The Practice of Love

Part thriller and part experimental fantasy, this first feature-length film by director Waltraud Hollinger (aka Valie Export) concerns Judith (Adelheid Arndt), a journalist who becomes embroiled in a murder case through one of her two current lovers. When Judith is sent to investigate the peep-show business in Hamburg, she runs into the psychiatrist Dr. Alphons Schlogel (Rudiger Vogler), a former boyfriend who is now a part of a lucrative but illicit gun-running operation. Even though she is already involved with another married psychiatrist, Judith renews her relationship with Alphons. There may be a reason for these two psychiatrists in her life -- Judith has a tendency to garble fantasy and reality together, a trait that could leave the audience slightly confused as well. When Alphons' partner is murdered, Judith is drawn into the case and may be facing more than she can handle. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide