Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken

“You don’t understand anything”, is Paul Krantz’ response to the two detectives interrogating him. The police, however, are certain that he is the leader of a “suicide club” that has currently hit newspaper headlines. He is tries to explain what really happened that fateful weekend in June 1927 . . .
Paul Krantz and Günther Scheller are about to take their final school examinations at a grammar school in Berlin’s Mariendorf district. The pair couldn’t be more different: Paul, the son of working class parents, is an introverted poet while Günther is a cocky, daredevil sort of lad from a wealthy background. Both boys are in search of happiness, first love and pure joy – and the right moment at which to end it all.
The boys spend a weekend at the Scheller’s summerhouse in the country with Günther’s sister, Hilde. Paul is fascinated by Hilde and falls in love with her; initially, it looks as though his feelings are reciprocated. But Hilde is in love with many a boy and secretly enjoys trysts with Hans, who was once Günther’s lover.
They throw a wild party in the garden. A large group of friends including, surprisingly, Hans, descends upon them from town. His arrival sets off a roller-coaster of emotions that soon spins out of control. Intoxicated by the music, the absinthe, their desires and sheer lust for life, they all find themselves swept up by a deadly maelstrom . . .
There are two previous screen adaptations of the tragic events on which this story is based. Carl Boesse’s 1929 film was followed in 1960 by Max Nosseck’s version of the “Steglitz school tragedy”. Both films shared the same title: GESCHMINKTE JUGEND.