Die Relativitätstheorie der Liebe (2011)

Actors Katja Riemann and Olli Dittrich each play a couple in love across five interwoven episodes. What all five couples have in common is their search for happiness in love, even though the protagonists could hardly be more different. In a tragicomic way, the film portrays the confusions and misunderstandings of love, giving viewers the impression that even the most simple-minded character can eventually find a suitable partner. Agency boss Frieder tries to reach his wife Eva with an advertising campaign, for the sake of his teenage son Hanno, in an effort to save his marriage. But his wife is into esotericism and has long since floated above all target groups. So, for the past 15 years, he has found solace with Eva’s twin sister Maria, who has kept both feet on the ground. Frieder is nevertheless distressed by the silence between him and his son, which he is trying to bridge with this advertising campaign. Driving instructor Paul, whose age shows, unlike his wife Gabriela’s, wants to get back at her for 35 years of marriage by having an affair. Gabriela enjoys flirting with other men, thanks to her still youthful looks, and her provocative behavior drives Paul to fury. And because, in his opinion, Gabriela meets her dance instructor far too often, he is convinced she is cheating on him with the “gigolo” and wants to give her a taste of her own medicine. In fact, the man dances professionally with women and is privately interested in men. These stories are closely linked to number two, because the cool but chronically lonely Alexa is Gabriela and Paul’s 30-year-old daughter. She has long been consumed by an unfulfilled desire to have a child. Since she doesn’t seem able to find a partner in the usual way, she contacts an agency specializing in this. There she meets sperm donor and keyboard player Stevie Lehmann, who has his own very particular way of seeing things. Alexa is impressed and befriends him. But as fate would have it, Stevie is currently taking driving lessons from Alexa’s father. On the very day Alexa plans to introduce her new boyfriend to her parents, Stevie wrecks Paul’s work car. Strict and conscientious public official Peggy encounters the likeable Youssef al Bustani, owner of the Lebanese snack bar “Beirut,” while inspecting restaurant kitchens on behalf of the health department. Citing deficiencies she believes she has found, Peggy tells him to install non-slip tiles and a splash guard immediately. But he doesn’t have the money for these supposedly necessary renovations. On the spur of the moment, Youssef rings the doorbell of Peggy, who lives a secluded life. “Armed” with a bouquet of flowers, he tries to impress her and talk to her in peace. She tries to ignore his warm and irresistible manner, but has to realize that cracks seem to be appearing in her outwardly tough bureaucratic shell.