Horst_In_Translation Review of Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre

Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre (2002 TV Movie)

Overall it turned out fine

[6/10 · 3 October 2017]

"Eine aussergewöhnliche Affäre" or "An Unusual Affair" is a German television movie from 2002, so this one has its 15th anniversary this year. It is certainly the most known career effort at this point for writer and director Maris Pfeiffer, who is still a prolific small screen filmmaker these days. In terms of the cast, even big German film buffs like myself won't find too many familiar faces in here. The most known is certainly lead actor Hans Werner Meyer and he is also the main reason why I give this film a decent rating. From the poster you can already see that this is a gay-themed film, even if I don't like the term at all as films should not be defined by the sexuality depicted in there. There is a reason you don't use the term hetero-themed film or straight-themed film. I have been pretty harsh on many of them in the past years as honestly many of them plain suck in terms of the script and acting and people really only see it because it is about homosexuality and also like it for this reason while completely ignoring the bad production values and unrealistic plot. Not so this one here. Yes it does have occasional weaknesses, like the dialogues written for and delivered by the kids, but as a whole, it is working out nicely I guess. It does feel relatively authentic from start to finish and like I said the lead performance is quite strong. Also the film has some lucky coincidences like that the man and his wife do not have the greatest chemistry at all, but as this film is basically about them drifting apart, it is not too much of a problem. At slightly over 90 minutes, the film doesn't drag either which is always a pro and yes you were curious watching this one how it's gonna unfold, even if the basic direction becomes clear pretty quickly. I also liked that the ending is not 100% happy sacrificing credibility for such an approach. The characters feel like taken out of real life and this feels like a story that could indeed happen to your next door neighbor too and I believe realism was a big goal here for Pfeiffer. She succeeded from that perspective and also from others. A bit of a shame she did not manage a transition to the big screen in the last 2 decades really as this is easily among the better German TV films from its year. I recommend checking it out and this should not be taken for granted as I am quite critical on the core subject of the film usually. One example for the quality is that the film does not lose itself in aesthetic, but pointless sex scenes. At least not repeatedly, which is a frequent issue. Go see it.