Was he in love with Hilde, or it's more of lust? And what do you think happened with him and Gunther? He obviously wasn't much into Gunther, but why did he kiss him in the wine cellar? Was Hans just teasing him because he knew Gunther was still in love with him?
shareI’m not sure on this one either. I wish we were shown Hans and Gunther together before they broke up. Were they out in the open (ie everyone knew they were a couple) and was Hans really serious about Gunther?
Gunther obviously thought they were serious, because he said he thought he was in love with Hans. But I wish we knew Hans’ view of the situation. Sadly though, I don’t think Hans was as involved in the relationship as Gunter was.
I don’t know why Hans kissed Gunther in the cellar, as Hans was obviously more interested in Hilde at that point and that’s why he came out to the party, to be with her.
Perhaps Hans just liked the power he had over Gunther - Gunther was still so attractive/attached to Hans, and I think Hans enjoyed manipulating Gunther’s emotions.
In my opinion, Hans wasn’t all that emotionally attached to either Gunther or Hilde. He just liked being with them.
Hans is a good time guy - he is sexy so has managed to hook onto Hilde and Gunther even though he is not one of their social class. (He is a working cook, they have wealthy parents and they and the rest of their pals go to middle class schools). Hilde is a good time gal, she has decided not to ever commit to one man. Gunther is homosexual, he has Hans up for worship on a pedestal, but I did not notice him come out* to Paul, his relationship with him is on a rarified intellectual/passionate level rather than passionate/sexual.
Paul would like a passionate/intellectual/sexual relationship with Hilde, but as this seems not on, at least for now, he settles for actual sex with Elli and he was led to believe Hilde would respect him more if he had some experience.
To my taste Elli was more attractive than Hilde, but that is my personal modern taste, by 1927 standards blonde, buxom Hilde would have been considered a great beauty and Elli a bit mousey and boyish.
Getting back to Hans, he looked like he was up for group sex with the brother and sister, but that was too much for Gunther to take!
All IMHO of course.
* I see some viewer reviews say Paul knew Gunther was homo, I did not catch that, but regardless, he considered him a soul-mate.
your post makes a lot of sense.
i agree that gunther did not "love" paul but considered him very intelligent and like-minded.
im now starting to wonder if gunther and hans even had a proper relationship?
Paul did know that Gunther was gay, he asked him if he loved Hans.. so I think that makes it pretty obvious..
As regards Hilde, I think she wasn't as free and careless (in relation to love)as she pretended to be... she said that she didn't want to belong to a single man, but then towards the end she tells Hans that she thinks she loves him...
I think Hans just enjoyed stringing him along - probably found it quite amusing to have a brother and sister both in love with him. I also agree that he was perhaps trying to get them into a threesome situation, the way he kissed them both in front of each other perhaps suggests he was trying to pursuade them into a little group fun.
shareActually 1920s beauty standards was athletic, boyish, and flat chested with big eyes and small mouth.
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