"Meine große Liebe", which means "My big love" (not a Scrubs episode), is a German television film from 2005, so this one has its 15th anniversary this year in 2020. It runs for the usual 1.5 hours and was directed by Peter Kahane and while the man directed big screen releases since the 1980s, his early 2000s were really nothing to be proud of ith all the weak television stuff he made there. Here we got one exhibit. As generic as it gets, but already expected for a Saxonia Filmproduktion as those have been part of many terrible projects quality-wise. Before that and also later, Kahane worked on films and projects that had more quality, even if those were not great or anything either. The writer here is Manfred Birkel, not the most prolific overall, but between 1995 and 2008 he worked on some stuff, all television too, and while I was kinda gentle on Kahane, there is no reason to be the same when it comes to Birkel. Exclusively bad projects in his body of work. The Natalie movie is just one example. Others would be "Zur Sache, Lena" or "Nackt im Cabrio". This one we got here is maybe not even his worst effort which says a lot. It is already from the end of his career though if we can trust imdb that he has not been credited with anything since 2008, so over a decade, although you can never be really sure when it comes to German projects. Maybe the list is incomplete. But if it is true, then it is a good thing because I see no talent in the man. Same applies to some cast members. Thekla Carola Wied is the best example. She has films where she is really bad, but here she is just entirely forgettable, which is already as good as it gets for her I suppose. Says it all. No clue why she gets cast as lead so many times. I think she has to talent or range or versatility. She looks mildly attractive for her age, but that is it really. And of course the fact that she has been in so much gives her some recognition value. Then again, how can I be surprised that with the German television film landscape dominated by Degeto and Regina Ziegler this is enough already to be given lead roles. Jer pretentious double first name helps too I suppose. The perhaps biggest supporting player is Michael Mendl. I don't think he is as bad as Wied overall, but the fact that he has been in so many of these trashy German small screen releases is absolutely not working in his favor. These characters are not a challenge at all and he simply takes the easy path. I believe he is better than that. Then again, it may be a bit of a challenge to save the character with how poorly everybody is written in here, but it is literally impossible to save the movie. Gisela Trowe and Denise Zich are actresses that other German film buffs will maybe recognize. Stromberg fans will also have one more familiar face here, an actress whose biggest strength may be accents. And finally Max von Thun. He was still under the age of 30 here, pretty young and has been part of many projects since then, some as bad as this one here, others a bit better.
Now enough with the cast. Let me give you a few scenes and references why I think this is not a good film at all. The key plot is already pretty absurd. We have an elderly couple pretty happy with each other still after all these years (no that is not the absurd thing) and the man has a new business partner, who turns out to be a lover of his wife from many decades ago. This is the key romance plot in here. The woman and her lost love remember their past and there is always a bit of a conflict about if they will get together again. So yeah, the central idea that they really meet again through coincidence feels really unrealistic. It needs good writing to make it work. Good writing is definitely nothing we get with this film here whatsoever. Which is why it all feels false. It is also the small moments, like when we have Wied's character lying in bed speaking with her husband about how she told him everything except one thing. Or the moment the two former lovers are introduced and recognize each other again. Or the moment when they talk about how they split and how she acts as if he simply forgot her when the trith is he wrote her all these letters. Funnily (or "funnily") enough, the letters show up out of nowhere as mother took them away back then, but did not destroy them and we find out that he indeed sent them all. But it is all so poorly written and the acting is almost as bad (especially by Wied) that it is impossible to take this film seriously at all. Still it wants to be taken seriously, so hard as if all this was an authentic love story. I feel bad for people who like this, especially for the women who do so as it is primarily made for them. Still props to those females who see through all this charade and do not see Wied's character as likable. I mean come on. Her husband is really not happy as he finds out about all this and what does she do? Book the next trip to Vienna to see her former lover again. Charming. Even if you think that the husband overreaccts in his jealousy, that was really the mos unempathic move possible And even there you get a lot of absurdity, for example the answering machhine going off the exact right time. Or the husband after being really heartbroken before that coming back all out of nowhere rambling on about how none of it all makes sense without her. Cringe is real. I mean it's okay he does it, but they are jumping from one crucial moment to the next and avoid realism completely. But then again, the woman always seem to get away with everything in this film. There is also a side story with a younger couple. Or two people about to become a couple in fact. Look at those. The woman lies to the man and pretends to have children to see if he loses interest. All justified. The man has to prove himself worthy. Honestly, I would have liked best if the had left her for good after this. Girl is trouble. But like I said, in these films it is always okay if the female does stuff like that. Back to the key plot. There is more cringe to that as well, like when Mendl's character enters the office and destroys the contract. Or when the two men end up physically fighting like boys with the females standing there and watching (the protagonist and the Stromberg girl). Men are inferior here, no discussion. And in the end, all is still solved and the other man happily sends the contract again to make sure it is a 100% happy ending. I mean with the secret dancing route to surprise the wife (men must do that to keep their wives happy, they are basically slaves) it was clear he would be allowed to keep her (yes, you can say it like that), but I also could have imagined a story in which he simply cheated on his wife at some point and she returns to her lost love, especially with this title. Or is the big love mentioned mentioned there in fact the husband? Debatable. Oh yes, the protagonist's mother also gets away unharmed with the terrible thing she did back then with how all she gets is a critical comment in the end despite what she did could have justified her daughter not wanting to see her again. She's female too, the mother, so there's your explanation. They only go hard on male characters in these films. But enough now, this is a film you want to forget as quickly as possible. Or, at best, not watch it at all. Major thumb-down. The epitome of a bad German small screen release and there are hundreds, if not thousands of those. Admittedly, I have also seen worse than this one we got here, but that is really because the others are truly horrible and this one here is "only" really, really bad and forgettable. Absolutely not recommended.
