Opening 19 Oct 2006
Directed by:
Stefan Krohmer
Writing credits:
Daniel Nocke
Principal actors:
Martina Gedeck, Robert Seeliger, Svea Lohde, Peter Davor, Lucas Kotaranin
In this German film which showed at Cannes and the Hamburg Film Festivals, a patch-work family of four vacations in a picturesque old house near the Schlei River. Miriam (Martina Gedeck), and André, her partner/husband (I never was sure which) settle cozily into a routine together with Miriam’s 15-year-old son Nils and his 12-year-old-going-on-22 girlfriend, Livia. Livia’s parents have flown to Mexico, entrusting their daughter to Miriam and André. This responsibily weighs especially heavily on Miriam and becomes almost unbearable when Livia spends long hours with – not Nils – but Bill, a German-American neighbor, old enough to be her father. Nils is typically teenaged non-committal; Livia is more of a sister than a girl friend to him. André thinks that Livia is mature enough to make her own house rules. Miriam appeals to Bill’s sense of responsibility more than once and during these multiple visits, she falls in love with him. Now she is torn between responsibility for a young girl and rejection of a rival. This can only end badly and it does. A surprising postscript at the end puts a new light on the interaction between these five people. Sommer 04 is worth your time if you are interested in new German cinema and actors, such as Gedeck, Svea Lohde, and Robert Seeliger to name a few. (Becky Tan)
