SEHNSUCHT (LONGING)
Germany, 2006, 93 minutes, Colour.
Andreas Muller, Ilka Welz, Anett Dornbusch.
Directed by Valeska Grisevach.
Longing is a deceptive film. On the surface, it looks very simple and straightforward. However, there is a lot going on beneath the surface. Director, Valeska Grisebach) has said that she interviewed around 200 people in the street to ask what they imagined their future would be like. And she ends the film with children playing a game and chatting in a park about the story we have just seen. They speculate on what the characters were like, why they did what they did. It jolts us into finally making an assessment of how we responded to the characters and their situations.
A voluntary fireman comes across a car crash where a husband has driven his vehicle into a tree killing himself and injuring his wife. The man helps but cannot save the woman. He reflects on suicide and what could have influenced this fatal choice.
He is happily married but, when he goes on a weekend training with fellow firemen, he becomes involved with a woman working in the hotel. This is a surprise for the audience. He did not seem like that kind of man. So, what were his longings? And those of his wife whom he loves? And those of the woman he also loves? And how to deal with this?
The solution takes us off guard as the director distracts us and we realise what has happened. This and the final conversation of the children mean that we leave the cinema puzzled but very thoughtful.
1.Critical acclaim for the film? Its brevity, its style, its content, its psychology, human interactions and relationships? The realistic tone, pessimistic tone?
2.The importance of the setting, the details of the town, the park with the initial accident, the work of the fire brigade, Markus and his home, workplace? The other town, the hotel, the upmarket rooms? The basic authenticity of the locations and the characters?
3.The director, her naturalistic style, semi-documentary? The amateur cast? Convincing? The musical score and classical moods?
4.The basic plot, familiarity? How well treated? Insight, compassion?
5.The title, the meaning of longing? Longing for existence, life? Alone and loneliness? Love, sexuality? Fate? Death? Suicide? The impact on those left behind?
6.The portrait of Markus: his age, the accident in the park, his rescue? Talking about fate? His collaboration with the men at work, his love for his wife, his life and its ordinariness? The bonds with his wife, her devotion? His going for the weekend, the celebration, the lectures, the meal? The attraction towards Rose? Drinking, the solo dance? His not remembering but his beginning the affair? His being torn between the two women? Tender towards both? The family visits and meals? The sexual relationship with his wife, with Rose? The breaking of the relationship with Rose? The gun, the rabbit – and the suddenness of his death? The meaning of his life and death? Seeing him at work, in his workshop – seeming alive and then his sudden death?
7.The portrait of his wife, her talking to her husband, listening, in love with him? In the choir, her weeping? Her various friends and the patterns of her life? Her husband’s absences and their effect? His return, feeling disturbed, hurt? The truth? The impact of his death?
8.The comparisons with Rose, ordinary, cheerful, at work in the hotel, dancing with Markus, the beginning of the affair, her looking forward to his visits, the bond between the two? The break-up? The ending and her longing?
9.The background of the fire brigade, the choir, the hotel and restaurant? Human types? The German tone? The men, their talk amongst the fire brigade workers? Their bonds?
10.The finale with the children, telling a fairy tale – a version of what happened for the audience? And the audience knowing the truth?
