Opening 11 Oct 2012
Directed by:
Julian Pölsler
Writing credits:
Marlen Haushofer, Julian Pölsler
Principal actors:
Wolfgang M. Bauer, Ulrike Beimpold, Martina Gedeck
A woman (Martina Gedeck) travels with another couple to their summer home. The couple takes the car to run errands in the village. The next morning the woman realizes that her hosts have not returned. Together with the dog Luchs she walks down the country road towards the village. Halfway there she literally bumps into a transparent wall. We only know it’s there because the woman has her face screwed up against it. Perplexed, she returns to the house. She begins to explore her surroundings and realizes that she is imprisoned on all sides – a huge, beautiful prison, full of woods and fields and wild animals, but a prison all the same. She accepts her fate and settles in for the long haul (two years by the end of the film) with just Luchs for company. She becomes self-sufficient, living off of the land and writing in her diary.
Based on the 1963 bestseller by Marlen Haushofer, Julian Roman Pölster directed (and owns the dog which acted in the film). It will certainly raise discussions about society, the meaning of imprisonment: real or imagined. There is very little dialogue and non-German speakers will still understand and appreciate the plot. See more in this website under Film Festivals 2012 or International Filmfestspiele Berlin 2012 under “Locked Up, Locked in.” (Becky Tan)
