What makes the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) so endearing beyond its penchant for experimentation is an atmosphere that’s joyful and devoid of stress or self-importance. That was evident at this year’s festival, inside theaters where it seemed like the experience was about sharing cinematic pearls and not about arranging financial deals. The film selection was once again a delightfully uneven mishmash of bold stories with, perhaps, a through line having to do with our complicated relationship to otherness.
In Ulaa Salim’s Eternal, this otherness takes the shape of the Earth itself and of a woman’s body. These two are metaphorically linked through the figure of a fracture, which appears as a sign of the end of times after an earthquake in Iceland cracks the Earth open, and is poetically mapped onto the body of Anita (Anna Søgaard Frandsen) when she and Elias (Viktor Hjelmsø) first have sex.
In Ulaa Salim’s Eternal, this otherness takes the shape of the Earth itself and of a woman’s body. These two are metaphorically linked through the figure of a fracture, which appears as a sign of the end of times after an earthquake in Iceland cracks the Earth open, and is poetically mapped onto the body of Anita (Anna Søgaard Frandsen) when she and Elias (Viktor Hjelmsø) first have sex.
- 2/1/2024
- by Diego Semerene
- Slant Magazine
Lately, the Cannes Film Festival has had a great track record premiering films from the Berlin School filmmakers, beginning in 2016 with Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann and then in 2017 with Valeska Grisebach's Western. This run continues with In My Room, the incisive new film by Ade's partner, Ulrich Köhler—the German director's first feature in seven years.Like Western, it is a sly and restrained revision of a well-trod genre, in this case the last-man-on-Earth scenario. But that comes later; first, we are introduced to Hans Löw's Armin, a very average Berliner chastised at his job for his sloppiness—a television cameraman, he accidentally turns his camera off during political coverage and on during the bits in-between major speeches—and alone in his tiny studio flat. He travels to the suburbs to visit his father and look after his dying and bedridden grandmother, and after a depressed bender...
- 5/21/2018
- MUBI
Based on Pit Agarmen’s novel (a form in which this story doubtlessly worked better), Dominique Rocher’s feature debut “The Night Eats the World” focuses on an isolated guy’s boredom and loneliness after an outbreak of the flesh-eating undead leaves him trapped in a Parisian apartment building. The very definition of a well-made movie that nonetheless really needn’t have been made at all, Rocher’s entry into the canon will attract a few zombie completists, but provide little fun for the average genre buff and underwhelming reward for art-house audiences.
At the start, Sam shows up at his ex-girlfriend’s door, a grudging errand — evidently it was not a happy parting — made more unpleasant by the discovery that she and her new boyfriend are hosting a crowded party. Wanting only to retrieve some personal possessions she’d accidentally taken with her, he retreats to a back office room and locks the door.
At the start, Sam shows up at his ex-girlfriend’s door, a grudging errand — evidently it was not a happy parting — made more unpleasant by the discovery that she and her new boyfriend are hosting a crowded party. Wanting only to retrieve some personal possessions she’d accidentally taken with her, he retreats to a back office room and locks the door.
- 4/22/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
It's surprising the late Austrian author Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall (a.k.a. Die Wand) took a full half-century to go from final print draft to the big screen, if only because the novel has maintained a significant following in German-speaking countries for nearly all that time. It’s easy enough to see, however, why it might have stymied filmmakers before writer-director Julian Roman Pölsler finally took the plunge. The book is practically everything conventional narrative cinema recoils from: Basically a first-person, stream-of-consciousness monologue, with our heroine and a dog as the only real “characters,” little in the way of “action” and no explanation whatsoever of the fantastical event that causes her predicament. It’s at once doggedly realistic (in detailing her survival tactics), introspective and bizarre.>> - Dennis Harvey...
- 8/15/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
It's surprising the late Austrian author Marlen Haushofer’s The Wall (a.k.a. Die Wand) took a full half-century to go from final print draft to the big screen, if only because the novel has maintained a significant following in German-speaking countries for nearly all that time. It’s easy enough to see, however, why it might have stymied filmmakers before writer-director Julian Roman Pölsler finally took the plunge. The book is practically everything conventional narrative cinema recoils from: Basically a first-person, stream-of-consciousness monologue, with our heroine and a dog as the only real “characters,” little in the way of “action” and no explanation whatsoever of the fantastical event that causes her predicament. It’s at once doggedly realistic (in detailing her survival tactics), introspective and bizarre.>> - Dennis Harvey...
