Longing

A village in Brandenburg serves as backdrop for a love story of epic proportions. Markus, a happily married master locksmith and member of the volunteer fire department, falls in love with a waitress while on an outing with his fellows and tumbles into a an emotional struggle.

The story is set in a drab 200-soul provincial village in Brandenburg called Zühlen. The tale develops in drawn-out narrative threads and repeatedly delves into stoically affectionate portrayals of social setting. Markus and Ella have known one another since nursery school; two childhood sweethearts who share an ostensibly unrelenting love. Markus is a master locksmith. He sits in his workshop building a rabbit cage and parties with his mates from the volunteer fire department. Ella works by the hour as a cleaning woman, sings in the local choir and meets the neighbourhood wives at their kaffeeklatsch. The fateful moment occurs when Markus goes to the county town with the volunteer fire department for their annual fire-fighters trip. The evening’s festivities get out of hand and the next morning Markus wakes up in the apartment of waitress Rose. Markus seeks refuge in his wife's arms, but eventually steals away to visit Rose. It is a deeply gripping emotional equilibrium as Markus’ love for Rose appears not to impinge upon his feelings for his wife. When Markus’ fling can no longer be kept secret, there are no scenes of the vociferous outrage typical of a crumbling marriage, but instead a series of silent, questioning glances and sentences which are as simple, laconic and straightforward as the dialectic of the imagery itself. LONGING was shot with non-professional actresses and actors and is a confident combination of realism and melodrama.

Image © Peter Rommel Filmproduktion