Indeed ... love
Indeed ... Liebe (Original Title: Love Actually ) is a romantic comedy from 2003 directed by Richard Curtis , who also wrote the screenplay.
action
The episode film opens with welcome scenes that were filmed at London Heathrow Airport . While the loving greetings of people are shown in slow motion, the speaker tells of the fact that "love is actually everywhere". The real action of the film begins five weeks before Christmas. The “love stories” of the various protagonists are told in interwoven episodes up to Christmas. The film also ends at the airport, where the protagonists from the individual episodes are among the people who greet each other.
David and Natalie
The newly elected British Prime Minister David falls in love with Natalie, who works as a domestic servant in his official residence . When he catches her in a precarious situation with the very arrogant US President who is on a state visit, he has her transferred. At the end of the visit he delivered a brilliant closing speech on US-American-British relations and the negotiation results achieved, which earned him the admiration of his employees and the people, as it was directed in a patriotic way against the United States. He says the United States would take what it wanted while forgetting about great Britain - "the land of William Shakespeare , Winston Churchill , the Beatles , Sean Connery , Harry Potter , David Beckham's right foot, David Beckham's left foot, while we're at it! "
The British feel that they all underestimated him and that a British Prime Minister is finally showing his backbone against the Americans. When he receives a Christmas card from Natalie, he decides to visit her at her parents' home. They then visit the nativity play together and finally kiss behind the stage - when suddenly the curtain rises.
Jamie and Aurelia
The unfortunate writer Jamie, betrayed by his girlfriend and his own brother, travels to the south of France every winter to work on his book and falls in love with his Portuguese housekeeper Aurelia. She doesn't speak a word of English and he doesn't speak Portuguese. However, with his awkward manner, he finds access to her heart. Aurelia's kiss goodbye leaves the two confused, but confirms their affection. When Jamie returns to England, he decides to learn Portuguese and not spend Christmas with his family. Instead he flies back to Marseille and asks for Aurelia's hand. Aurelia, who herself learned English "just in case", agrees.
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Billy Mack and Joe
The aging rock star Billy Mack is recording a new Christmas single that was based on the hit Love is All Around (Originally by The Troggs later, among other things, for the soundtrack of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral , in which Hugh Grant also played the leading role, covered by Wet Wet Wet ) based. He pursues the following promotional tour with impertinence and disarming honesty ("The song is scrap, but buy it anyway!"). In between he constantly harasses his long-time manager Joe. Surprisingly, the single landed at number one on the charts on Christmas Eve. But instead of celebrating Elton John's success at a glamorous party , he stands in front of his manager's door. Christmas is the time you spend with the people you love and your manager is ultimately the family substitute for Billy. So they spend Christmas Eve watching porn and getting drunk in front of the TV.
Juliet, Peter and Mark
Peter and Juliet get married. They are surprised in the church by Peter's best friend and best man Mark with smuggled musicians playing the Beatles song All You Need Is Love . Despite his support during the wedding, Mark has been very dismissive towards Juliet since she became Peter's girlfriend and later fiancé. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a copy of Mark's wedding video, Juliet visits him in his studio and, while watching the video, realizes that he is really in love with her and that he is completely torn inside. Mark explains his behavior with self-protection and escapes from the studio. On Christmas Eve he stands in front of Juliet's door as a “carol singer” and confesses his love to her, without leaving the slightest doubt about his loyalty to his best friend. Juliet is touched, follows him out into the street and says goodbye with a kiss. Then she goes back to her husband and Mark declares that his crush is over for good.
Daniel and Carol, Sam and Joanna
Little Sam, who lives alone with stepfather Daniel after his mother Joanna's cancer death, is madly in love with the American exchange student Joanna (played by Olivia Olson ; the name of the role is the same as that of his late mother). In order to attract her attention, he wants to learn to play the drums in the shortest possible time. He succeeds and he is on stage with his adored Joanna at the party on Christmas Eve. After the concert, his father met Carol, the mother of one of Sam's classmates, and fell in love with her at first sight because she was similar to Claudia Schiffer, who he had always raved about - which seems to be mutual (the mother becomes actually played by Claudia Schiffer ). Sam is lucky too. During the concert he thought Joanna didn't even know his name. But when Daniel insists he should try Joanna before she flies back to the States and tells him not to give up hope, the two drive to the airport, and Joanna and Sam become friends too. In the credits you can see that Joanna actually returns to him - at least for a visit.
