Mitte Ende August

Sometime in August

Happy and in love, Thomas and Hanna arrive at their new country cottage where they plan to spend the summer. But then Thomas′ brother Friedrich unexpectedly arrives – his wife and child have just left him. After initial difficulties with Friedrich′s reserved manner, Hanna begins to appreciate his reliability and responsibility – virtues one would not necessarily associate with witty, anarchistic Thomas. The next day Hanna picks up her goddaughter Augustine from Berlin. The four of them now work on the house, swim in the lake, play guitar. The more time they spend together, the clearer it becomes that silly billy Thomas persists in behaving like a teenager, while Hanna and Friedrich work on the house in tacit intimacy as if they were the parents of two adolescents. An éclat is inevitable …

Writer/director Sebastian Schipper: "I was looking for a book. When I opened ′Elective Affinities′, it was less with the thrill of anticipation than just needing a holiday read. I was always a devotee of the failed and the outcasts. Büchner. Heine. Kleist. Hölderlin. Goethe? For me a triumphator. A victor. Rich. Politician. A CDU man. But it′s completely different. Light. Bright. Little furniture, lots of room. At the beach I keep getting up and taking a few steps. Then I quickly return, amazed and excited. Before I know it, it′s decided: this will be my next film."

Source: 59. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)