spring morning

she presses her palm against

the wall

.

The Wall (Die Wand), is a film directed by Julian Roman Pölsler (Austria/Germany, 2011)

and based on Marlen Haushofer’s (1963) best-selling eponymous novel. I have not read the

novel, though now that I saw the film, I am going to.

.

I mention it here, not only because it is a great film I just watched, but also because it connects

with my own interests and forthcoming collection “In the Garden of Absence.”

It is on the same theme of loneliness and the development(or not) of the capacity to be creatively

alone.

.

In the story, right from the beginning, a woman on a trip to the Alps and shortly after she is

separated from the couple she is travelling with, is mysteriously trapped inside a transparent

wall surrounding her hunter’s lodge. While there is a big and beautiful area inside this wall –

including mountain peaks, meadows, a lake, forests – there is no contact  with the outside

world and no way of knowing whether it still exists.

 .

Without human companionship and with only her own resources to survive, her will to live

is tested. Through her sense of responsibility and, I would say, inner strength, she is able to

move towards a realization of the nature of her predicament and acceptance of loneliness,

to an understanding of the human condition in general and the role love plays in it.

.

A Robinson Crusoe without happy endings, but with an insight that goes to the heart

of the human condition. I look forward to the book.

 .

The film’s slow-moving, original and atmospheric cinematography enhances the story

and provides the right background for the perfect performance by Martina Gedeck.

A thought-provoking, emotionally demanding as well as rewarding film.

.

For a summary of the book see here

and film review here

.

spring morning

she presses her palm against

the wall

.