51-year-old Herbert Strehlow, a furniture restorer, falls in love with 21-year-old Lea, who has not spoken a word since childhood when her father killed her mother. She bears a striking resemblance to Herbert's dead wife. They get married, but their relationship seems doomed, until gradually each one manages to penetrate the mysterious world of the other, and they begin to realize that they are bound by a kind of spiritual relationship. For Lea it is the death of her mother, for Herbert it is the death of his first wife. His hard exterior slowly beings to thaw, and he starts to show feelings and responses that soften Lea's initial hatred and fear of him, and which put their relationship in a more positive light.
Acting
Lenka Vlasáková's wordless performance—every glance is a sentence.
Cinematography
Cramped interiors that feel like emotional cages.
Director
Ivan Fíla
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lenka Vlasáková was 22 during filming—her first major role required mastering physical storytelling without dialogue.
The film adapts Bernhard Schlink's novella, exploring German post-war emotional repression through the metaphor of furniture restoration—repairing surfaces while rot remains underneath.
DE
