encounter with the keyboard player Stevie change that after all?

The relativity theory of love is a very nice idea, which thanks to the two main actors is also largely successful in the implementation. Love is shown here in all its facets, from the first butterflies in the stomach to alienation, loss or even homicidal thoughts. The humor is sometimes very obvious, then again quiet and hidden. The fact that not every gag hits the mark is not really a tragedy. The only real pity is that Katja Riemann and Olli Dittrich, who deliver five great performances here, have been given an occasionally only average script as a basis.

With a weaker duo Jahrreiss could have suffered bitter shipwreck. But Dittrich and Riemann save the film even over its weaker moments. At the same time, the action doesn't always seem funny in a lighthearted way. Some scenes come across as darkly bizarrely funny, and sometimes the laughter gets stuck in your throat. Especially the war of the roses between Paul and Gabriela definitely belongs to this category, which also makes these scenes stand out from the lively stew.

As with most episodic films, the biggest problem with The Relativity of Love is that not all set pieces work equally well, and some stories could have been told in more detail, while others could have been done without. But all in all Otto Alexander Jahrreiss succeeded in making a very nice romantic comedy, which is still worth seeing even in the weaker moments thanks to the two main actors. So if you want to know what the rules of the relativity of love are and if you also want to be entertained, you can't miss this movie!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp