As of: February 14, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Bettina Stuhlweißenburg
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Screenwriter and HFF professor Robert Krause thinks up romantic stories in sober surroundings.
Here he is sitting at his workplace in the Miesbach coworking space.
© Thomas Plettenberg
The screenwriter and professor at the University of Television and Film, Robert Krause, loves romantic films.
In the interview, “Professor Love” reveals how falling in love developed on screen and what his personal favorites are.
Miesbach – Where it says a love film, there is Robert Krause (53) in it: The Miesbach screenwriter and professor at the Munich University of Television and Film (HFF) writes high-ratings material for television and streaming services.
One of his most successful is the drama series “Sisi”.
Over four seasons with 24 books, Krause ensures that things continue to sizzle between the Empress of Austria and Franz Joseph I.
A conversation with “Professor Love” on Valentine’s Day.
Professor Krause, love is a central motif in the film. Why?
Love is a topic that has always concerned humanity.
In relationships, in marriage and as a great longing.
That's why the audience has a need to get answers: Is this going well?
Will the two get together?
We like to identify with the hero or heroine and look forward to possible answers.
Why do so many romance films not have happy endings?
I think because it's nicer to leave the cinema with a bittersweet fantasy.
In “Casablanca” with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, for example, the heroine decides against true love and in favor of duty.
This means that great love remains untouched.
She has no chance of failing at some point because of smelly socks.
It probably also has something to do with the fact that we all carry a fantasy with us in life where we ask ourselves: What would have happened if I had made a different choice?
Do old love films show how people used to love?
Yes, there is a romantic film zeitgeist.
“Casablanca,” for example, comes from the 1940s.
The heroine is faced with a decision: Do I go with this wild Rick, embodied by Humphrey Bogart, or do I go with Laszlo?
So the question is: passion or duty?
At that time, with their traditional understanding of roles, this hit many viewers to the core.
The film “The Bridges on the River” by and with Clint Eastwood deals with the same topic and was made in the 90s.
The heroine, embodied by Meryl Streep, sits in the car next to her husband.
She fights with herself not to get out and into the car that is parked at the traffic lights in front of them.
The attractive photographer with whom she has just spent three passionate days is sitting there.
Out of consideration for her good husband and children, she decides to stay with her family - and everyone in the audience reaches for their tissues.
That's a span of 50 years, and for some viewers the antagonism between duty and passion still works well today.
But that's no longer interesting for my children's generation.
For example, alternative relationships play a role whose goal is not marriage.
What makes a good romantic film?
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A romance film has the love story at its center.
Very large and very credible resistance must then act on them.
In my first pure love film “For one night... and always?”
(about the relationship between a 23-year-old poker player and a scientist twice his age, editor's note)
I took this very seriously and all the resistance declined through.
Despite these obstacles, the heroine in your film decides to love, and the audience sees the couple struggle with hurdles for 90 minutes. What drove her to touch her true love and concentrate on the dark side?
This is another way to tell a romantic film.
The heroine has to face the consequences of her decision, and the couple fights their way to a happy ending.
But I also checked with the TV station at the time: Do you really want me to go through this?
I think the film works because I took a different approach.
It is not the mature woman who is capable of relationships, but the young poker player.
He doesn't doubt, but says: I want you, I stand by you.
This is incredibly beautiful.
This is what all viewers who see each other for love dream of.
They say spectators. Don't men like romantic films?
I love romantic films.
If students want to develop a romantic film, I am the one who supervises it.
I also say to my wife: Let's watch a romantic comedy.
I know all the films with Jennifer Aniston and Meg Ryan.
Who is your favorite movie couple?
(thinks)
.
Pat and Tiffany in “Silver Linings”, portrayed by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.
The sentence comes out: “Love is when the neuroses fit together.” I find that a very clever sentence.
Why?
Because I believe love lasts a long time when the dark sides match.
When the other person can bear the things you don't like about yourself.
Which film do you recommend for Valentine's Day for newlyweds?
The German film “In a country that no longer exists”, which was released in cinemas in 2022.
He tells about a model in the GDR who falls in love with a guy who is hard to get, a free spirit.
A magical, edgy love story.
Newly in love is guaranteed to reach for each other's hands.
What do you recommend to unlucky lovers?
The American comedy “Legally Blonde”, part one with Reese Witherspoon from 2001. It's a bit old, but it's just right for those who are unhappy in love.
Because the protagonist fights her way out of exactly such a situation - and finds herself.
And those who have been married for a long time and have run out of steam?
The American film “Don Juan DeMarco” with Johnny Depp.
In it, psychiatrist Jack Mickler, played by Marlon Brando, meets a young man who imagines he is Don Juan.
During the course of therapy, the patient infects the psychiatrist with his romantic view, and Jack Mickler rediscovers love for his wife.
After watching the film, the love of the audience is fresh again (laughs).
By the way: Everything from the region is also available in our regular Miesbach newsletter