Riekes Liebe (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

Incest on ice?

[lazarillo · 21 November 2015]

I've always thought they should make more movies set in the hot-house, high-pressure world competitive figure skating. And not just sappy romances like "Ice Castles" or "The Cutting Edge", but dramatic, adult-oriented movies chock-full of genuine sexual tension. True, most of the male half of figure-skating pairs are no doubt very, very gay, but if they're not, think of how difficult it would be to spend so much time in the close proximity (and often with your hand on the shapely butt) of a very pretty, scantily clad young female partner.

By this measure, this film is a definite success. It is about a pair of aspiring figure skaters (Laura-Charlotte Syniawa, Florian Stetter),who are definitely very attracted to each other, but hold themselves back. Then the girl suffers a serious injury and the guy takes up with another rival female partner (Isabel Gershke), who also sexually seduces him, bringing all the sexual tension and teenage turmoil to a feverish boil. The ending is rather melodramatic and stupid, but the movie as a whole is quite enjoyable. Laura-Charlotte Sinayawa may not have been quite "legal" by US standards, but if I need to register as a "sex offender" for still having basically a lot of the same feelings toward a VERY attractive teenage girl like her that I did when I was 16 myself, then just tell me where to register, and I think I better bring a lawn chair because there is going to be a LONG line. Regardless, she is quite good in this.

The most disturbing thing about this is not Syniawa's brief nude scenes or the worshipful attention the camera generally pays to her post-adolescent posterior. Nor is it the more graphic nude/sex scenes involving Stetter and the "barely legal" Isabel Gershke. No,the most disturbing thing is I think the protagonists are supposed to be brother and sister! Sure, I'd expect that from a German exploitation movie like "Schulmadchen-Report Volume 4", but this is a fairly respectable TV movie co-starring Christtoph Waltz, who later went on to win a pair of Academy Awards. Of course, I'm just going by the plot synopsis on the IMDb since I didn't understand the German dialogue (they might not be BLOOD siblings at least). But until someone bilingual reviews this or they release this obscure German TV movie with German subs. . .

Anyway, if you can look past the queasy (possible) incest angle, this movie is certainly pretty entertaining.

@Horst in Translation

[melags · 8/10 · 5 July 2018]

I'm not agree, that Nils only sees in his Sister sexual Temptation. He loves her too., even if he tries to runaway from her. The End (when he goes away) is very implausible. Not only for Rieke, but even for the Viewer.

Heart-breaking story of inner solitude

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 2 October 2017]

"Riekes Liebe", which means "Rieke's Love", or "Königskinder" is a German television film from 2001. It runs for 90 minutes as they usually do and it was the first effort as writer ant director apart from television episodes for Kilian Riedhof, who was around the age of 30 back then. And as much as I like some of his more recent stuff, I also cannot deny that he started his career on an incredibly high level here that most Hollywood directors can only dream of. The title character here is played by Laura Syniawa, but the really known names in here are the male supporting actors like Stetter, Milberg and 2-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz of course, even if the latter does not have a great deal of screen time here unfortunately. This is the story of Frederike, a young woman falling in love with her brother who really only sees sexual temptation and forbidden fruit in her. Yes this is a film about incest and it is about as great as another German small screen movie from back then dealing with this subject, namely "Der Kuß meiner Schwester" from one year earlier. But back to this one here: I think Syniawa was really amazing with her performance here and she really carries the film nicely. The way in which she pulls of the physically and emotionally broken parts is nothing short of brilliant. While missing a mother and suffering from a father who cannot love her as a daughter, but instead focuses on her professional sports career on an unhealthy level, she is breaking apart more and more on the inside and the eventually final attempt in which she tries to keep at least her brother from drifting away from her results in tragic consequences. Yes the ending is a bit melodramatic, but it felt realistic nonetheless and it was working well overall. Besides, we should be grateful these days for films that offer us something other than painfully unrealistic happy endings, which seems to be the common rule these days and it is one of the main reasons why German film is from many perspectives not in a very good state these days. Anyway, this movie from over 15 years ago already was quite a positive surprise for me and I highly recommend checking it out. A definite contender for Germany's best of the year 2001 and this is also because of the use of so many great songs and music in here, not just the recurring inclusion of the James Bond main theme.

Unconscious emotions

[taqqaya · 10/10 · 27 February 2019]

The film tells the extraordinary relationship between two brothers engaged in ice dancing. siblings living in the same house spend almost all their time together. They are trained by their father. Since, they spent all their time together, it began to emerge a close relationship between them. As times goes by, this relationship it reached its limits. insomuch that, little sister is jealous of the girl friend of his brother. During a time when they prepare for the competition, the unconscious relationship between them raised the tension.