Die Geträumten (2016)

A young woman and a young man are in a recording studio. They read letters exchanged by Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan—two of the most significant German-language poets of the postwar period—from 1948 to 1967. The woman stands in front of a microphone and reads Bachmann’s letters; the man reads Celan’s. The readings are recorded. Through the speakers’ focused, alternating recitation in Austrian German—the variety of German spoken by Bachmann and Celan as well—the texts take shape as an intense, modern chamber drama. They increasingly immerse themselves in the language and feelings of the two letter writers. The texts deal with love, doubt, longing, jealousy, and artistic self-reassurance. Bachmann and Celan’s relationship is difficult and tragic—not least because of their different backgrounds. Bachmann is Austrian; Celan grew up Jewish in Romania. Accusations and misunderstandings pile up. Anja Plaschg reads Bachmann’s sentence several times: “Are we only the ones being dreamed?” The intensity of the readings is repeatedly interrupted by brief, improvised scenes set during the breaks. The two actors are seen in different places around the building. They make small talk, reflect on what they have read, listen to music, or smoke.