Age, care, death – hardly anyone likes to talk about that. All of this is part of life – an ARD film provides some food for thought.
Berlin – It’s a freezing cold winter day, somewhere in the country near Frankfurt / Main, here several guests pay a visit to their relatives in a retirement home. In “The air that we breathe” will cross on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. in First Fates.
Florist Klaus (Rainer Bock) wants to persuade his partner Sylvia (Ruth Reinecke), who has Parkinson’s disease, to move back to their common home in order to be looked after by him. Meanwhile, Alisa (Bernadette Heerwagen) finally wants to convince her demented father Martin (Gerd Wameling) to issue her with a power of attorney for his account. So far, the violin maker has refused to pay for his care place himself, which puts a heavy strain on Alisa’s relationship with her wife Sarah (Katharina Nesytowa).
Lana (Babara Philipp) was summoned by her brother Jürgen (Thomas Loibl): He has been sitting on his mother’s deathbed for nine hours and cannot let go, even though she separated the two siblings many years ago.
Neda Rahmanian (42, “Der Kroatien-Krimi”) is just as convincing in the role of the experienced and level-headed home manager as Katja Studt as a kind-hearted nurse. In general, almost all roles are cast and played excellently, with an incredible amount of empathy for topics such as mutual understanding, resilience of relationships and painful letting go.
It is primarily about what could be an imposition for the patients and their relatives. A visitor is late, then learns of the death of her mother – which through seemingly absurd and yet life-wise scenes and the sensitive connection of two stories – can give her a new chance in life.
Director Martin Enlen (“Wilsberg”) shot his drama – based on the excellent book by Julia C. Kaiser (“The Remains of My Life”) – in a fictional old people’s home that is actually a youth hostel. The start of shooting on Feldberg im Taunus was postponed last year due to short-term snow chaos, but later ice and sleet had to be artificially produced.
Enlen says in an ARD interview: “This film is definitely not a documentation about the condition in German old people’s and nursing homes. But maybe it is not that far from reality, as one can certainly perceive it in very different ways. ”There could be something to it, because some scenes seem terrifyingly realistic in their interpersonal intimacy.
The film is told with great calm and small pauses, which is superbly supported by the music composition by Dieter Schleip. The oncoming storm with black ice helps to bring very different people closer or even (again) together – after all, they cannot leave. It is precisely through conversations among the living, with the dying and with the dead that failures and buried feelings can finally emerge. In this home with the charm of the 70s it is quite easy to endure – the pandemic is far away, the friendly employees are simply a relief, and there is even room for love. Because just like the air you breathe, it is urgently needed for life. dpa
