Perhaps parties are different in the USA, but this is the first film I have seen which shows a party the way I remember them from my youth. The participants have moments of fun, and moments of restrained enjoyment, but the main feature of the party is the seriousness of the revellers. Sometimes they are somewhat depressed, sometimes rather despairing, often simply sad or even indifferent to the drama all around. Whilst this party is very realistic, I have to admit that it is more violent and more dramatic than most of the ones I attended. I am also pleased to be able to say that the level of smoking was also higher than in most of them. Both the interaction of the party guests and hosts and the way they sometimes searched for a place for privacy or at least introverted behaviour without leaving the gathering were just as in every party I attended in my younger days. Even the language hit exactly the right note, vulgar but not as overdone as in most films in the more emotional scenes, and restrained casual in the more blasé ones. In a way, the main theme of the story is love, but not romantic love as in 'Pretty Woman', and not the intellectual battles of 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe', but simply love as it is in many partnerships in which the first flare of romance has subsided to a certain extent.
Nils Nelleßen as Alex and Maria Simon as Dorit play very difficult roles extremely well, so that the interest and the credibility of the events is sustained throughout, despite the realistic lethargy of many of the guests. Isabelle Stever managed to write and depict the party with such accuracy and attention to details that one almost has the feeling of being there. If she can continue with this quality, there will soon be many more enjoyable films arriving from Germany.
This is a well-paced, dramatic and realistic film.
