Titel Kino 3/2002 - german films

Das Verlangen
THE LONGING
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The Longing tells the story of Lena, a minister’s wife delivered from the bleak prison of her
marriage through her forbidden and quietly burgeoning love for Paul.
Set in a dreary village in the Swabian-Franconian forest, the seemingly reserved Lena lives with her
tyrant of a husband, Johannes, in a loveless marriage. Johannes is the village’s spiritual leader and
Lena is his faithful, ever-willing-to-serve wife. Lena’s daily life is characterized by grinding monotony,
a life narrowly circumscribed by nursing, organ playing and the duties of the marriage bed.
The mysterious murder of a village girl suddenly knocks this humdrum existence off its tracks.
In the wake of these events, Lena discovers the affection and tenderness for which she has always
longed in Paul, the village mechanic. This encounter is the start of an emancipation that leads
her to guard Paul’s secret regarding the girl’s murder, for fear of losing her newly won piece of
happiness. In turn it means she has to remain silent, as she has always done in her many years
of marriage. This love ultimately turns Lena herself into a fallen angel.
Genre Drama Category Feature Film Cinema Year of
Production 2002 Director Iain Dilthey Screenplay
Iain Dilthey, Silke Parzich Director of Photography
Justus Pankau Editors Barbara Hoffmann, Claudia
Gladziejewski (BR), Saskia von Sanden (SWR) Music by
Johannes Kobilke Production Design Eva Stiebler
Producer Till Schmerbeck Production Company
Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Ludwigsburg, in coproduction
with BR, Munich, SWR, Stuttgart, Artus
Postproduktion, Ludwigsburg, Samples + Frames, Berlin,
Tag/Traum Filmproduktion, Cologne Principal Cast
Susanne-Marie Wrage, Klaus Gruenberg, Robert Lohr,
Manfred Kranich, Heidemarie Rohweder, Eva Loebau,
Sigrid Skoetz, Wolfgang Packhaeuser, Peter Lerchbaumer
Length 90 min, 2,642 m Format Super 16 mm Blowup
35 mm, color, 1:1.66 Original Version German
Subtitled Version English Sound Technology
Dolby SR International Festival Screenings Munich
2002, Locarno 2002 (in competition) International
Awards Script Prize Baden-Wuerttemberg 2002
World Sales: please contact
Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg · Dr. Arthur Hofer
Mathildenstrasse 20 · 71638 Ludwigsburg/Germany
phone +49-71 41-96 91 02 · fax +49-71 41-96 92 92
email: arthur.hofer@filmakademie.de · www.filmakademie.de
Iain Dilthey was born in 1971 in Scotland.
From 1992-1997, he studied Chemistry and
Pharmaceutics in Marburg and Mainz, followed
by work as a scriptwriter and director’s and
production assistant on various television
programs, reports and short films. He began
studying Directing in 1997 at the Film Academy
Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg. His other
films include: the shorts Es war einmal ein
Kind (1995), Gegen die Stille (1996),
Bergpredigt (1998), Joseph 98 (1998),
Partisanen! (1999), Sommer auf
Horlachen (1999), the feature I’ll Wait on
You Hand and Foot (Ich werde Dich
auf Haenden tragen, 2000), and his
graduation film The Longing (Das
Verlangen, 2002).
Susanne-Marie Wrage
AT LOCARNO
IN COMPETITION
Kino 3/2002