- 8/15/2014
- Keyframe
The Lives Of Others star Martina Gedeck joins cast of Julia Von Heinz’s Ich Bin Dann Mal Weg (I’m On My Way).
The Lives of Others star Martina Gedeck will join the cast of Julia Von Heinz’s upcoming Spain-set comedy Ich Bin Dann Mal Weg (literal translation: I’m On My Way)
The acclaimed German actress, here in Jerusalem on the Israeli Feature Film Jury, will star alongside Devid Striesow in the cast of the Ufa and Warner Bros Germany production, adapted by Jane Ainscough and Christoph Silber from Hape Kerkeling’s best-selling comedic book about a man’s pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Shooting is due to take place later this summer on the German-language feature.
Gedeck is then due to star alongside Thomas Kretschmann in Arsen A Ostojic’s Second World War drama Man In The Box about an Austrian family who take a Jewish doctor into hiding.
Also on the...
The Lives of Others star Martina Gedeck will join the cast of Julia Von Heinz’s upcoming Spain-set comedy Ich Bin Dann Mal Weg (literal translation: I’m On My Way)
The acclaimed German actress, here in Jerusalem on the Israeli Feature Film Jury, will star alongside Devid Striesow in the cast of the Ufa and Warner Bros Germany production, adapted by Jane Ainscough and Christoph Silber from Hape Kerkeling’s best-selling comedic book about a man’s pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Shooting is due to take place later this summer on the German-language feature.
Gedeck is then due to star alongside Thomas Kretschmann in Arsen A Ostojic’s Second World War drama Man In The Box about an Austrian family who take a Jewish doctor into hiding.
Also on the...
- 7/15/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The Wall, Austria’s Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. : Music Box Films. International Sales Agent: Starhaus Filmproduktion Gmbh
Book-to-film adaptations are known to be tricky affairs. Furthermore, such complexity of translating a text into its visual counterpart becomes more challenging when the written piece is limited in space, characters and dialogue. Director-writer-actor Julian Roman Pölsler’s devotion for Marlen Haushofer’s novel drove him to create a film that could have easily been deemed “uncinematic”. The story deals with profound existential questions via a woman who is stranded in the woods by an invisible barrier, and who must survive a life of emotional starvation with a group of animals as her only company. Almost completely dialogue-free, the journey is one of fully narrated metaphors and poetry by her as she writes to keep track of time and of her thoughts. What could have become something bland is rescued by the subtly of the images and passages that turn it into an almost Biblical odyssey.
After waking up alone in a lodge in the middle of the woods in the Austrian countryside, an unnamed woman (played by Martina Gedeck of Jude Suss and The Baader Meinhof Complex) searches for her friends, an older couple that she accompanied on this trip. As she walks through the roads followed by her loyal dog Lynx, she discovers a bizarre obstacle on her path; there is a wall, transparent and unbreakable. Soon enough, and after seeing other people on the other side of the wall who are not aware of her existence, she realizes that she is boxed in with limited supplies and no idea of what is happening.
As her hopes of being rescued by someone in the “outside” fade away, the woman begins to forcefully develop her primeval survival instincts. She is now exposed to the rules of nature; therefore, she slowly turns into an avid hunter and farmer, but not without a great deal of guilt, doubt, and loneliness. Her journey to self-discovery is plagued with circumstances that are mostly foreign for most living in the developed world. This woman, a city girl, must now face the elements and tough labor, yet, perhaps the most devastating enemy in her new habitat, is the immense silence and lack of human contact that coerce her to think about death.
A 108-minute audiovisual poem is what the director has crafted with The Wall . Said wall becomes irrelevant as the story develops. The woman’s self-imposed boundaries, as those imposed by everyone else onto himself or herself, are what define her as human even when surrounded by beasts.
She is still remorseful to kill, she leans onto the joyfulness of Lynx or her other animals for hope, and once she forgets about the parameters by which the world defines humanity, her animals acquire more value than those granted humanity by birth. In other words, her fellow men become more foreign than the uncertainty, and seemingly terrifying forces of untamed nature. The film includes deep philosophical inquiries; however, it is hidden under an intriguing work of art that although pensive and contained, packs luscious beauty.
There is more to this film that one can possibly cover in a review. The intricate connections it makes with everything that shapes the human experience really stimulates the mind. This woman and the relentless wall represent the constant battle to find meaning, to find significance in the insignificance of one human life, which is all anyone is ever given. She pities mankind because we are intelligent enough to resist our own innate flaws and wants; on the other hand, she hails love as the only hope for a better life, which is unimaginably touching as her world is so crippled with isolation, undoubtedly one must agree.
