Freedom (2017) Freiheit

Director: Jan Speckenbach
Stars: Johanna Wokalek, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Martin Leutgeb

A woman leaves her husband and children without saying goodbye. While she struggles to build a new life, her family is left completely uncertain of her fate. The radical nature of her departure appears to be an opportunity as well as a trauma. The film is structured in three episodes, each showing a different perspective of the subject. The first one accompanies the woman as she creates a new life for herself in Vienna and Bratislava. Although her past remains untold, she seems driven by it. The second episode portrays the life of her abandoned husband and their children, two years after her disappearance. Their days are still dominated by her mysterious leaving. The final episode returns to the family's last evening together.

Well … I was very much gripped by this film.

To me it speaks of depression and a search for "meaning of life" more than anything. As I don't want to make this review a spoiler I'll leave it at that.

Well acted on all parts, the language mumble is quite alright, even though I don't understand Slovak.

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