Film Archive

Original Bliss

Official Selection - Competition 2016 / Gleißendes Glück / Germany 2016

Helene Brindel’s childless marriage bears no traces of happiness, and the somber woman has also lost her faith in God. Liberation from the emotional trap of gloomy thoughts and insomnia has its price, however, when it one day appears in the person of charismatic psychologist Eduard Gluck. Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others), Ulrich Tukur (The White Ribbon), and Johannes Krisch (Revanche) star in an uncommon psychological romance based on the novel of the same name by renowned Scottish author A. L. Kennedy.

Synopsis

Helene Brindel’s childless marriage shows no signs of harmony, and the somber woman has also lost her faith in God. “Where are You?” she asks from behind a veil of melancholy that separates her from the real world of relative luxury in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Liberation from the emotional trap of gloomy thoughts and insomnia appears one day in the person of charismatic psychologist Eduard Gluck, a self-assured and charming speaker for “new cybernetics,” which claims the ability to control reality with the mind and the possibility of “reprogramming oneself.” But a surprising secret hides behind his elegantly formulated guidelines for a lifestyle, whose self-centeredness Gluck tries to conceal with mild irony. Even viewers who know their filmographies well will be surprised by Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others), Ulrich Tukur (The White Ribbon), and Johannes Krisch (Revanche) as the stars of this uncommon psychological romance, a highly original adaptation of the novel of the same name by renowned Scottish writer A. L. Kennedy.

Karel Och

About the film

101 min / Color, DCP
International premiere
Director Sven Taddicken / Screenplay Sven Taddicken, Stefanie Veith, Hendrik Hölzemann podle stejnojmenného románu / based on the novel of the same name by A.L. Kennedy / Dir. of Photography Daniela Knapp / Music Riad Abdel-Nabi, Wouter Verhulst / Editor Andreas Wodraschke / Art Director Juliane Friedrich / Producer Manuel Bickenbach, Alexander Bickenbach / Production Frisbeefilms GmbH & Co KG / Coproduction Saarländischer Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Arte, Cine Plus Filmproduktion, Senator Film, Sky / Cast Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Tukur, Johannes Krisch / Sales Picture Tree International / Contact Frisbeefilms GmbH & Co KG
www: www.gleissendesglueck.de

About the director

Sven Taddicken (b. 1974, Hamburg) studied direction at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in 1996–2002. The short films he shot while in school won a variety of prizes, including a nomination for a Student Academy Award (Counting Sheep / Schäfchen zählen, 2000). His feature debut Getting My Brother Laid (Mein Bruder, der Vampir, 2001) took the FIPRESCI Prize at the Rotterdam IFF. His next film Emma’s Bliss (Emmas Glück, 2006) was a grand success at festivals and even more so with the general public. In 2008 he contributed one of three segments to the story showcase 1st of May: All Belongs to You (1. Mai – Helden bei der Arbeit). A year later, his historical adventure movie about celebrated 15th-century pirates, 12 Paces without a Head (12 Meter ohne Kopf), saw cinematic release.