Berlin romance hits brick wall

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Jennifer Lo
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Jennifer Lo |
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Directed by German filmmaker Peter Timm, Beloved Berlin Wall is a lighthearted romantic comedy which offers a refreshing setting compared to the usual American offerings.

Set in 1989, the time of the Berlin Wall - which had divided the German city since 1961, leaving it in both West and East Germany - the story focuses on East German border guard Sascha (Maxim Mehmet), who falls in love with a West German woman Franzi (Felicitas Woll), who has just moved into a flat near his security tower.

Their "love at first sight" romance blossoms too easily; it takes only a slight mishap, while Franzi is on a cross-border shopping trip, and Sascha is there to save her. The two then start to communicate across the wall - using binoculars, body language and signs on notepads - which ends with a date in the East.

But their relationship arouses the suspicions of the Stasi, the East German state security service: they're sure Franzi is a spy ...

Despite the use of the true-to-life setting of the Berlin Wall, the movie lacks a focal point. It fails to convince as either a historical piece or a love story; the romance is far too predictable and the wall's existence used merely as a marketing device.

But if you want a simple, warm-hearted movie to help pass a cold winter's night, you could do worse than watch Sascha and Franzi fall in love.

YP rating: 3/5

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