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 This 2004 film by Franziska Meletzky, about two women who share a flat and eventually develop a romantic relationship to one another, may very well be Denis and Hosenfeld's break-through assignment. At least it's the first soundtrack to receive a more or less commercial release. As usual with Hosenfeld and Denis, the soundtrack is extremely eclectic. The orchestral score is for the most part casual and laidback, such as the playful opening theme ("Polnische Variation") on rolling piano and a melodic string line. Solo piano or violin are accompanied amiably by the Deutschen Filmorchester Babelsberg, which recently acquired fame through guest performance on Rammstein's 2004 album "Reise, Reise". Even the tracks that have a certain suspense element to it, such as "Einbruch", are rather easy-going, with pizzicato strings and a semi-minimalistic structure, melodically. But the songs are really what makes this album an interesting hodge-podge of styles. "Red Saloon" and "Brothers", for example, are tongue-in-cheek hilllbilly country songs with English lyrics and a kazoo to boot! "Suitcase" and "Heart of Hearts" have a more contemporary feel to them, but also qualify as country songs. The former even has a radio edit version at the end of the album, obviously meant as a sort of "hit" from the movie. In addition to this, there's "Catrin, Catrin", a song firmly molded in the salsa/bossanova genre, which is a type of music that Hosenfeld obviously connects to and knows very well. There are two dialogue tracks on the album, which could have been omitted (everyone knows how much soundtrack fans despise dialogue on soundtracks), but they are thankfully on separate tracks, so they can be easily skipped. "Entspannungskassette" has both dialogue and music, i.e. a moody sustained synth chord accompanied by a soft male voice speaking in German. I'm guessing it's a source cue. Overall, the eclectism once again impresses, although one might argue that the crash of styles between the country songs and the traditional orchestral music is a little too much for a fluid listening experience. But the album is never boring, and at 36 minutes, it doesn't have time to wear out its welcome.
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