We can't learn anything about the characters. There are two people who are constantly walking on the beach and fighting. The acting is the best thing in the movie. But I would love to learn more about the characters. Even the constant fighting of the characters in this short film becomes repetitive after a while.
13 Reviews
..you don't always know why, but time and again you are drawn back in..
bjarias19 February 2018
It is a very strange dance these two fine young actors do.. you never know quite where it is going.. and you find it hard to take your eyes off them. The audience for such a film will be very small, it is as far from any mainstream film as one can find. But with many such films they can drift off into unwatchable territory, and although this production time and again flirts with going over the edge, each time it returns to keep us involved. And when it's all over, you're not entirely sure what you have witnessed, but feel as though it was worth your time spent.
Workplace love
kosmasp25 January 2021
How much realness do you need? Seems some festivals deemed this had more than enough. And to be clear the central performances of the two lead actors is amazing - especially the female one in this. The male part is played by someone well known for his quirkiness - at least in roles. If he's completely different in real life, than kudos to him.
The movie overall has won a lot of prizes as imdb is stating, which is a little bit surprising ... at least to me. Can't be the script really, considering this plays a lot like an improvised experiment with some pillars set to give actors orientation. Feels like they're doing most, if not all of the work in that department. Which comes through in things being repeated and work place being ... well let's just say far removed from German efficiency ... or what people would imagine that to be. A lot of silliness going around and a strange love connection occurs ... an unlikely one some may say, but opposites attract so I would argue the opposite ... no pun intended.
If you are into German independent movies that are ... weird to say the least, this may be quite the experience for you. Everyone else be wary of what you let yourself into. This is not an easy watch. Some sensuality and sexuality included (with a bit of nudity)
The movie overall has won a lot of prizes as imdb is stating, which is a little bit surprising ... at least to me. Can't be the script really, considering this plays a lot like an improvised experiment with some pillars set to give actors orientation. Feels like they're doing most, if not all of the work in that department. Which comes through in things being repeated and work place being ... well let's just say far removed from German efficiency ... or what people would imagine that to be. A lot of silliness going around and a strange love connection occurs ... an unlikely one some may say, but opposites attract so I would argue the opposite ... no pun intended.
If you are into German independent movies that are ... weird to say the least, this may be quite the experience for you. Everyone else be wary of what you let yourself into. This is not an easy watch. Some sensuality and sexuality included (with a bit of nudity)
Not a Stinker But Left Me Wanting More
SLUGMagazineFilms19 January 2014
Love Steaks finds the timid and awkward Clemens (Franz Rogowski) starting a new job as a massage therapist and reiki trainee at a luxury hotel in a German-speaking country. While he learns the ropes amid the stringent attitude of the hotel, Lara (Lana Cooper), a blonde host mess who works in the kitchens, takes pulls of the cooking wine with the other cooks and participates in devil-may-care hijinks that earns her several talkings-to from her superior chef. Once the kitchen discovers Clemens and begins to pick on him, Lara begins to crush on him amid her alcoholism, and when he finds her passed out on a beach and massages her gluts, the two initiate a clandestine but reckless romance. Lara's wildfire personality and Clemens' calm yet unsure demeanor culminate in some charming, cutesy scenes ensconced in the depressive atmosphere of the hotel, with polished production that underpins the sterile and authoritarian nature of their work residency. As Clemens pushes Lara to overcome her alcoholism, though, it adds onto the pressure she feels from the hotel authorities and her fellow cooks (who make fun of her and Clemens' cleft palate scars and appearance), fermenting instability. Rogowski exhibits fine acting with a naturally distinctive way of speaking, and drives his character home. Although the film ends in a somewhat unexpected upheaval, Love Steaks relies too heavily on the characterization of the two protagonists in their environment, and the narrative aspect comes to a bit of an unsatisfying standstill, seemingly unfinished. It's not a stinker by any means, but it left me wanting more.
