In Thomas Mann’s novella “Tobias Mindernickel“, a shy protagonist blossoms while caring for an injured puppy. Finally somebody needs him! He is leery of the dog’s recovery and Mindernickel stabs the animal with a knife in order to feel superior to him again. This time, however, he can’t help him because the dog dies.

The tone of the sad Thomas Mann story is reminiscent of ANA, MON AMOUR. Toma and Ana (Mircea Postelnicu & Diana Cavallioti) get together as students studying literature. Their love is soon put to the test due to Ana’s intense panic attacks and reliance on medication. Toma cares for his mentally ill girlfriend and, later on, their son. The borders between love and addiction and power and pity blur over the year. When Ana is able to stand on her own two feet after doing therapy, their relationship collapses.

The title contains the film’s focus: ANA, MON AMOUR and not TOMA, MON AMOUR or TOMA AND ANA. Romanian writer-director Calin Peter Netzer, who won the Golden Bear in 2013, takes Toma’s perspective. Ana is the one with the problem, Toma is the one who has to live with it. Despite this, Ana isn’t just a projection screen for Toma. The intense interactions between the two actors turn her into an independent, multifaceted character.

Hand-held images show the lovers very close together, even when things get painful. The realism and intimacy is broken up by an associative narrative structure akin to Derek Cianfrance’s masterpiece BLUE VALENTINE. Netzer jumps from one point of their love story to another one and creates hard contrasts: the blissful beginning, the tough crises, and the end of their love are mere moments away from each other. There are no time stamps; only Toma’s receding hairline gives us a bit of chronological orientation.

Christian Horn

Translation: Elinor Lewy