Harry, Karen and Mia
The secretary Mia flirts violently with her boss Harry, who then gives her an expensive necklace for Christmas. For Harry's wife Karen, who is also the sister of Prime Minister David, world falls apart when the CD for them instead of the chain, which she had discovered in the pocket of her husband's Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell is under the Christmas tree. The question for her is whether she should give the 13-year-old relationship that produced two children a second chance. While David is looking for the house where Natalie lives, he also ends up at Mia's door, who wears Harry's necklace but spends Christmas alone.
Sarah and Karl
Sarah, another employee in Harry's advertising agency, has been languishing in her good-looking colleague Karl since the day she started work more than two years ago, but she doesn't dare to take the decisive step. Even the encouraging words of her boss Harry don't seem to convince them. The right opportunity only arises after the company's Christmas party. However, Sarah ultimately feels too responsible for her mentally ill brother Michael and gives up the personal happiness she had hoped for with Karl for her brother.
Colin Frissell
The messenger boy Colin is fed up with the English women, none of whom want to know anything about him, and without further ado rents his apartment in order to seek his fortune in Wisconsin . In Milwaukee , he met a handful of young women who were enthusiastic about his British accent in the first bar he came across. When he returned to London with Harriet, he “brought” Carla's sister with him.
John and Judy
John and Judy are two light doubles filming a porn film. During this work, which has to be done more and more naked, the two get closer. On Christmas Day they go out together, find each other and finally attend the nativity play together.
Reviews
"Some coarsely developed subplot strands surround the episodically developed melodramatic events, but cannot hide the cynical attitude of the film, which is unreservedly aimed at the pre-Christmas start date."
“Curtis succeeds with impressive certainty in condensing the whole range of this wonderful and sometimes terrible feeling of love into the length of a film that has what it takes to become a Christmas classic. Merry Christmas!"
background
In the US, where the film opened two weeks earlier than in the UK, reviews were mixed. In particular, AO Scott's rating from the New York Times was poor. Director Curtis said at the premiere: "I'd rather make a film that most viewers like and some critics don't, than a film that critics like but no one likes to see."
Most of the film was shot in Great Britain and France ( Marseille ). By May 2004, Actually ... Love was grossing over $ 59 million in the US and approximately $ 245 million worldwide.
At the funeral, photos of Sam's deceased mother are projected on the wall. The woman on it is Rebecca Frayn , the daughter of the writer Michael Frayn .
The film poster and DVD cover of the German version do not show Martine McCutcheon , but Heike Makatsch , since Makatsch is more popular in German-speaking countries than McCutcheon, who mainly appears on British television. Makatsch can also be seen in the German remake Alles ist Liebe .
References to other films
The British film premiere took place on November 16, 2003 in Leicester Square , London . Curtis himself described the film there as a "roaring rampage of romance" ( furious rampage of romance ) - a reference to Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill - Volume 1 , which is about came around the same time in theaters subtitled "roaring rampage of revenge “( Frenzied rampage of revenge ) carries.
The film itself also contains some allusions to other films or was inspired by them. For example, Billy Mack sings a cover version of Love Is All Around by The Troggs , which was heard in Four Weddings and a Death , whose screenplay was also by Curtis. The song, which was sung by Wet Wet Wet at the time , managed to stay at the top of the UK charts for 15 weeks.
In Mark's apartment you can see the DVD “ Das Fenster zum Hof ” by Alfred Hitchcock on the shelf . It is about a voyeur who uses his camera to observe the neighborhood. Mark also appears as a voyeur when he films only Juliet at the wedding and not, as everyone assumes, the bridal couple. This scene was inspired by the ending of the film Cinema Paradiso , where the protagonist is given a roll of film with material censored by the village priest: mass kisses.