Love, work and poetry
danybur18 June 2022
Summary
A special love story, crossed by the work environment in which it takes place, which knows how to combine an almost documentary or reality imprint with others that are particularly poetic.
Review
Lara and Clemens (Lana Cooper and Franz Rogowski) are two probationers at a luxurious spa hotel on the Baltic. She as a kitchen helper and he as a physiotherapist. Over time, a special bond will emerge between the two.
This Jakob Lass film could be defined as a particular love story between two totally opposite beings to which picaresque elements are added, due to the way in which Rogowski's character confronts some of the women in the story. Clemens is rather shy, respectful of hierarchies and interested in his work. Lara is impulsive, irreverent, perhaps in this job not by choice and with alcohol problems. As they bond, she is the one in control, making it a series of challenges for Clemens. They are two opposite poles that somehow attract and need each other.
But in the film by Lass (also a co-writer), just as important as the relationship itself is its setting. The power dynamic between Lara and Clemens is part of broader ones corresponding to the workplace, where the interference of managers, colleagues and clients is forcefully felt. On the other hand, the kitchen and the physiotherapy and massage sector could not be more different, a contrast very well marked by the film, although a sequence marks a comical parallelism in part related to the title of the film. It is interesting to compare how both behave inside the hotel and outside it, in that landscape of cold Baltic screens.
Apparently, the only professional actors in the film are the ones that make up the leading couple, while the rest are made up of real hotel staff. This contributes to the imprint at times dry and almost documentary (or reality) of a film that contrasts with others of strange poetry focused on the leading couple.
Cooper achieves with his difficult character all the nuances so as not to hate her and even love her, while Franz Rogowski (later an acclaimed actor in Transit, Undine and Great Freedom) perfectly embodies the naive, slightly angelic and sensitive young man necessary for any story in part picaresque, but at the same time not fully aware or believed in his charm and sensuality and what they provoke.
A special love story, crossed by the work environment in which it takes place, which knows how to combine an almost documentary or reality imprint with others that are particularly poetic.
Review
Lara and Clemens (Lana Cooper and Franz Rogowski) are two probationers at a luxurious spa hotel on the Baltic. She as a kitchen helper and he as a physiotherapist. Over time, a special bond will emerge between the two.
This Jakob Lass film could be defined as a particular love story between two totally opposite beings to which picaresque elements are added, due to the way in which Rogowski's character confronts some of the women in the story. Clemens is rather shy, respectful of hierarchies and interested in his work. Lara is impulsive, irreverent, perhaps in this job not by choice and with alcohol problems. As they bond, she is the one in control, making it a series of challenges for Clemens. They are two opposite poles that somehow attract and need each other.
But in the film by Lass (also a co-writer), just as important as the relationship itself is its setting. The power dynamic between Lara and Clemens is part of broader ones corresponding to the workplace, where the interference of managers, colleagues and clients is forcefully felt. On the other hand, the kitchen and the physiotherapy and massage sector could not be more different, a contrast very well marked by the film, although a sequence marks a comical parallelism in part related to the title of the film. It is interesting to compare how both behave inside the hotel and outside it, in that landscape of cold Baltic screens.
Apparently, the only professional actors in the film are the ones that make up the leading couple, while the rest are made up of real hotel staff. This contributes to the imprint at times dry and almost documentary (or reality) of a film that contrasts with others of strange poetry focused on the leading couple.
Cooper achieves with his difficult character all the nuances so as not to hate her and even love her, while Franz Rogowski (later an acclaimed actor in Transit, Undine and Great Freedom) perfectly embodies the naive, slightly angelic and sensitive young man necessary for any story in part picaresque, but at the same time not fully aware or believed in his charm and sensuality and what they provoke.
liked the fragment per fragment like narrative
Nikoloz_Gabedava21 October 2021
I see people weight it like a boring film, but I think it is not a boring film. I liked the fragment per fragment like narrative and mostly enjoyed the film because of it's dynamic style of storytelling. Need to mention that the way characters are uncovered for the viewer is good directorial decision and I liked the film visually as well. Unfortunately I also see, that the stylistic approach of director is not a purely defined and original. The story itself is not a very interesting one for me, however the details (and some scenes) were engaging.
