Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Emmas Glück" or "Emma's Bliss" is a German movie from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year and it runs for almost 100 minutes (including credits). The film received some actually great awards consideration winning prizes at all kinds of festivals. The exception were perhaps the German Film Awards where the movie was nominated as well, but came short in all categories. In Germany, the film maybe went a bit under the radar in general because 2006 was the year for Oscar winner "Das Leben der Anderen". But looking at the number of ratings here on IMDb it seems that the movie is getting some more attention the more time has passed. This may also have to do with director Sven Taddicken and for him it is still the most known work. We will see if he can ever top the success as he is still a prolific filmmaker these days. For lead actress Jördis Triebel, it is probably also still the most known work as of today. I don't think it is anywhere near her best though and I think I am a good judge of that because I have seen many of her performances and the fact that she is among the A-list of German actresses now is really not because of this film, even if it helps her popularity a bit I guess. Her co-lead in here is Jürgen Vogel and he is really the most known cast member I guess. He also won an important prize for his performance. I cannot say I agree with that though. Vogel is an actor in my opinion, who shines more through charisma than through range (unlike Triebel) and the role of a suffering man with a tragic fate is not really well-suited for him I would say. He has some pretty good films and performances under his belt. This is not one of them. As for the supporting characters, Feifel is much better than what he can show us here. Schönemann I am quite a fan of and I think he did a good job too. The German Film Award nomination may have been a bit too much, but he was ignored for other strong performances frequently, so I am fine with it. Overall, I have to give this film here a thumbs-down. I felt that Triebel and Vogel really did not have any great chemistry at all and as the film is basically all about them (together), I would say that that's really crucial and a negative deal breaker for me. I also don't like the violence against animals in here early on. The biking scene really (also very early) felt like a weak remake of the one in "Mädchen, Mädchen" (a film admittedly way worse than this one here). And towards the end, the scene with the knife and the neck just did not work for me at all. Nobody would want that to be done. Nobody would want to do that. There's a difference between men and pigs. Overall, I think this film is certainly a bit on the overrated side. I give it a thumbs-down and suggest you watch something else instead.
