Question 1: How did people express their affection for one another in the 1980s?

Those who can barely remember the ’80s (or weren’t even born yet) and have no idea how to flirt without using a dating app will find an answer to this question in MAGNETIC BEATS.

In his first feature film, Vincent Maël Cardona takes us back to the early 1980s, telling the story of two brothers who liven up their days in rural France by operating a pirate radio station. The swashbuckling Jérôme (Joseph Olivennes) hosts the shows while his reserved brother Philippe (Thimotée Robart) pushes buttons in the background. Both fall in love with Marianne (Marie Colomb), a single mother. She’s immediately taken by the impetuous Jérôme, and the two become a couple. Philippe, on the other hand, is unable to overcome his shyness at first, but impresses Marianne with what he’s able to do with tape recorders.

Philippe loves Marianne. But does she love him? When he’s called up for military service in West Berlin, the question appears moot. Just before he leaves, however, Marianne shows up at his front door early in the morning with a few cassettes. Self-made mixtapes of the latest music from Berlin, including songs by Nina Hagen and the new-wave girl group Malaria! “Ça, c’est super. Moi, j’adore,” Marianne states emphatically as she hands Philippe the cassettes. Does any more need to be said?

Question 2: How would a German woman in the 1970s make her Italian lover jealous?

The answer to this question is found in Klaus Lemke’s latest work, CHAMPAGNE FOR THE EYES – POISON FOR THE REST. In this documentary, Lemke reminisces about the late ’60s and ’70s, tells witty anecdotes from the time, and looks back indulgently on his life’s work. Munich’s grand desperado of cinema also shows excerpts of his 1978 romantic comedy AMORE. In that film, Cleo Kretschmer plays Maria, the daughter of a widowed greengrocer in Munich’s Haidhausen neighborhood. Seeing her friend Bärbel lovesick over Pietro (Pietro Giardini), an Italian ladies’ man, Maria plays Bärbel’s avenging angel, getting Pietro to fall in love with her so that she can break his heart.

Maria’s boyfriend, a Bundeswehr soldier named Franz (Wolfgang Fierek), naturally doesn’t like the fact that she’s obviously cheating. Still, he can’t let go of her. Meanwhile, she’s using him to make Pietro jealous. How? Franz is supposed to give her a hickey. The clumsiness with which they carry out this intrigue (“Just imagine you’re a vampire!”) and the way that Kretschmer and Fierek play this scene is itself worth the price of admission to Lemke’s retrospective.

Question 3: What do the Minions and the Super Noses have in common?

Very little. The obvious facial features of German comedic actors Thomas Gottschalk and Mike Krüger inspired their nickname, “die Supernasen” (the Super Noses). The Minions, on the other hand, don’t have noses, at least not ones we can see; instead, they have yellow skin, tiny brains, and sometimes only one eye. In their latest adventure, MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU, the diminutive but lively helpers and their boss, Gru, who’s still a boy in this film, cavort and bumble through the 1970s, thus approaching the brilliant era of Mike and Tommy, whose first Super Noses film was released in theaters in 1983.

This animated film certainly comes close to the laid-back party vibe that tall, blond Gottschalk and his buddy exuded. Add to that some afro hairstyles, references to EASY RIDER, a car chase on the streets of San Francisco, and tons of flower power, plus a nasty gang that snatches Gru away from the Minions. Amid this superbly animated mayhem, however, one villain in particular keeps popping up. Wild Knuckles is his name; in the German version he’s voiced by ... Thomas Gottschalk. Super Nose Meets No Noses! That’s something that has to be seen and heard.

Here are the screening times: MAGNETIC BEATS will have its German premiere tomorrow, Monday, at 6 pm at Filmtheater Sendlinger Tor. Two more screenings will follow: on Tuesday at 9:30 pm at HFF Kino 1 and on Wednesday at 2:30 pm at City 1. On the first two dates, the main actors, Thimotée Robart and Marie Colomb, will be around to answer questions from the audience after the film.

Klaus Lemke will personally present his documentary CHAMPAGNE FOR THE EYES – POISON FOR THE REST two more times: Tuesday at 9 pm at Sugar Mountain and Saturday at 9 pm at the Astor Arri Kino. The Minions’ latest adventure starts today, when the film has its German premiere in the Astor Kino at 5:15 pm and a second screening at Kino, Mond & Sterne at 9:30 pm, with Thomas Gottschalk and Oliver Rohrbeck attending both (and Tobias “Checker Tobi” Krell introducing the film). On Monday, MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU can be enjoyed once more at 4 pm at Rio 1.