To conclude: 7/10 in its league. Not in open competition. It is shot with 100k under the Babelsberg film school.
To conclude: 7/10 in its league. Not in open competition. It is shot with 100k under the Babelsberg film school.
The Sun So Hot, I Froze to Death
TrTm31612 October 2018
This should have been an easy movie to like: coworkers discover romance while fighting their personal demons. And it feels weird and wrong to cry, "Too much realism!" But that was the problem, for me. Sous-chef Lara is a likeable person, when she isn't drinking. When she drinks, I'm reminded why I avoid alcoholics and other addicts like the plague - they're just unbearable to be around... and to watch. The acting was so good I couldn't stand it, on a par with Ben Gazzara in "Tales of Ordinary Madness" (Italy/France, 1981). And it doesn't help that she works with a bunch of only nominally adult jackasses in a kitchen where the noise never ceases.
Masseur Clemens is portrayed annoyingly well, too. When his #HimToo moment occurs, he reacts with neither extreme of "hot diggety" nor "get the hell out until you can behave". Instead, he dithers, uncertain and insecure. And he continues to dither through much of the movie, although who can blame him when the object of his affection is a boozehound? The resulting plot is just a little too real-time, like a novel that hasn't had its first edit.
It's difficult to enjoy a romance movie when you don't feel much affinity or affection for the characters. Building that affinity would require prologue, I think. It's not a bad film, but it could be better.
Masseur Clemens is portrayed annoyingly well, too. When his #HimToo moment occurs, he reacts with neither extreme of "hot diggety" nor "get the hell out until you can behave". Instead, he dithers, uncertain and insecure. And he continues to dither through much of the movie, although who can blame him when the object of his affection is a boozehound? The resulting plot is just a little too real-time, like a novel that hasn't had its first edit.
It's difficult to enjoy a romance movie when you don't feel much affinity or affection for the characters. Building that affinity would require prologue, I think. It's not a bad film, but it could be better.
If this film was a steak, it would be underdone
Horst_In_Translation15 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
"Love Steaks" is the last of the five nominees for Best Picture at the 2014 German Film Awards I have seen and probably the weakest one. It is even slightly worse than the very much overpraised "Finsterworld". If "Love Steaks" was actually a good film, you could probably call it a hidden gem. But it is not, despite the awards attention it received. Being indie does not automatically mean being a quality movie.
In the center of the film, we have two hotel employees. We get to witness their struggles and their interactions with each other as they slowly fall in love and with their customers and other colleagues. Occasionally, it reminded me of Maren Ade's "Alle Anderen" (not a fan of this movie either), maybe as a prequel to it, with the way the two lead characters interacted with each other, sometimes moody, sometimes powerless, sometimes full of energy, but always full of contradiction. The story is not particularly innovative and while the characters are played and written in a solid manner, there is nothing outstanding about either aspect either.
The alcoholism aspect was included in a rather shoddy manner sadly. This could have worked so much better and I am usually a sucker when it comes to addiction (especially alcohol such as James Ponsoldt's "Smashed" starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in movies. However, this never had me at the edge of my seat.
This film is not a must-see by any means unless you really try to see every German movie there is. One thumbs-up I am giving it that all the hotel employees were played by actual hotel employees and even if their roles were fairly minor, you never realized that they weren't any pros. The two lead actors, just like writer-director Jakob Lass apart from his work on short films, also did okay taking into consideration that they are fairly new to acting in film. There is room for improvement sure, but it is not a horrible start by any means.
