Haunting at filmforum Duisburg: A House Tells German History
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A House as a Silent Witness of a Turbulent Century
A sentence lingers in the air: It is meant to be our home forever. In Haunting - A Century's Story, a house by a lake becomes a stage for German history. Volker Schlöndorff's adaptation of Jenny Erpenbeck's eponymous novel follows the people who live at this place, hope, lose, and begin anew.
A Property, Many Fates
The dramaturgy directs attention not to a single main character, but to the place itself. Over decades, a Jewish textile manufacturer, an architect with his wife, a writer returning from exile, and the next generation meet there. Their life paths reflect the political upheavals of the 20th century: National Socialism, war, post-war period, GDR, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Volker Schlöndorff Directs Memory
Director and screenwriter Volker Schlöndorff condenses the grand narrative into a personal chamber play. The setting of the story remains the lakeshore with its house, its rooms, and its traces. The moods of light, costumes, and calm visual composition make the changing eras sensually perceptible. The house becomes a memory space where home, loss, displacement, and belonging overlap.
Acting Art between Intimacy and Historical Panorama
Martina Gedeck, Lars Eidinger, Susanne Wolff, Ulrich Matthes, Michael Maertens, Detlev Buck, and Angela Winkler convey the multifaceted narrative. Their characters represent different experiences with ownership, origin, and societal change. The production combines precise acting with a wide historical panorama while maintaining a focus on subtle gestures, unspoken guilt, and fragile hope.
A Stage Experience in the Cinema Hall
Even though the story appears on the screen, the cinema hall unfolds a concentrated theater atmosphere. Acoustics, acting, and visual composition guide the audience through a century without losing sight of the place. The audience's reaction arises from the tension between private fate and collective memory: What remains of a home when the world around it continuously changes?
Conclusion: The filmforum Duisburg presents a powerful historical drama about home, memory, and the traces people leave at a place. This special stage experience in the cinema hall invites you to take a close look at German history and experience the moving life paths of the characters live on the big screen.
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