Liebeskind (2005) User Reviews

Very little substance and a bad lead performance

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 August 2017]

"Liebeskind" is a German movie from 2005, so this one is already over a decade old and it is the most known work from writer and director Jeanette Wagner. This doesn't mean anything really as she has been the exact opposite of prolific really. Anyway, it is a really short film, clocks in before the 80-minute mark without credits and it is the story of a young woman getting in contact with her father again and what happens when sexual tension between the two rises. So yes you could call it an incest movie dealing with something you could certainly call a taboo. The title character is played by Anna Fischer and this was a bit of an early little breakthrough performance here, but honestly it should have been the opposite really as she was genuinely terrible in here, a true negative deal breaker leaving a bad impact for the entire film and it's shocking people still consider this actress lead material these days. In my opinion, she is GZSZ level when it comes to her range, nothing more. The script here is fairly weak too and it kept other actors from giving quality turns. This audition scene right at the beginning is maybe the lowest moment of the entire film. Such a cheap approach with them trying to make Fischer look like a gifted actress because she plays an actress and there she also misses all the right notes. Subtlety, convincing subtlety is a stranger to her. Back to the story, the sexual bait moments felt pretty false and not authentic at all. The consequence is that the film has a tendency to feel shocking for the sake of it. There is controversy yes, but it's never at no point a film that feels well-crafted or convincing in story-telling. 4 out of 10 is still really generous here and my suggestion for you if you want to see an actually well-done German film about incest is to go for the 2000 small screen release "Der Kuß meiner Schwester". And this one here you definitely wanna skip.

Very credible story and excellent performances by the two leads

[thesiouxfallskid · 9/10 · 9 November 2017]

Just finished watching the film, gave it my rating of 9, and then read the earlier review. Interesting how people can watch the same film and have such very different impressions. The father did step over a certain line for which he feels guilt, and the daughter really did have a genuine affection for him for which she will have difficulty getting over. The lead actress (daughter) performed unusually well throughout - it was as though we can read her mind. We can understand her feelings and her behavior. An unusually good script - a very credible story. But I guess there are those who have a need to toss the film into the incest category, but the film is something above that. It is an art film. Probably not a film for those who have a narrow view of life. I liked it.