Meine Frau weint

“Why are you crying?” When construction worker Thomas (Vladimir Vulević) asks his partner Carla (Agathe Bonitzer), a preschool teacher, about the cause of her distress, no answer is immediately forthcoming. In Angela Schanelec’s tenth feature film, shared understanding is elusive. Each member of its group of Berliners seems enclosed in a private universe, unable to bridge the gap that separates them from others, and perhaps even unable to know even themselves, as much as they try. Often positioned alone in the frame, they are beset by stillness as they hold forth in muted, measured tones to listeners who scarcely respond. Schanelec confronts desire, birth and death, but without any hint of the psychologism that typically animates such grand themes; a placid, glacial surface caps treacherous currents beneath, cracking open only in brief moments of musical release—and still then just barely. Here, it is the body that conveys what cannot be said—through pain, tears or exhaustion—while speech, whether intimate or banal, is drained of expressivity, seemingly free of blood and breath. This doesn’t mean, however, that MEINE FRAU WEINT is emotionless: ice is cold enough to burn. (Erika Balsom)

In the presence of Angela Schanelec.
Audio description for blind and visually impaired people is available at both screenings. More info here.

Angela Schanelec (selection): ICH BIN DEN SOMMER ÜBER IN BERLIN GEBLIEBEN (1994), DAS GLÜCK MEINER SCHWESTER (1995), PLÄTZE IN STÄDTEN (1998), MEIN LANGSAMES LEBEN (2001), MARSEILLE (2004), NACHMITTAG (2007), ERSTER TAG (2009, K), ORLY (2010), PRINCIPE, TEXTE (2014, K), DER TRAUMHAFTE WEG (2016), ICH WAR ZUHAUSE, ABER (2019), MUSIC (2023)