When films make me buy books

It has happened to me only once before that a film was so bad I had to buy the book to see if it was remotely related to what the author wrote. The film/book was The Human Stain by Philip Roth. I'm such a huge fan of Roth, I was steadfast in my belief that the horrible film starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman had nothing to do with his work.

Well it was complicated.

The Human Stain was not my favorite Roth novel, nevertheless it was good enough to give me the feeling of self-righteousness I had been seeking. In retrospect, the film itself wasn't really that bad; it suffered primarily from atrocious casting. There was no way in hell I was buying Sir Hopkins as a black man who had been passing himself off as Jewish his whole life; nor was I able to take Nicole Kidman seriously as a janitor in the local post office. There was a redeeming factor though, and his name is Wentworth Miller.

*sigh*

Okay, now it has happened again with Der Liebeswunsch, a 2006 film based on a novel by Dieter Wellershoff published in 2000. The English title, Impossibly Yours, represents one of those rare instances in which the new title works better than either a direct translation OR the original German title. Go figure.

In any case, be warned: this post is one big spoiler so if you're interested in seeing the film don't read anything beyond the trailer.



Okay, here's the story:

A married couple (Marlene and Jan) engages a young graduate student (Anja) to look after their house while they are away on vacation. While they are giving her a tour of the place, the couple's best friend (Leonhard) comes by for a brief visit and ends up giving Anja a ride home. He returns a few days later bearing flowers and a basket full of goodies. He finds the Anja dancing seductively to Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle . . . wearing a tiny bikini, of course. She changes clothes, they have dinner, and as he is leaving he asks her if she could imagine being his wife. Shortly afterward they get married, they have a son, and she gets bored. In the meantime, Anja has also become close to Marlene and Jan. She learns that Marlene was once married to Leonhard, and that Jan left his wife and that Marlene left Leonard in order to get married.

Only Europeans can do this kind of shit and still be best friends.

In any case, Anja's boredom increases and her son suffers a terrible accident because she wasn't paying attention to him. Leonhard blames her, she takes refuge with Marlene and Jan. Marlene leaves them alone together to go to work, and Anja and Jan hook up. Duh. Jan buys a flat where they can continue hooking up, Anja develops a drinking problem, Leonhard is fed up, and Marlene discovers the truth. Jan doesn't want to lose Marlene, so he breaks it off with Anja, who doesn't take rejection well. Leonhard, who is a judge, types up his own divorce papers and leaves them for her to sign. She tries to see Leonhard, but he's not having it. He ultimately seeks refuge with Marlene who has left Jan. Marlene, however, cares about Anja, who lives in a grimy little flat after being kicked out by Leonhard. Marlene breaks into the flat (with paramedics in tow) and saves Anja, who is on the verge of death from alcohol poisoning. Anja checks into a clinic to recover from her alcoholism, but then runs away to a hotel on an isolated beach where she continues to drink too much and listen to Jim Croce on repeat play. Finally, sitting on the balcony railing, she leans too far back and plummets to the parking lot below. The film opens with Jan staying in the hotel room where Anja threw herself off the balcony.

I have never read Dieter Wellershoff, but I'm willing to bet that's not really what he wrote. Did Marlene never really reflect on the fact that she was no better than Anja or Jan, or was taking care of Anja near the end her way of doing so? Is it really possible to ask someone to marry you if you've known them for a day and a half and don't know too much about them except the title of their thesis and how they look in a bikini? Did Leonhard really not ever take any responsibility? And do guys really buy flats in which to screw their "bits on the side"? When Anja ran away from the clinic she didn't even take a sweater. Where did all the LPs in that hotel room come from?

What in the world did Wellershoff write?

Perhaps this is precisely what he wrote, but somehow I doubt it. If I'm wrong, I'll buy the film and force myself to watch it every night for a week. That'll teach me!