Also from Hitchcock's film is a conversation about the poor catering of the wedding that Colin stupidly has with the head of the catering company in order to start a flirtation .
When Sam comes to his stepfather Daniel , dejected , he says that they now need " Kate and Leo ". So they look at Titanic and stand on the couch with their arms outstretched. The bonus material for the DVD includes an unpublished scene in Sam's room that also alludes to other romance films.
continuation
A short film sequel for television entitled Red Nose Day Actually was announced for Red Nose Day 2017 . The publication took place on May 25, 2017.
music
In addition to the aforementioned songs by the Beatles (All You Need is Love) and the group The Troggs (Love Is All Around) , the film contains many other well-known songs from pop music : The Bay City Rollers with Bye Bye Baby are at the funeral service for the funeral Heard from Joanna ( Sam's mother , Daniel's wife ) while Mark, depressed after Juliet's discovery, walks through the streets to Dido's Here With Me .
The Prime Minister is dancing to a (cut) version of Jump (For My Love) by the Pointer Sisters through 10 Downing Street . On Christmas Eve are Otis Redding with White Christmas and Joni Mitchell with Both Sides Now present before the previously in the version of Tessa Niles played All I Want for Christmas by Olivia Olson is heard. The eleven-year-old's singing sounded so perfect that the production team feared that viewers would not believe a girl her age could sing this well. So, in their singing lessons, they focused on making their voice sound more believable. The final scene at the airport is accompanied by the love song God Only Knows by the Beach Boys .
Songs by Christine McVie (Songbird) in the version of Eva Cassidy , Norah Jones (Turn me on) and the Sugababes (Too Lost In You) also appear in the film. The scenes that take place in the USA are starring Santana feat. Rob Thomas (Smooth) and The Calling (Wherever you will go) highlighted.
In the US release of the film, the film version of Sugababes' song Too Lost In You with its incisive drums was replaced in the scene before and during the Christmas party in the gallery with the Kelly Clarkson hit The Trouble With Love Is , which was featured in the European version is only played in the credits.
The score is by Craig Armstrong , with the exception of a small part by James Horner ( Rose in Titanic ).
The music video for Billy Mack's cover of Love Is All Around is a copy of the video for Addicted to Love by Robert Palmer . The ladies are only blond instead of dark-haired, the backdrop is Christmassy and the ladies wear a “Santa Claus fumble” instead of the little black dress . He fights for the number 1 Christmas single against the then really existing British boy group Blue . The fact that Billy Mack is invited to Elton John's Christmas party can be understood as a hidden swipe at Blue, who sang Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word with John .
The soundtrack to the film was released on November 11, 2003 under the title Love Actually by Island Records in the UK.
Awards and nominations
Martine McCutcheon won the 2004 MTV Movie Awards for Best European Newcomer .
The film was nominated for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 2004 Golden Globe Awards , while Richard Curtis received a screenwriting nomination.
In addition to Bill Nighy , who was named Best Supporting Actor at the 2004 BAFTA Awards , Emma Thompson was also nominated as a female counterpart. However, neither she nor the film itself, which was nominated as Outstanding British film of the year , could win the award.
The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable .
Web links
- Indeed ... Love in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Indeed ... love in the online movie database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Certificate of Release for Actually ... Love . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2003 (PDF; test number: 95 686 K).
- Jump up ↑ Age rating for Actually ... Love . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ Indeed ... love. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 9, 2015 .
- ↑ Indeed ... love at cinema.de
- ^ AO Scott: Fim Review; Tales of Love, the True and the Not-So-True . In The New York Times , November 7, 2003, accessed December 26, 2018
- ↑ "I'd rather make a film that most of the audience liked and some critics didn't rather than a film that critics loved and nobody wanted to watch." Love film première seduces fans . In BBC News , November 16, 2003, accessed December 26, 2018.
- ^ Comment by Richard Curtis in the music section of the DVD
- ↑ Love Actually: The Original Soundtrack on musicbrainz , accessed December 25, 2018