This is a brave cinematic statement about the human condition. It’s probably one of the most demanding experiences a viewer can have, as it asks for one to link the vast landscapes, the sounds of nature, the woman’s struggle, and the poetry of her writing into one cohesive piece of information. Still, it is worth it. Also, Gedeck carries the film on her shoulders only aided by her relationship with a dog, two cats, and a cow; that’s is a remarkable achievement. The Wall is not for those who want an easy walk in the park from a movie , but for those willing to give into its powerful message, a reward awaits in the form of thought-provoking conversations.
Review First Published on Filmophilia.com
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
Book-to-film adaptations are known to be tricky affairs. Furthermore, such complexity of translating a text into its visual counterpart becomes more challenging when the written piece is limited in space, characters and dialogue. Director-writer-actor Julian Roman Pölsler’s devotion for Marlen Haushofer’s novel drove him to create a film that could have easily been deemed “uncinematic”. The story deals with profound existential questions via a woman who is stranded in the woods by an invisible barrier, and who must survive a life of emotional starvation with a group of animals as her only company. Almost completely dialogue-free, the journey is one of fully narrated metaphors and poetry by her as she writes to keep track of time and of her thoughts. What could have become something bland is rescued by the subtly of the images and passages that turn it into an almost Biblical odyssey.
After waking up alone in a lodge in the middle of the woods in the Austrian countryside, an unnamed woman (played by Martina Gedeck of Jude Suss and The Baader Meinhof Complex) searches for her friends, an older couple that she accompanied on this trip. As she walks through the roads followed by her loyal dog Lynx, she discovers a bizarre obstacle on her path; there is a wall, transparent and unbreakable. Soon enough, and after seeing other people on the other side of the wall who are not aware of her existence, she realizes that she is boxed in with limited supplies and no idea of what is happening.
As her hopes of being rescued by someone in the “outside” fade away, the woman begins to forcefully develop her primeval survival instincts. She is now exposed to the rules of nature; therefore, she slowly turns into an avid hunter and farmer, but not without a great deal of guilt, doubt, and loneliness. Her journey to self-discovery is plagued with circumstances that are mostly foreign for most living in the developed world. This woman, a city girl, must now face the elements and tough labor, yet, perhaps the most devastating enemy in her new habitat, is the immense silence and lack of human contact that coerce her to think about death.
A 108-minute audiovisual poem is what the director has crafted with The Wall . Said wall becomes irrelevant as the story develops. The woman’s self-imposed boundaries, as those imposed by everyone else onto himself or herself, are what define her as human even when surrounded by beasts.
She is still remorseful to kill, she leans onto the joyfulness of Lynx or her other animals for hope, and once she forgets about the parameters by which the world defines humanity, her animals acquire more value than those granted humanity by birth. In other words, her fellow men become more foreign than the uncertainty, and seemingly terrifying forces of untamed nature. The film includes deep philosophical inquiries; however, it is hidden under an intriguing work of art that although pensive and contained, packs luscious beauty.
There is more to this film that one can possibly cover in a review. The intricate connections it makes with everything that shapes the human experience really stimulates the mind. This woman and the relentless wall represent the constant battle to find meaning, to find significance in the insignificance of one human life, which is all anyone is ever given. She pities mankind because we are intelligent enough to resist our own innate flaws and wants; on the other hand, she hails love as the only hope for a better life, which is unimaginably touching as her world is so crippled with isolation, undoubtedly one must agree.
This is a brave cinematic statement about the human condition. It’s probably one of the most demanding experiences a viewer can have, as it asks for one to link the vast landscapes, the sounds of nature, the woman’s struggle, and the poetry of her writing into one cohesive piece of information. Still, it is worth it. Also, Gedeck carries the film on her shoulders only aided by her relationship with a dog, two cats, and a cow; that’s is a remarkable achievement. The Wall is not for those who want an easy walk in the park from a movie , but for those willing to give into its powerful message, a reward awaits in the form of thought-provoking conversations.
Review First Published on Filmophilia.com
Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...
- 10/27/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
★★★★☆ Adapted from Marlen Haushofer's 1962 novel of the same name, The Wall (Die Wand, 2012) is German director Julian Pölsler's debut feature following a career spent predominately in television. Starring the wonderful Martina Gedeck, Pölsler's stripped down, philosophical slice of reflective sci-fi is a breath of fresh air within a genre driven by spectacle. Gedeck plays an unidentified woman who accompanies her cousin and husband to a secluded Austrian lodge. Set within the shadow of the Alps, this isolated cabin is the perfect dwelling for getting away from the hectic rhythm and grind of modern 21st century life.
