A countess' unrequited love for an army officer leads to disaster.A countess' unrequited love for an army officer leads to disaster.A countess' unrequited love for an army officer leads to disaster.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations
- Volkmar
- (as Matthieu Carrière)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTitle translation: Finishing Blow.
- Quotes
Sophie de Reval: May I come in?
Erich von Lhomond: Of course. Thank you. It's quite late, Sophie.
Sophie de Reval: I'll just smoke a pipeful. Why did you come to Kratovice of all places, Erich?
Erich von Lhomond: Where should I have gone?
Sophie de Reval: You could have stayed in Paris or Berlin. No one forced you to fight in this war.
Erich von Lhomond: I'm an officer and useless in Berlin.
Sophie de Reval: What are you defending here? Your mother lost everything before the war.
Erich von Lhomond: Perhaps I like lost causes. In any case I've always fought for them.
Sophie de Reval: At least you've none of Konrad's illusions.
Erich von Lhomond: Konrad's beliefs are truer than yours, Sophie. His don't come from books, but from life, from your family tradition.
Sophie de Reval: The new era has no use for our tradition.
Erich von Lhomond: No one chooses his own story.
Sophie de Reval: Oh yes.
Erich von Lhomond: You should go to bed, Sophie.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Portrait of Valeska Gert (1977)
This is the backdrop for the film, but it's also about a pro-Communist rich lady and her ill-fated love for a childhood friend who is among the German troops. She throws herself at him repeatedly but in each case he rebuffs her. So, she then sublimates these desires by various affairs. While none of this sex is all that graphic, this and the underlying reason the man isn't interested make this a rather adult film and one I wouldn't show to younger audiences.
While the setting for this film is interesting, the overall film is as gray and lifeless as any I have seen. I don't recommend it unless you are an amazingly patient person or you are really into overrated German films. I especially warn away anyone who suffers with depression, as it will no doubt make it worse. The simple fact is that there are so many better German films out there waiting to be seen--such as MOSTLY MARTHA, DAS BOOT, MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN, WINGS OF DESIRE or ALI, FEAR EATS THE SOUL (among others).
- planktonrules
- Jan 15, 2007
Details
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1