This is Love

Summary

Since her husband disappeared from her life without a trace sixteen years ago, police inspector Maggie has lost all faith in love. The years of uncertainty have left her isolated. She doesn′t get along with her grown-up daughter Nina and tends to drink too much. Between nightly drinking bouts with her boyfriend Jörg and hung-over mornings with her colleague Roland, Maggie stumbles into a new, unusual case when she takes over the interrogation of tight-lipped Chris. Chris, who with his friend Holger buys children out of brothels in Vietnam in order to sell them to "parents" ready to adopt them in Germany, has returned to Germany with nine-year-old Jenjira.

So as not to attract attention, he has passed her off as his daughter. In her new surroundings, the traumatized girl has blossomed out, and a feeling of mutual trust develops between Jenjira and Chris. A feeling, however, that becomes a dilemma for Chris, because the girl awakens emotions in him that he would never wish to acknowledge he could have. But now Jenjira has disappeared, and Chris apparently knows more about it than he admits. During the interrogation a special relationship evolves between Chris and Maggie. Their talks wash up painful memories in both of them.

Film director Matthias Glasner: "I wanted to make a film about the pain and suffering that love can inflict on the lovers and how it can sometimes destroy lives. […] Love – above all the desire for ‘eternal love′ – can also be a curse."

Source: 60. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)