Roland E. Zwick Similar in style and tone to last year's "Blue Valentine," the German film "Everyone Else" provides us with an oblique look at a troubled relationship. Though the couple in this film does not seem as overtly unhappy as the one in the American work, there is still something clearly eating away at their relationship. The most admirable aspect of the screenplay by Maren Ade is that it doesn't throw easy labels onto either the characters or the problems they're facing. The movie is really more a piece of objective reportage chronicling their lives over the course of a few days than a plot- and theme-driven narrative leading us to a preordained conclusion about them as people.Chris (Lars Eidinger) is a gifted but apparently not very successful architect, while Gitti (Birgit Minichmayr), his girlfriend, who works in the recording business, seems to be generally supportive of his efforts. Chris and Gitti are spending a relaxing vacation at his mother's home on the Mediterranean, when Gitti begins to off-handedly question Chris's masculinity (we assume that it has more to do with his lack of initiative and drive than with his personal mannerisms). In response, Chris begins to treat Gitti in an ever more callous fashion, trying to prove her wrong by acting in the dismissive and domineering way he assumes "real" men do, and in the way, if Gitta is any indication, women apparently want them to.But this synopsis really only covers the tip of the iceberg, for there are clearly many more complex dynamics taking place within this relationship that are not so easily delineated and described. Suffice it to say that the movie explores the myriad elements that go into relationships, and does so without spelling them out in simplistic terms and without passing judgment on the characters. The parameters within which any relationship must be set are still evolving and fluid in the case of Chris and Gitti, and this leads to much pushing of the boundaries and behavioral experimentation on the part of the couple throughout the course of the film. Ade's direction is unobtrusive and observational in nature, which allows the actors to interact with one another in a quasi-improvisational and thus wholly believable fashion.There is, however, a definite downside to this type of storytelling – "Blue Valentine" suffered from it as well – and that is that the motivations for the characters' actions are often so murky and inexplicable that they can seem downright arbitrary to those of us who are watching all of this unfold from the outside in. That's why Chris and Gitti strike us as being more weird and annoying – if not downright daffy - than anything else at times.Thus, your initial response might be to assume that perhaps Chris and Gitti simply aren't meant for one another and that they might think about looking elsewhere for a relationship. But, then again, if it were that easy to get out of a troubled relationship, we'd have no need in the first place for films like "Everyone Else."

Sindre Kaspersen German director Maren Ade's minimalistic chamber drama tells the story of Chris and Gitti, an urbane couple in their 30s who spends their holiday at Chris' parent's summer house in Sardinia. She is a PR consultant at a record company, he is an architect, and they trust their compatibility until they befriend another couple, and the comparison begins.Maren Ade's dialog-driven and colorful depiction of the relationship between extrovert joy-spreader Eva and reserved idealist Chris, gives an observant image of the affects personality differences can have on a rather fertile romantic relationship. Birgit Minichmayr and Lars Eidinger's unrestrained and authentic interpretations of the quarrelsome lovebirds who becomes clouded by the shadow of doubt upon meeting a steadier and more established couple, makes this hot and picturesque contemporary romance an atypical and thoughtful movie experience.

kvwielink Saw this movie during the Bangkok film festival. Unfortunately after 4 great movies, this 5th and final one was a huge disappointment. This is probably one of the slowest movies I've ever seen. Long silences punctuate boring, long-winding conversations that seem to go on forever. After a while, the theme begins to repeat itself. Quarrels over trivial things between a very introvert guy and a girl who apparently enjoys throwing the odd tantrum. This basically goes on for 2 hours. As already pointed out in another comment, at the end of the movie you start to wonder if the girl has some serious mental issues. The acting is not bad, but I wouldn't call it special. At the end of the movie, you're left confused, not really understanding what the point of the story was. The ending is abrupt, and if one would actually be interested in the story at all it would leave one with an unsatisfactory finale. Why this movie won the Silver Bear in Berlin is a mystery to me. In my opinion watching it was a waste of time.

Mozjoukine The thinking is too obvious. Get a couple of well built people to talk for two hours, with some (uninspiring) nudity thrown in and no one has to find too much money to produce something that looks like a movie. There are so many film festivals, one of them is bound to play it.Fraulein Minichmayr is lively enough and she's been in some real films (Downfall, Perfume)so her first scene with the little girl holds hope - "Tell me why you think I'm so awful." Co star Eidinger as an architect offers a chance for some comment on taste and style which fail to impress.Production values are in the competent unimpressive bracket.It was the end of the Sydney Film Festival but this was not the movie to offer an audience which had just been blackjacked with the ridiculous Ming-liang Tsai VISAGE. Have they no mercy? Even film festival subscribers deserve pity.