In the center of the film, we have two hotel employees. We get to witness their struggles and their interactions with each other as they slowly fall in love and with their customers and other colleagues. Occasionally, it reminded me of Maren Ade's "Alle Anderen" (not a fan of this movie either), maybe as a prequel to it, with the way the two lead characters interacted with each other, sometimes moody, sometimes powerless, sometimes full of energy, but always full of contradiction. The story is not particularly innovative and while the characters are played and written in a solid manner, there is nothing outstanding about either aspect either.
The alcoholism aspect was included in a rather shoddy manner sadly. This could have worked so much better and I am usually a sucker when it comes to addiction (especially alcohol such as James Ponsoldt's "Smashed" starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in movies. However, this never had me at the edge of my seat.
This film is not a must-see by any means unless you really try to see every German movie there is. One thumbs-up I am giving it that all the hotel employees were played by actual hotel employees and even if their roles were fairly minor, you never realized that they weren't any pros. The two lead actors, just like writer-director Jakob Lass apart from his work on short films, also did okay taking into consideration that they are fairly new to acting in film. There is room for improvement sure, but it is not a horrible start by any means.
Cool German Indie movie
blocker-as13 January 2014
Very nice indie movie with two great leads - featuring the German Joaquin Phoenix ;) - and a cool plot. Cinema in your face. A Boy-meets-Girl-Story in the surrounding of a luxury resort at the Baltic Sea. She has problems with alcohol, he is very shy and reluctant. They meet in the hotel and help each other to overcome their respective shortcomings. I liked the characters and especially the editing. It gives the movie a special look and makes it fun to watch. Lots of apparently unscripted dialogue, fresh and authentic acting. Great music too, German Indie mixed with international stuff. Looks like we are getting - slowly but surely - a veritable scene of young German filmmakers, actors and producers who are able to deliver high-quality work. Recommended for lovers of the German Independent film, such as Axel Ranisch, Tom Lass, Nico Sommer...
Alcoholism and Addiction Steaks
macpet49-17 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I adore foreign films and it really bums me out to dislike one so much but here it is! What a bore! This is the kind of crap America was producing during the 60s/70s. It's supposed to warm our hearts to youth, freedom and independence. Instead it's everyone's nightmare child. One is too sensitive and completely naive while the other is a raving out of control addict sociopath bent on ruining everything around her. As I watched the film I found myself waiting for the moment someone either kills her or mutilates her. She was one of the most hideous female characters to come along in film. Shakespeare would've put her out on a limb and cut it off. The characters are not fully formed, writing atrocious (what there is of it). It would've done very well here in USA as a typical B film shown on Netflix's lesser list. The photography is terrible and the cameraman is a drunkard. One feels a little empathy for the boy until he becomes her sex slave. All the characters need years at the Betty Ford inc. the writers and producers.
Perfect
Trigonometrik7 May 2022
We are a guest in the lives of two German young people who work with all their naturalness. Immersive, emotional, funny, the film makes you experience the story. The acting is successful, the director jakob lass does a good job. Romantic drama lovers should not miss it. I liked it very much, I recommend it. My grade is 10/8.8. Enjoy watching.
Should I Call this as Romance??
thilagaraj-9612126 May 2021
Funny because it was really cringy - This movie is not really romantic
jkljja1 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I thought this movie would be romantic but instead ist was really disgusting (*Spoiler* they are putting raw meat on their naked bodies in a kitchen to make the dick of the main character smaller). The voice lines are sometimes really hard to understand in the original Language (German).
The acting was sometimes funny but seemed really staged (*Spoiler* the main character fell several times while cleaning a floor).
If you are interested in the alcohol problems of hotel staff this movie might be good for you. But nonetheless I totally can not recommend this movie for a romantic evening with your partner.
The acting was sometimes funny but seemed really staged (*Spoiler* the main character fell several times while cleaning a floor).
If you are interested in the alcohol problems of hotel staff this movie might be good for you. But nonetheless I totally can not recommend this movie for a romantic evening with your partner.
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