09.02.2019 | All my Loving @Berlinale
In his Berlinale film "All my Loving", Directors Edward Berger focuses on the turbulent lives of the three siblings Stefan, Julia and Tobias played by Lars Eidinger, Hans Löw and Nele-Mueller Stöfen, with whom he also wrote the script. In the interview, Berger and his wife Mueller Stöfen reveal, among other things, what makes Hamburg a film city and how they approached the script.
The three of them immediately felt like real siblings. They listened to each other, played with each other and took from each other. Since "All My Loving" is a kind of episodic film, they unfortunately had far too few scenes together. They meet once at the beginning and at the end of the film, that's it. But whenever they see each other, it is a pleasure for me. In the individual episodes, we concentrate very strongly on one of the three characters at a time. Basically, the camera never takes its eyes off them and doesn't show us much other than this one person, so that the viewer has little choice but to engage with them. We wanted to get to the bottom of each character's condition, to describe it clearly and simply. This made working together very intense.
When you come to Hamburg, you are met with a very special atmosphere. I have the feeling that people in the city are very open, more open than in other cities. Somehow you get the feeling that anything is possible. In an atmosphere like that, filming is really fun. The city also has a vastness that you don't find in other places. Clear architecture that makes it easy to find good pictures. Seriously, I would love to come back again.
I don't know, I think we all have to make decisions that are crucial for the rest of our lives, regardless of whether we are 20, 40 or 60. Personally, I always tend to ponder for a long time before I make a decision, weighing up all the points and analysing the pros and cons. And after the whole process, I end up going with my gut. It's a complete waste of energy, so there's room for improvement.
But basically, our film is also very much about resisting any kind of rut. It's important to me to stay awake, to keep changing so that I don't fall into a kind of everyday routine. In the end, I want to surprise myself. Otherwise I would get bored.
Some time ago, Edward and I came up with the idea of writing a book about three siblings. As we started thinking about them, their traits intensified and suddenly they got a face. That's how Julia came about. The moment she enters into dialogue with another character and has to behave, our character comes to life. When I was writing, I didn't think about whether the role of Julia might suit me. That would have limited me and I would probably have run out of ideas. So I try to leave Nele the actress out of the equation when I'm writing. At some point, Edward asked me if I would like to play Juliet because he could imagine me playing her very well. Of course, I then played her, and I was delighted to do so.
Both were an exciting and fantastic challenge. There is no more or less. What was nice is that we developed and positioned our characters and I was then able to give Julia a voice by embodying her. That was a great experience because I realised again that the characters are only fully there when they interact. It was only through the other actors, the characters she lives with, that Julia was suddenly fully there.
It is the stories of the three siblings that fascinate. Three people who are very unique and lovable at the same time. They make mistakes, just like everyone else. And they try to learn from their mistakes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. All My Loving is a film that encourages us not to shy away from change in life, but to face it with an open mind so that we can always get a little closer to happiness.
