''Emma's Bliss'' is a

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

romantic tragic-comedy that takes place in contemporary rural

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The movie, directed by

Sven Taddicken Sven is a Scandinavian masculine first name. In Old Norse the meaning was "young man" or "servant" and the original Old Norse spelling was ''sveinn''. Variants such as ''Svend'' are found in Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwe ...

, is based on the novel ''Emmas Glück'' (now translated into English under the title ''Emma's Luck'') by Claudia Schreiber.

Plot

Upon being informed that he is terminally ill with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, Max, who works at a used car lot, steals over seventy thousand illegally gained

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

(perhaps around $1 million) from Hans, his employer and best friend, and drives off in his

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

. Hans gives chase, but quits when it becomes too dangerous. Max crashes the roadside barrier at high speed, ending up in a small pig and poultry farm miles from anywhere. He is lifted unconscious from the wreck by the farmer, Emma, a strong woman who lives alone. She discovers the money, torches the car and tends to Max's injuries, which are not serious. When Max regains consciousness she lies about the fire and denies having taken anything from the car. Max hides from her the fact that he is dying. He also hides from the police, in the form of the nearby village's young officer, Henner, who has many times offered to marry Emma and help solve her debt problems. Love blooms between Max and Emma after some stumbles, such as his finding out that she had taken the money. She surreptitiously returns the money to him and he, just as surreptitiously, pays off her debts. His sickness worsens and they marry. A recurring theme is Emma's love for her animals and the way she slaughters a pig by caressing it while gently cutting its throat with a sharp blade. After what is clearly to be Max and Emma's last roll in the hay (literally), she reaches for the knife but then returns it — she cannot bring herself to do the deed. Max then presses it into her hand. The camera then focuses on his face as he loses consciousness.

Cast

Jördis Triebel Jördis Triebel (born 30 October 1977) is a German film and stage actress. Early life Triebel grew up the second oldest of four sisters in the Prenzlauer Berg locality of Berlin. She was exposed to the world of theatre early on through her mot ...

- Emma *

Jürgen Vogel Jürgen Peter Vogel (; born 29 April 1968 in Hamburg) is a German actor and producer. One of the most successful character actors in German cinema, he first broke out in 1992 with his role in ''Little Sharks''.Jürgen Vogel i"German Who is Who"/ ...

- Max * Hinnerk Schönemann - Henner *

Martin Feifel Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart� ...

- Hans Hilfinger *

Nina Petri Nina Petri (born 16 July 1963) is a German actress. She has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1983. Partial filmography Television appearances Awards * Bavarian Film Award (best actress) (1994) * Deutscher Filmpreis (best suppor ...

- Dagmar *

Karin Neuhäuser Karin may refer to: *Karin (given name), a feminine name Fiction * ''Karin'' (manga) or ''Chibi Vampire'', a Japanese media franchise * Karin Hanazono, title character of the manga and anime ''Kamichama Karin'' *Karin Kokubu, a main character in ...

- Henners Mutter *

Arved Birnbaum Arved Birnbaum (1962 – 24 October 2021) was a German actor who was mostly known to audiences worldwide as Max Riemelt Max Riemelt (born 7 January 1984) is a German actor. He is known internationally for playing Wolfgang Bogdanow in the Ne ...

- Karl

Production

It was filmed in 2005 in

Gummersbach Gummersbach () is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for t ...

(Berghausen), Rönsahl, Gimborn bei Marienheide and

Bergneustadt Bergneustadt () is a municipality in the eastern part of the Oberbergischer Kreis (district), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located 50 km east of Cologne. It is part of the Berg region. History In 1301, the drost Rutger of Alten ...

(a local vehicle displays a license-plate indicating it is from Hochsauerlandkreis in Nordrhein-Westfalen). It was released the following year.

Awards

*Jördis Triebel received an

Undine Award Undines (; also ondines) are a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern l ...

for Best Young Character Portraitist in 2006. *Jürgen Vogel was given the

Bavarian Film Prize Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to: * Bavarii, a Germanic tribe * Bavarians, a nation and ethnographic group of Germans * Bavarian, Iran, a villag ...

award for Best Actor in 2007

DVD

The film was released on a DVD in 2008 with German soundtrack and Korean subtitles. The running time is listed as 99 minutes (136 minutes total) NTSC format is given as 16:9. It has been released in Australia (PAL, 16:9) with English subtitles by Gryphon Entertainment.

External links

*
Review at European-Films.net

www.emmas-glueck
de
Media reactions at film-zeit.de
2006 films German romantic comedy-drama films 2006 romantic comedy-drama films Films set in Germany 2000s German-language films 2000s German films {{2000s-Germany-film-stub