14/02/2003 - Sex without love? That's the key question that Oskar Roehler's film set in '95 asks, plus AIDS, cancer and other disasters

“I have read a lot of Michel Houellebecq’s books and his descriptions of human sexual behaviour in all circumstances. I consider human sexual behaviour to be incompatible with life as a typical couple. Relationships, living together and ordinary everyday routine are much more important than any kind of sexual activity. I wanted to underline the importance of relationships with this film.”
Der Alte Affe Angst is a sweeping tale of urban love, written and directed by Oskar Roehler, and starring André Hennicke (Robert) and the beauteous Märie Baumer (Maria). “Ever since I was 16, and not a working actress yet, people would comment on my resemblance to Romy Schneider. It really doesn’t bother me any more. And I didn’t even consider it when I was offered the chance to play this woman who is desperately hungry for love and coexists with her hopes and desires.“
Produced by Neue Bioskop Film , Angst is set against a Berlin backdrop of prostitutes and psychoanalysis, in a claustrophobic artistic environment. In order to explore much deeper emotions, Roehler added a series of emotional bombs to the story: children who are dying of AIDS and fathers dying of cancer. “I added a number of autobiographical elements. Like Robert’s, my father also died without finishing his novel,” says Roehler. “I added these situations because I needed to portray the two protagonists in a condition of emotional dependence. These tragic everyday occurrences underline that dependence. We exist without understanding why we separate. If you love someone you cannot just walk out on them. I remember my grandparents: they lived their lives at a much slower pace and everyday occurrences were important to them. None of that survives today.”

(Translated from Italian)