Pigeons on the Roof

May. 26,2011      
Rating:
5.9
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Youssef's falafel are the bestseller. Unfortunately, his small snack bar on Berliner Sonnenallee lacks the required splash guard. The meticulous Peggy of the Public Order Office knows no mercy: The desperate Lebanese has to close the shop, but then the unlikely happens: The shy official falls in love with the spirited Orientals. In this episodic big city comedy, the elementary particles of love collide. Katja Riemann and Olli Dittrich prove their incredible versatility in ten different roles

Katja Riemann as  Eva, Maria, Peggy, Gabriela, Alexa
Olli Dittrich as  Paul, Youssef, Frieder, Stevie, Yogi Swami Helmut
Leonard Carow as  Hanno
Beat Marti as  Ole
Guido Broscheit as  Günter K.
Sara Fazilat as  Meral
Mirko Lang as  Texter
Isabella Schmid as  Julia

Reviews

Ceticultsot
2011/05/26

Beautiful, moving film.

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Hayden Kane
2011/05/27

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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Allison Davies
2011/05/28

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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Francene Odetta
2011/05/29

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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Horst in Translation ([email protected])
2011/05/30

"Die Relativitätstheorie der Liebe" or "Pigeons on the Roof" is a German 95-minute movie from 2011, so this one had its 5th anniversary last year. It is probably the most known as well as most recent work by writer and director Otto Alexander Jahrreiss and the former probably has to do with Olli Dittrich and Katja Riemann being the two core actors here. As for me, my perception of this duo could hardly be any more different. i love Dittrich in almost everything he is in while I cannot stand Riemann at all usually and find her very overrated. So it will definitely depend on your liking of these two in order to determine how much you will end up liking this film. Dittrich plays several characters in here and so does Riemann and the one thing that unites them is always love, sometimes more, sometimes less. It is basically 4-5 short films packed into one movie and I personally found the connections not too convincing. Another negative aspect was probably that the editing felt really rocky at times and the jumps between the couples were kinda tough to watch on more than just a few occasions. But yeah as somebody who likes Dittrich a lot, it was still a rewarding watch and I also felt that Riemann was not as bad in here as she usually is, even if she fails in hitting the right notes too at times and becomes too gimmicky, but that's a problem she frequently has in her career. Of course, your perception and personal preferences/experiences alone will decide how much you like the individual parts. I personally liked the one with the immigrant who wants a restaurant and the health inspection agency worker the most I guess. Dittrich really shines there for example with his constant asking for tea. One can make a point that sometimes it is costumes over craft (acting) here and they may be correct, but this film still has several enjoyable moments, even if I would say it is kinda difficult to take it seriously as anything other than a comedy. Overall, the film is not on the very strong level as the Dittrich/Engelke collaboration "Blind Date" that also could have been put together as a pretty long movie because of the deficits I mentioned, but nonetheless if you like Riemann and/or Dittrich as much as I do, then it is certainly worth checking out. I give this project a cautious thumbs-up. Oh yeah, the title could have been better too.

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