Jetzt oder morgen

Die heute 21-jährige Claudia hat ihren Sohn Daniel mit 15 bekommen. Regisseurin Lisa Weber begegnet der Familie, die sich aus diesen beiden sowie der Mutter und dem Bruder Claudias zusammensetzt, im Wiener Gemeindebau. Einer Arbeit geht keiner der drei Erwachsenen nach, die Tage schleppen sich dahin, die Zukunft verspricht nicht viel. Morgen wird man nach Stellenanzeigen schauen; jetzt geht es nicht. Aus den zum Teil ornamental anmutenden Bildern dringt dennoch eine ganze Menge: große Emotionalität, Herzlich- und Ratlosigkeit, Mariah Carey und Whitney Houston. There can be miracles when you believe. (diagonale)

In Anwesenheit von Lisa Weber und Carolina Steinbrecher (Kamera). 

A tiny apartment in a Viennese housing complex. Claudia lives there with her 4-year-old son Daniel, her mother Gabi, and her brother Gerhard. It forms the central setting for more than half of Lisa Weber’s documentary, a chamber piece about a working-class family struggling with long-term unemployment, a lack of money, a sense of overwhelming jadedness, and too much time to fill. But if you imagined JETZT ODER MORGEN to be an archetypical example of Austrian cinematic miserabilism, you’d be mistaken. There are, of course, heated confrontations within the family (and also between Claudia and the father of her child or her later boyfriend Marvin). The predominant feeling is of shared hardship though. The ties are strong, but the family is only half-heartedly ready to confront the stasis it find itself in. Weber met Claudia as a 10-year-old already, four years later she became pregnant – her status as a single mother is one answer to the question as to why she doesn’t find work. The other, more difficult answer is provided by Weber’s approach, which is not only intimate, but also stirringly sensitive. It’s hard to break with the habits of a class. But then again: Viennese girls always get by. (Dominik Kamalzadeh)

In the presence of Lisa Weber and Carolina Steinbrecher (Director of photography).

Lisa Weber: DIE UND DER VON DA UND DORT (2011, K), TWINNI ODER SO (2012, K), TANZEN ÜBEN (2013, K), SITZFLEISCH (2014).