However, when Gedeck's party embark on a quick trip to the cabin's neighbouring village, leaving her alone with Lynx( the family dog), she finds herself left for an unusual period of time, waking the next morning alone and curious as to their whereabouts. Understandably worried that some tragedy has befallen her companions,...
However, when Gedeck's party embark on a quick trip to the cabin's neighbouring village, leaving her alone with Lynx( the family dog), she finds herself left for an unusual period of time, waking the next morning alone and curious as to their whereabouts. Understandably worried that some tragedy has befallen her companions,...
- 7/8/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Reading this on mobile? Click here to watch video
If you're unlucky enough to be trapped alone by a sudden force field that manifests as invisible walls, there'd be few better places to find yourself than a well-stocked three-storey alpine chalet. Not only is there a friendly mutt, an abundance of wild game, a pregnant cow and a ton of guns, there are also knockout views for when the loneliness gets especially crushing.
Marlen Haushofer's 1963 feminist allegory – a perennial in the German bestseller charts – is devotedly transferred to the big screen and powerfully played by veteran actor Martina Gedeck (a disconcerting double for Davina McCall). But the sheer quantity of voiceover – or, more likely, subtitles – acts as a barrier to deep psychological immersion.
DramaWorld cinemaCatherine Shoard
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our...
If you're unlucky enough to be trapped alone by a sudden force field that manifests as invisible walls, there'd be few better places to find yourself than a well-stocked three-storey alpine chalet. Not only is there a friendly mutt, an abundance of wild game, a pregnant cow and a ton of guns, there are also knockout views for when the loneliness gets especially crushing.
Marlen Haushofer's 1963 feminist allegory – a perennial in the German bestseller charts – is devotedly transferred to the big screen and powerfully played by veteran actor Martina Gedeck (a disconcerting double for Davina McCall). But the sheer quantity of voiceover – or, more likely, subtitles – acts as a barrier to deep psychological immersion.
DramaWorld cinemaCatherine Shoard
guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our...
- 7/7/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
A kind of existential Robinson Crusoe, Marlen Haushofer's early-Sixties source novel is a first-person story with one character: a woman who is trapped behind an invisible wall while holidaying in some Alpine forests. What you get when you adapt it for the screen are lots of shots of the character walking through the pretty landscape; and the feeling that The Twilight Zone would have told the same story better and quicker.
- 7/5/2013
- The Independent - Film
Julian Polsler purchased the rights to Marlen Haushofer's novel "The Wall" several years ago but the process of adapting such a seminal and difficult work hasn't been easy and it's taken seven years to bring The Wall to the screen but the result is spectacular; a gorgeous, haunting and energizing story of a woman struggling with nature and herself to stay alive. Shot over a period of 14 months, the film unfolds as an unnamed woman shares the events that have led to her current situation; she's alone in a cabin in the middle of a forest. She recalls the first days of being alone, of trying to understand what happened on the outside, how she finally made the decision that she wanted to survive long enough to be rescued, how eventually the idea of rescue withdrew from her mind, replaced by the simple need to live and provide for...
- 6/14/2013
- QuietEarth.us
Title: The Wall Director: Julian Roman Pölsler Starring: Martina Gedeck From Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” to “The Simpsons Movie” and Stephen King’s “Under the Dome,” the notion of an area being impenetrably sealed off from contact with the outside world is a well-worn one, full of rich and easy dramatic veins through which to explore notions of human fallibility and transcendence. Unfortunately, said concept gets a tired workout in writer-director Julian Roman Pölsler’s plodding adaptation of Marlen Haushofer’s eponymous 1962 novel — a German/Austrian import so weighed down by a stereotypically angst-ridden voiceover of emotional numbness and philosophical despair that one could be forgiven for thinking Werner Herzog wrote [ Read More ]
The post The Wall Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Wall Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/14/2013
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
Julian Pölsler‘s latest psychological drama The Wall opens in limited theaters today, so as usual – we’re here to share the first clip from the whole thing with you. As you’re about to see from this short video, the story looks pretty intense although it mainly focuses on the nameless woman who’s left alone with her own thoughts for years in the Austrian Alps. Check her out! Based on Marlen Haushofer’s classic novel, The Wall story is set in the Austrian mountains and revolves around the above mentioned nameless woman, played by German actress Martina Gedeck, who’s left alone with her own thoughts for years...
