The visitor

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Movie
Original title The visitor
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2008
length 89 minutes
Rod
Director Lola Randl
script Lola Randl
production Herbert Schwering
music Maciej Śledziecki
camera Philipp Pfeiffer
cut Natali Barrey
occupation

The visitor is a German film drama from 2008. The film directed by Lola Randl had its world premiere at the 2008 Berlinale . It was released in German cinemas on May 14, 2009.

action

Agnes is a successful neuroscientist , everything is going well for her in her private life too. Outward. Because inside Agnes lives completely lethargic, isolates herself completely from her fellow men. She lives aloof next to her family, her husband Walter and their daughter Leni. Everything goes its regular course, even a dead person and their mysterious neighbor leave them in their rut. Until one day Agnes chaotic sister Karola rushes in and talks to her with a key. Karola herself wants to go on a very spontaneous vacation and shifts the responsibility for looking after an apartment to Agnes. That means watering flowers, emptying mailboxes, nothing special.

But the strange apartment, which presumably belonged to an acquaintance of her sister and must have been left in a hurry, exerts a strange fascination on Agnes. Here she finds a place of retreat. Agnes slowly uncovered the secret of the occupants of the empty apartment: It belongs to the married couple Bruno and Theresa. The woman apparently followed her lover to Corsica and died there in a traffic accident. After that, her husband must have disappeared from the apartment.

One day when Agnes was reading in bed in the empty apartment, Bruno came home. She pretends to be asleep, he lies down next to her and sleeps with her without him trying to wake her or her looking at him. Agnes is attracted to Bruno and a strange relationship develops between the two, who don't even know each other. Bruno tries with her visits to suppress the grief over the loss of his wife. Together they both live the everyday life of lovers that they are not in reality. Bruno even takes her to a party where he pretends to be his wife - while her real husband prepares the separation, as he does not want to go on living with his physically and mentally absent wife.

Awards

  • 2008: Nomination for the Prix Genève-Europe, the European Television Award in the category "Best Fiction: Script by a Young Writer"

Reviews

  • “Where such a story could have turned into a pompous melodrama or a strenuous emancipation film, DIE VISITOR refreshes with the clever and quiet wit of the director, the finely organized, almost casual dialogues and the brilliant acting of the main actors Sylvana Krappatsch, André Jung and Samuel Finzi. Philipp Pfeiffer's camera leaves enough space for the protagonist and comes closest to the visitor when it is only recognizable in outline or as a silhouette - in those moments the fragility becomes visible, which Agnes wants to rediscover for herself. "(Critic.de)
  • “The film, which is rich in intense, observational cinema images and staged with a French flair, does not allow itself to erupt. He stays close to his figure, in all its aloofness. It is inconvenient to watch this, but the unease is combined with the impression of urgency, with the intrepid gaze at a crisis republic populated by unhappy contemporaries, which would rather stand still than pause, let go of the wheel and perhaps get out of the lane to change. "( film service )
  • "Even when exploring family structures, Lola Randl turns out to be a striking phenomenological observer who seems to be deeply repugnant to any flat psychologization." ( ARTE )

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