
Whenthefilmbegins,itisallover.Weknowit’sterminal,andthat’sall,saysJulianeofhermotherKerstin,whoisingreatpainandabouttodieagedjust64.Althoughtheyoungdoctorsheconsultsacknowledgesonapersonallevelthateveryonehastherighttomanagetheirowndeath,henonethelessremindsherthateuthanasiaisstillillegalinGermany.ThisisevenmorethecaseattheCatholichospicewhereKerstinisstaying.Asrelativescometosaygoodbyetohermotherandtheemotionsofmemoriesminglewiththeanticipationofgrief,Julianefindsherselfhavingtodobattlewithtime–unbending,apatheticandmonochrome–andthisissuperblyreflectedintheconvulsionsofthehandheldcamerainwideshots. Basedonpersonalexperience,JessicaKrummacher’ssecondfeaturefilmvividlyrelatesthepainfulstoryoflosingaparent.Thereisnoviolenceormorbidity,ratherthedirectordescribesthemostimportantofeventsviathesmallest,mostfragileofdetails–theexchangingofwords,textsandtendergesturesthatremainwithusandgetunderourskin.
