"Göttliche Funken", whhich means something like "Godly Sparks", is a German television movie from 2014, so over five years old now, but because of the big names in the cast (at least for German standards), they are showing it again occasionally here on German television. It runs for 1.5 hours and was directed and co-written by Maria von Heland, who interestingly enough is otherwise mostly known for writing and directing several editions of the European Film Awards. But she is also a filmmaker, yet judging from the outcome here not a brilliant filmmaker because indeed looking at the cast here, she could have come up with something considerably better for sure. Or maybe the one to blame is her co-writer here I am not sure, probably both of them. With the great cast I am talking about here I am mostly referring to Anna Maria Mühe, even if she is just third credit, but I believe she has all it takes to achieve a career as impressive as her late father's. And after all Ulrich also appeared in some films that were not too amazing to be honest. Another one I like (here and in general) is Devid Striesow. Talented actor with great recognition value, also when he does not play Hape Kerkeling. Barry Atsma I am not too familiar with, but he is alright with what he is goven here, which is not as much as the other three have. The first credit is Jeanette Hain. I must say I always thought that she is an actress who does not have a great amount of range and versatility and this film cannot change my opinion. People mistake her admittedly stunning looks for great talent. Or the writing. The fact how much her community likes her here (the old lady and everybody else) and also how (in terms of posture and face expression) she moves towards the camera here already made it easy to see for me that she is almost completely about aura and make-believe and people maybe mistake her a bit for the characters she plays. So I certainly did not watch this film because of her, but the good thing is I knoe she would be forgettable (at best), so i was not disappointed. Pity though they did not cast a better actress for this part.
Still I am not sure if it could have become a better film then. The writing feels too shallow for that on several occasions I am afraid. Now another thing I want to say because I already mentioned Hain's looks, is that Mühe was also really attractive in here and that means quite something coming from me because usually I am not too much into blondes. But she was. And of course acted her part well against all odds and obstacles presented to her in the character's screeplay. With this I am referring to the affair or at least ONS she has with another character towards the end that felt just kinda forced to turn this love triangle into a love square and very much for the sake of it. I already mentioned the other male actor and it is a bit sad for him that his character was reduced to such nonsense. He deserved better. Call it feelings, call it payback, call it lust, in any case it does not make a lot sense because the film relies entirely on the idea that Striesow's and Mühe's characters are a couple and they are actually happy and in love and so it is difficult to accept that (even if there is attraction to other characters, that is perfectly fine) they would both cheat on the other. Maybe it is just my views on romantic relationships, but it did not feel too realistic to me and went against the entire core idea from this movie. The reference about God in the title has to do with the fact that Hain's character works as a priest and the scene I mentioned earlier has her in her uniform and depicts her totally in control while she switches effortlessly to casual looks just moments later. It felt a bit stupid. What felt even more stupid is how she makes out with another guy later on, briefly before she enters into the affair with Striesow's character, and honestly this showed that she was just really unfaithful and promiscuous. And still we should see her as a likable character. Also the last scene in the car felt kinda forced honestly with how well the quartet was now getting along with eacch other really difficult to believe. Not just the two girls, but also the two guys who were in a fight at some club earlier in the movie and there was certainly at least some kind of rivalry between then, but yeah it felt like a happy ending for the sake of a happy ending, not because it was authentic. The final church scene with her saying that she can/will no longer do the job was not helping matters either. Same is true about the old lady stannding up there. It was still alright, but honestly after the rushed-in health scare earlier (which they apparently quickly forgot about in terms of the speedy recovery) I just got sick of it honestly. There aren't many good aspects here in this film. One is that you never really know how this film is going to end. Will they stay together, just switch partners? Will one couple break up and the other won't? (admittedly unlikely) A lot is possible. The path they eventually took was one though that did not convince me at all. Pretty disappointing. This film is not a failure like so many other German small screen releases, but the fact that I say it is better than those is just because these are truly abysmal and this one here is just somewhere between weak and forgettable territory. I suggest you skip the watch and check out something else instead.
Still I am not sure if it could have become a better film then. The writing feels too shallow for that on several occasions I am afraid. Now another thing I want to say because I already mentioned Hain's looks, is that Mühe was also really attractive in here and that means quite something coming from me because usually I am not too much into blondes. But she was. And of course acted her part well against all odds and obstacles presented to her in the character's screeplay. With this I am referring to the affair or at least ONS she has with another character towards the end that felt just kinda forced to turn this love triangle into a love square and very much for the sake of it. I already mentioned the other male actor and it is a bit sad for him that his character was reduced to such nonsense. He deserved better. Call it feelings, call it payback, call it lust, in any case it does not make a lot sense because the film relies entirely on the idea that Striesow's and Mühe's characters are a couple and they are actually happy and in love and so it is difficult to accept that (even if there is attraction to other characters, that is perfectly fine) they would both cheat on the other. Maybe it is just my views on romantic relationships, but it did not feel too realistic to me and went against the entire core idea from this movie. The reference about God in the title has to do with the fact that Hain's character works as a priest and the scene I mentioned earlier has her in her uniform and depicts her totally in control while she switches effortlessly to casual looks just moments later. It felt a bit stupid. What felt even more stupid is how she makes out with another guy later on, briefly before she enters into the affair with Striesow's character, and honestly this showed that she was just really unfaithful and promiscuous. And still we should see her as a likable character. Also the last scene in the car felt kinda forced honestly with how well the quartet was now getting along with eacch other really difficult to believe. Not just the two girls, but also the two guys who were in a fight at some club earlier in the movie and there was certainly at least some kind of rivalry between then, but yeah it felt like a happy ending for the sake of a happy ending, not because it was authentic. The final church scene with her saying that she can/will no longer do the job was not helping matters either. Same is true about the old lady stannding up there. It was still alright, but honestly after the rushed-in health scare earlier (which they apparently quickly forgot about in terms of the speedy recovery) I just got sick of it honestly. There aren't many good aspects here in this film. One is that you never really know how this film is going to end. Will they stay together, just switch partners? Will one couple break up and the other won't? (admittedly unlikely) A lot is possible. The path they eventually took was one though that did not convince me at all. Pretty disappointing. This film is not a failure like so many other German small screen releases, but the fact that I say it is better than those is just because these are truly abysmal and this one here is just somewhere between weak and forgettable territory. I suggest you skip the watch and check out something else instead.
