Ein halbes Leben (2009)

The story follows two main characters. On one side is Ulrich Lenz (Josef Hader), a Vienna subway driver. He has already served a prison sentence for rape. Back in the mid-1980s, Lenz killed a 20-year-old woman while attempting to rape her. As the film progresses, it is suggested that Lenz may have killed the woman in the heat of the moment, rather than deliberately. Lenz is tormented by his guilt and regrets what he did. When he confides in his partner—who knew only about the rape for which he had served his sentence—the two are in the middle of planning their wedding. But this is too much for her, and she leaves him. Years later, Lenz has a new relationship, from which a daughter is born. After this partner also leaves him, he lives with his young daughter as a single father. He finds it difficult to lead a normal life. He is torn between the urge to finally confess and face his punishment, and the fear of losing his freedom and thereby abandoning his daughter. The film’s second main character is the father (Matthias Habich) of the dead woman. Even years after the crime, he is still struggling with his daughter’s grisly death and cannot find peace until the perpetrator is caught. He, too, is therefore unable to lead a normal life. He is in constant contact with his friend Max Hauer, a Vienna police officer, to keep up to date on the investigation. Eventually, he places all his hopes in the newly emerging investigative method of DNA analysis, which is intended to help find his daughter’s killer through genetic fingerprinting. The perpetrator, Ulrich Lenz, also learns about the new method. When it is announced that all former sex offenders must provide a DNA sample to be entered into an offender database, Ulrich Lenz realizes that it is now only a matter of time before he is caught. He gives a DNA sample, carries on with his life with his daughter, and expects to be arrested every day. One morning, Ulrich Lenz notices that he is being followed. He is taking his daughter to school when the police move in. Lenz can just manage to say goodbye to his daughter, telling her that he will always be there for her. When he is arrested, it is at once the collapse of his world and a source of relief: after more than 20 years, he confesses fully, giving every detail. Lenz asks his court-appointed lawyer to arrange a meeting in prison with the father of his victim. In the film’s key scene, the two meet. Lenz apologizes, but leaves his counterpart’s question—why?—unanswered. Instead, he talks about his daughter and says that he had promised her he would always be there for her. The victim’s father ends the conversation after just a few sentences. He is shocked that he can no longer feel the same uncontrollable rage toward the remorseful perpetrator that he had felt all those years toward the then-unknown killer. The film ends with Lenz’s conviction, and with the victim’s parents visiting the perpetrator’s daughter at the children’s home and offering to spend time with her from time to time. The girl is pleased, especially because they promise to take her for ice cream.