August, Frieda's husband, is exasperated by his wife's devotion to her office, which leads to her being absent from home quite often.
Both called on filmmakers to concentrate on the theme of collectivization in agriculture, on the background of the ongoing campaign to establish the communal farms.
"[5] Anke Pinkert noted that An Old Love made a subtle reference to the subjects of post-war displacement and to the bombings during World War II, that were both very controversial at the time.
[6] Joshua Feinstein cited it as one of the earliest East German pictures that had a female protagonist.
[7] Thomas Koebner wrote that the film was clearly a "vehicle of propaganda to promote the collectivization".