The Wall
Die Wand
In this spectacular psychological drama, the superb Martina Gedeck portrays a woman isolated by a mysterious force-field.
Producers: Rainer Kölmel, Antonin Svoboda, Martin Gschlacht, Wasliki Bleser
Screenplay: Julian Roman Pölsler. Based on the novel by Marlen Haushofer
Photography: J.R.P. Altmann, Christian Berger, Markus Fraunholz, Martin Gschlacht, Bernhard Keller, Helmut Pirnat, Hans Selikovsky, Thomas Tröger, Richi Wagner
Editors: Bettina Mazakarini, Natalie Schwager, Thomas Kohler
In German with English subtitles
CinemaScope/35mm
With: Martina Gedeck (the woman), Karl Heinz Hackl (Hugo), Ulrike Beimpold (Luise), Wolfgang Maria Bauer (the man), Hans-Michael Rehberg, Julia Gschnitzer (cottagers)
Festivals: Berlin 2012
Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Others) compels as a woman suddenly and mysteriously separated from the rest of humanity by an invisible wall. Isolated, apart from the company of several animals with whom intense relationships form, she must rely on her own strength of will to stay alive. Her bleak loneliness is contrasted with the stunning Austrian alpine landscape she inhabits. Adapted from the popular 60s German novel Die Wand by Marlen Haushofer, it’s philosophical sci-fi, a Kafka-esque meditation on the struggle of human existence. This is a gritty survival story with a feminist flavour, fantastical yet rendered with an uncanny realism that leaves you contemplating your own response to such conditions. — JR
“Riveting and emotionally involving from start to finish… a highrisk, high-intelligence drama that will be intensely rewarding for viewers willing to scale its rarefied but heady heights.” — Jonathan Romney, Screendaily
