Liebe, so schön wie Liebe

As is habitual for director Klaus Lemke, this movie is strong on all counts except for plot. Unusually for him, this one looks like it's been done by Eric Rohmer. We get to follow a ragtag band of counterculturalists, idlers, and stunningly beautiful women through all kinds of adventures. Somewhat unusually for Lemke, this is shot on high-quality 35 mm, although the colours of the copy I got to see had faded so that the whole film looked as if it had been shot through a red filter. Out of all the actors in this film, Rolf Zacher has managed to rise to celebrity, Marquard Bohm with his weird Mick-Jagger-esquire looks was a bit of a star in his day; the very talented and beautiful Sylvie Winter only made two more movies after this one before she faded into cinematic obscurity.

The plot: Sylvie (Sylvie Winter) has split up from her boyfriend of two years only to have to attend to his wedding shortly afterwards. Then shirker Rolf (Rolf Zacher) enters her life, initially by posing as a TV and radio license inspector. Then the story loses its direction and the two, along with their friends, decide to set up a circus troupe and tour the boondocks with it. The movie ends as a pastoral idyl.