B_Cards, neu - german films

DIRECTOR PORTRAIT
STEERING CLEAR OF THE MAINSTREAM
A portrait of director Jessica Krummacher
Jessica Krummacher’s feature film TOTEM displays a sur -
prisingly subtle visual realism, while its open dramaturgy,
furious physical presence and subsequent avoidance of politically
correct messages distinguish it from the mass of newgeneration
German films. The director, author, editor and producer,
together with her partner, Timo Müller, plans to develop
more films outside of the arthouse mainstream in artistic
tandem with their Berlin-based production company
kLAPPbOXfILME in the coming years.
TOTEM is inspired by the authentic story of an eastern European
home-help who committed suicide while living with a German
family. In the form of a subjectively narrated prose text, the
director develops an unusual perspective on the world as
experienced by the protagonist; without a conventional screenplay,
she consistently stages the inner world of this family constellation
that lacks communication, paralyzed as it is within
ritual. “I do not start out from filmic role models, I don’t find my
subjects as a cineaste,” says Jessica Krummacher in explanation
of her approach: “I much prefer to observe people, but I am
not terribly interested in the factual side, which was the focus
of our study course. I consciously seek alienation, exaggeration
and artificiality.”
You won’t find calculable plotpoints, pleasing light design and
classical camera work in TOTEM. Shot with a hand-held
camera, mainly in interiors with notoriously weak light, it develops
an oppressive atmosphere, in which the psychodrama of
the exploited housemaid Fiona implodes under the egocentric
family monsters. A pair of twin »Reborn« dolls, which Fiona
takes care of like babies, indicate a taboo catastrophe in the life
of the apathetic mother, but meanwhile the scurrilous nature
of this hermetic world takes an ironic look at the family ideal of
German middle-class culture.
In interviews 34-year-old Jessica Krummacher emphasizes: “I
am a political person.” Her parents, both part of the 1968 move -
ment – her father now a professor of Political Science – conveyed
the creative pleasure in reflection on social structures to
her early on. “I am interested in how such structures condition
human experiences.”
The film’s central set is one of those characteristic homes
owned by the population of the Ruhr region who became prosperous
but are now being increasingly strapped financially by
the crisis. “I grew up in Bochum, I know where I am there,” the
director says about her choice of this urban landscape otherwise
sadly under-represented in German author films. “I found
my actors Marina Frenk and Benno Ifland at the Schauspielhaus
in Bochum. The rented, furnished house, a set that I found myself,
where part of the team lived together for weeks, had its
own special atmosphere, generating an oppressive mood.
During the rehearsals that certainly challenged us.”
TOTEM was developed without the fetters of a screenplay, with
no predictable patterns of ideas. The focus was on improvisation
work between the professional actors and the children. It was
in the montage (with Heike Parplies) that the director first
arrived at the compact form, whose effect was compared to
horror elements by many critics.
Despite her emphasis on team work, Jessica Krummacher
regards herself as the leading mind behind the creative process.
Her motivation to continue along this path: “The stories
that I relate need to be told. But if you produce a film for a total
of €30,000, you do want to get something out of it for yourself.
Creativity together with others is a powerful experience, and
that is worth a lot to me.“
GFQ 1-2013 4
Jessica Krummacher (photo © Timo Müller)