Von wegen „Schicksal“ (1979)
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A mother in West Berlin reflects on family life, a failed marriage, and the pressures of traditional ideas about women.
The story
Forty-eight-year-old Irene Rakowitz lives with two of her four children in a high-rise in West Berlin’s Märkisches Viertel. She speaks about the difficulties of raising her children, her failed marriage, and her life. Director Helga Reidemeister also invites Irene’s children and former husband to offer their perspectives on the family. Irene argues that her family’s story should not be treated as merely private: it reflects the experiences of many women and families still shaped by traditional ideas about women. The film follows these conversations and the family’s candid presence before the camera.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film depicts the life of 48-year-old Irene Rakowitz, who lives with two of her four children in a high-rise building in the Märkisches Viertel in West Berlin. She talks about the difficulties of raising her children and speaks critically about her failed marriage and her life. Director Helga Reidemeister also asks her children and her former husband for their perspectives on the family. The film draws on the mother and her children’s confident presence in front of the camera, and allows for more intense emotional outbursts as well. At the beginning, Irene Rakowitz emphasizes that her family story is not merely private, as her eldest daughter critically remarked about the film, but is in fact typical of many women and their families, who are still shaped by the traditional image of women.
Genres
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