Munich Film Festival Review: Love Steaks (2013)

June 30, 2013 Film Festival, Munich Film Festival, Reviews No Comments

Still from the motion picture LOVE STEAKS

Cast: ,
Director: Jakob Lass
Country: Germany
Genre: Comedy | Romance

Editor’s Notes: The following article is part of our coverage for the Munich International Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit filmfest-muenchen.de and follow the Munich International Film Festival on Twitter at @filmfestmunich.

Jakob Lass’s latest tragicomedy Love Steaks not only examines the relationship between a guy and a girl of two extreme attitudes towards the life, but in the process, also portrays the problems associated with hierarchy and bureaucracy in the corporate world. Moreover, it also depicts some of the problems in the society that are least told in cinema.

Love Steaks begins with the introduction of ‘Clemens’ (Franz Rogowski), a guy who is always disoriented in whatever work he does, unpunctual and quite shy. He joins a Star Hotel as a spa trainee and also takes care of the cleaning of the same. After being late on his first day, he gets a small place near the laundry room, unlike to his expectations. Following days, he struggles in learning the therapy in spa, amidst a lot of questions put forward by him to his colleagues regarding the myths of therapy.

Jakob Lass’s latest tragicomedy Love Steaks not only examines the relationship between a guy and a girl of two extreme attitudes towards the life, but in the process, also portrays the problems associated with hierarchy and bureaucracy in the corporate world.

Love-Steaks-2013In the same hotel, works ‘Lara’ (Lana Cooper) as a cook. She is a girl of care-free attitude, always in the quest of new adventures, brawls and drinks. Her work life is different compared to that of Clemens, with her colleagues so supportive and one can always find her in the middle of a lively atmosphere. By coincidence, both of them happen to meet and they develop an affinity towards each other. The film explores the problems faced by the two due to their own characters and circumstances both in relationship and profession in a funny way.

Once into the relationship, both of them face a lot of problems with respect to the quality time they spend together. They are always in the watch out by their respective bosses, which drives both of them crazy. Added to that, Clemens faces a stiff problem of coping up with Lara’s alcoholic addiction. In the fit of rage and concern, he addresses Lara’s problem to her colleagues in a diplomatic manner. Even when she is grilled by her immediate boss with respect to the alcohol problem, she justifies and tries to find an excuse. She also makes false promises with Clemens on not taking up booze anymore. Though the problem of alcoholic addiction is put forward in the film, director seldom explained its effects or the solution to overcome it.

Mainly for its cast, performance and humorous sequences, Love Steaks scores well with the audience. But, still, you will be longing for more steaks to get tasted.

Clemens, who is always at the receiving end of situations, never misses to tickle the funny bone of people and the German audience absolutely loved it. Franz Rogowski deserves praise for his mature performance as a responsible guy trying to save the life of Lara and also try to solve the problems in his profession and relationship. Lana Cooper, with her witty smiles and mischievous performance becomes the centre of attraction to the film and really helps in moving the film at a constant pace.

The film, sometimes draw similarities and pleasures involved in the therapy and cooking. The gestures performed during therapy and cooking in the hotels are shown in a remarkable manner. The close-ups of massaging the skin of clients and the greasing of the steak contribute visually to the film. Background score goes well along with the screenplay though looked irrelevant at some places.

Mainly for its cast, performance and humorous sequences, Love Steaks scores well with the audience. But, still, you will be longing for more steaks to get tasted.

70/100 ~ GOOD. Enjoyable and entertaining, Love Steaks keep us engaged with the lives of Lara and Clemens throughout. Though the film lacks artistic value, though it is good to catch up sometime with your friends.

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Venkateshwaran Ganesh

Staff Film Critic. Visit my personal blog at framesofeternity.wordpress.com
Venkatesh is a cinephile, who always try to relate some of the moments of his everyday life with the moving pictures. Though he started a bit late in exploring world cinema, directors like Kubrick, Bresson, Kieslowski, Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray made him stay in this wonderful world of cinema for years to come. Even in the midst of an apocalypse, he tweets @venkkeyy about films. And you can check his not so active blog http://framesofeternity.wordpress.com/ and motivate him time and again.