- 6/1/2013
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Austrian director Julian Pölsler had quite a task on his hands in undertaking an adaptation of Austrian author Marlen Haushofer.s powerful 1963 novel The Wall, which is kind of like a psychological science fiction coming-of-age survival drama. The film was released overseas last year to middling reviews, and is making its way to a U.S. release today, May 31, 2013. Hopefully nothing gets in its way. Like, I dunno, a wall. Like its title states, this is a film about an invisible wall that appears in the middle of the Austrian countryside. Acclaimed actress Martina Gedeck, best known for her work in the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others, plays a woman who goes off on a vacation and soon realizes that she is completely alone out there, save for her dog Lynx. My guess is the above clip comes soon after she.s come into contact with the wall, and ...
- 5/31/2013
- cinemablend.com
They say that dogs are man (or woman's) best friend, and indeed, their loyalty is just one of the traits that makes those four-legged friends so endearing. Frankly, if we were cut off from civilization, we might actually prefer a dog to be on our side than anybody on two legs. And that basic, intriguing premise is at the heart of "The Wall" from director Julian Pölsler, and led by "The Lives Of Others" star Martina Gedeck. Based on Marlen Haushofer’s classic novel, the actress leads the eerie movie, set in the Austrian mountains, where her unnamed character suddenly finds herself cut off from all human contact by an invisible, unyielding wall that surrounds the countryside where she is vacationing. Accompanied by her dog Lynx, she must now come to grips with her bizarre circumstances, in a film that that tackles spirituality, humanity, solitude, and more. And in this exclusive clip from the film,...
- 5/30/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The film scripted and directed by Julian Roman Pölsler, based on the novel by Marlen Haushofer, opens on June 7th, 2013 in limited areas, starring Martina Gedeck (The Lives Of Others), Wolfgang M. Bauer and Ulrike Beimpold. Gedeck brings a vivid intensity to her role as an unnamed woman who inexplicably finds herself cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the beautiful Austrian mountainside where she is vacationing. Accompanied by her loyal dog Lynx, she becomes immersed in a world untouched by civilization and ruled by the laws of nature. As she grapples with her mysterious circumstances, she begins an inward journey of spiritual growth and transcendence. Based on Marlen Haushofer’s eponymous classic novel, The Wall is both a riveting tale of survival and a gorgeous meditation that raises profound questions about humanity and our relationship to the natural world.
- 5/10/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
A glib work of German miserablism, this adaptation of Marlen Haushofer’s 1960s best-selling novel is a visually lush but overly sparse drama, in which Martina Gedeck plays a woman who finds herself trapped by an invisible force in an isolated area of the Austrian mountains.
The inevitability of this one-person show is that director Julian Pölsler feels obliged to provide perfunctory, needless narration alongside Gedeck’s performance in order to spell out every tiny detail of her quandary, as if we cannot see it for ourselves (this is hardly Transformers now, is it?). Rather than convey the protagonist’s consideration of suicide through interesting visuals, it’s all told to us with the utmost banality, the quietly sinister tone, ravishing cinematography and imposing sound design being about the only things that remain interesting throughout.
What will keep audiences most intrigued is the central gimmick, which...
A glib work of German miserablism, this adaptation of Marlen Haushofer’s 1960s best-selling novel is a visually lush but overly sparse drama, in which Martina Gedeck plays a woman who finds herself trapped by an invisible force in an isolated area of the Austrian mountains.
The inevitability of this one-person show is that director Julian Pölsler feels obliged to provide perfunctory, needless narration alongside Gedeck’s performance in order to spell out every tiny detail of her quandary, as if we cannot see it for ourselves (this is hardly Transformers now, is it?). Rather than convey the protagonist’s consideration of suicide through interesting visuals, it’s all told to us with the utmost banality, the quietly sinister tone, ravishing cinematography and imposing sound design being about the only things that remain interesting throughout.
What will keep audiences most intrigued is the central gimmick, which...
- 10/24/2012
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
A woman wakes up one morning to find herself trapped behind an invisible wall with only a dog, a cat, and a cow. Based on the best selling novel by Marlen Haushofer which has been translated into 17 languages, the story seems to revolve around themes of emancipation and social criticism. All that side, we reported on this 3 years ago and have been eagerly awaiting it since. While you're right in guessing their will be little dialogue, there seems to be a large amount of narrative as she diaries her ordeal. We have a lacklustre trailer but an awesome nightmare clip of the wall below.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 2/4/2012
- QuietEarth.us
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.