Love in Thoughts

Love in Thoughts
Love in Thoughts DVD cover
Directed by	Achim von Borries
Written by	Hendrik Handloegten Annette Hess
Produced by	Stefan Arndt
Starring	Daniel Brühl August Diehl Anna Maria Mühe Thure Lindhardt
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release date	February 12, 2004 (2004-02-12) (Germany)
Running time	89 min.
Language	German

Love in Thoughts (German: Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken) is a German film directed by Achim von Borries. It was released in Germany on February 12, 2004. The main characters are played by August Diehl, Daniel Brühl, Anna Maria Mühe and Jana Pallaske.

Plot

The movie takes place in late 1920s Berlin. It opens with Paul being questioned by police about a note he had written. The scene then fades out, and the movie shows what happened. Paul, a shy virgin poet who is tired of being alone and heartbroken, is friends with an openly gay aristocrat boy, Günther, who is suffering unrequited love for Hans. Paul is staying at Guenther's parents' country home over the weekend. The parents are absent. Günther's sister Hilde, who stole Hans' heart besides, is loved by Paul, for whom Günther has budding feelings, which complicates the brother-sister relationship. Hilde has no interest in committing to a relationship with Paul, however. Günther invites some people over to have an all-night party, filled with alcohol, music, and sex. It is one of their last parties, since Paul and Günther have made a suicide pact. Paul, during this time, also has sex with Elli, a friend of Hilde's who was invited to the party. Günther, Paul, Hans and Hilde go through a series of couplings, conversation and partying before proceeding to Hilde and Günther's parents' apartment in the city. There the drama ends with Günther shooting Hans and then himself. The question is what actually happened. The film is based on a "true" story, the so-called "Steglitz school tragedy".

Cast

• Daniel Brühl as Paul Krantz
• August Diehl as Günther Scheller
• Anna Maria Mühe as Hilde Scheller
• Jana Pallaske as Elli
• Thure Lindhardt as Hans
• Verena Bukal as Rosa
• Julia Dietze as Lotte
• Buddy Elias as Dr. Frey
• Luc Feit as Zipfer
• Marius Frey as Bittner
• Holger Handtke as Wieland
• Jonas Jägermeyr as Pit
• Roman Kaminski as Vorsitzender bei Gericht (Chairman)
• Christoph Luser as Macke
• Tino Mewes as Django
• Thomas Neumann as Kommissar Peters
• Thomas Schendel as Kommissar Kraus
• Fabian Oscar Wien as Fritz
• Jürgen Wink as Lehrer Krähe
• Melek Diehl as Partyguest
• Clemens Fickweiler as Partyguest
• Daniel Hischer as Partyguest
• Nele Kalau as Partyguest
• Monika Küpker as Partyguest
• Kai Krambeer as Partyguest
• Bodo Maier as Partyguest
• Ivonne Meyer as Partyguest
• Nicolai Paschke as Partyguest
• Helena Pistor as Partyguest
• Olga Regier as Partyguest
• Anna-Zoe Schmidt as Partyguest (as Zoe Schmidt)
• Michael Schreiber as Partyguest
• Undine Spiller as Partyguest
• Ivan Shvedoff as Gast im Moka Efti (as Iwan Shvedoff)

Awards

Won

• 2005: German Film Critics Association Awards - for Best Actor: August Diehl
• 2004: Copenhagen International Film Festival - Golden Swan for Best actress: Anna Maria Mühe
• 2004: European Film Awards - Audience Award for Best Actor: Daniel Brühl
• 2004: New Faces Awards, Germany - for Best Director: Achim von Borries
• 2004: Undine Awards, Austria - for Best Young Actor - Film: August Diehl
• 2004: Verona Love Screens Film Festival - for Best Film: Love in Thoughts

Nominated

• 2005: German Camera Award - for Feature Film: Jutta Pohlmann
• 2004: Brussels European Film Festival - Golden Iris : Love in Thoughts

External links

• Love in Thoughts at IMDb
• Official website (in German)
• Love in Thoughts: Film review at Filmcritic.com