Now enough with the cast. Let me give you a few scenes and references why I think this is not a good film at all. The key plot is already pretty absurd. We have an elderly couple pretty happy with each other still after all these years (no that is not the absurd thing) and the man has a new business partner, who turns out to be a lover of his wife from many decades ago. This is the key romance plot in here. The woman and her lost love remember their past and there is always a bit of a conflict about if they will get together again. So yeah, the central idea that they really meet again through coincidence feels really unrealistic. It needs good writing to make it work. Good writing is definitely nothing we get with this film here whatsoever. Which is why it all feels false. It is also the small moments, like when we have Wied's character lying in bed speaking with her husband about how she told him everything except one thing. Or the moment the two former lovers are introduced and recognize each other again. Or the moment when they talk about how they split and how she acts as if he simply forgot her when the trith is he wrote her all these letters. Funnily (or "funnily") enough, the letters show up out of nowhere as mother took them away back then, but did not destroy them and we find out that he indeed sent them all. But it is all so poorly written and the acting is almost as bad (especially by Wied) that it is impossible to take this film seriously at all. Still it wants to be taken seriously, so hard as if all this was an authentic love story. I feel bad for people who like this, especially for the women who do so as it is primarily made for them. Still props to those females who see through all this charade and do not see Wied's character as likable. I mean come on. Her husband is really not happy as he finds out about all this and what does she do? Book the next trip to Vienna to see her former lover again. Charming. Even if you think that the husband overreaccts in his jealousy, that was really the mos unempathic move possible And even there you get a lot of absurdity, for example the answering machhine going off the exact right time. Or the husband after being really heartbroken before that coming back all out of nowhere rambling on about how none of it all makes sense without her. Cringe is real. I mean it's okay he does it, but they are jumping from one crucial moment to the next and avoid realism completely. But then again, the woman always seem to get away with everything in this film. There is also a side story with a younger couple. Or two people about to become a couple in fact. Look at those. The woman lies to the man and pretends to have children to see if he loses interest. All justified. The man has to prove himself worthy. Honestly, I would have liked best if the had left her for good after this. Girl is trouble. But like I said, in these films it is always okay if the female does stuff like that. Back to the key plot. There is more cringe to that as well, like when Mendl's character enters the office and destroys the contract. Or when the two men end up physically fighting like boys with the females standing there and watching (the protagonist and the Stromberg girl). Men are inferior here, no discussion. And in the end, all is still solved and the other man happily sends the contract again to make sure it is a 100% happy ending. I mean with the secret dancing route to surprise the wife (men must do that to keep their wives happy, they are basically slaves) it was clear he would be allowed to keep her (yes, you can say it like that), but I also could have imagined a story in which he simply cheated on his wife at some point and she returns to her lost love, especially with this title. Or is the big love mentioned mentioned there in fact the husband? Debatable. Oh yes, the protagonist's mother also gets away unharmed with the terrible thing she did back then with how all she gets is a critical comment in the end despite what she did could have justified her daughter not wanting to see her again. She's female too, the mother, so there's your explanation. They only go hard on male characters in these films. But enough now, this is a film you want to forget as quickly as possible. Or, at best, not watch it at all. Major thumb-down. The epitome of a bad German small screen release and there are hundreds, if not thousands of those. Admittedly, I have also seen worse than this one we got here, but that is really because the others are truly horrible and this one here is "only" really, really bad and forgettable. Absolutely not recommended.