Von wegen ‚Schicksal‘

Berlin, the Märkische Viertel. Loud and sharp, sometimes hurtful and tearful are the words which describe what happens when different members of the Rakowitz family come together. Mother Irene (48) lives with her two youngest children. The two older daughters don’t want anything more to do with her and formulate their rejection in unflinching fashion. Helga Reidemeister positions herself in the midst of all this with questions from off camera, taking the side of the housewife who is now emancipating herself after 20 years of marriage and functioning as a sparring partner in dramatic, supposedly transgressive scenes. Lasting controversial discussions were practically pre-programmed – the accusation of a lack of objective distance was met with the frank defense of the one-sided way in which the conversation was conducted – and can be picked up on in the cinema to this day. (mg)