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Im Kreise der Lieben

The Terrible Threesome
Retrospective 2019
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © Josefine Filmproduktion
Grandmother, mother, granddaughter – the Grund family is nothing if not high functioning. Maria, the youngest, travels the land relieving willing men of their money with a marriage con. Her mother Getrud makes sure that Maria looks perfect and contributes an emotional note to their family life, while senior citizen Emmi manages their finances in the kitchen. When the stress gets too much for the trio, they relax with an evening game of rummy. But then Maria meets a fellow con artist who is out for revenge, and Getrud falls in love with one of the marks Maria has fleeced and invites him into the household, putting the survival of their testosterone-free family idyll at serious risk … Hermine Huntgeburth placed the focus of her black comedy on a woman who uses self-assured roleplaying to fulfil the desires men project onto her. Those imputed feelings are in stark contrast to the entirely “unfeminine” behaviour the women display when they need to defend the autonomy of their women’s alliance – if necessary with a rolling pin or a frying pan. An antic film that uses calculated exaggeration to make its point.
by Hermine Huntgeburth
with Barbara Auer, Karin Baal, Ruth Hellberg, Edgar Selge, Wolfgang Rüter, Roland Kenda, Burghart Klaußner, Donata Höffer, Manfred Geier Germany 1991 German 73’ Colour Rating R16

With

  • Barbara Auer
  • Karin Baal
  • Ruth Hellberg
  • Edgar Selge
  • Wolfgang Rüter
  • Roland Kenda
  • Burghart Klaußner
  • Donata Höffer
  • Manfred Geier

Crew

Director Hermine Huntgeburth
Screenplay Hermine Huntgeburth, Volker Einrauch
Cinematography Bernd Meiners
Editing Renate Merck
Music Karsten Günther
Sound Alf Olbrisch
Art Director Katharina Wöppermann
Costumes Wolfgang Kalk
Producers Volker Einrauch, Hermine Huntgeburth, Lothar Kurzawa
Commissioning Editor Eberhard Scharfenberg

Additional information

Film print: Goethe-Institut e. V., München