Based on the novel Hohaj by Elisabeth Rynell, it depicts the devastation felt by Elizabeth, a woman who had lost her husband in a car accident and wants to leave her three young children to join him in death by wandering out into the snowy deserts of Lapland. As she wanders through the snow, Elizabeth discovers the story of Aron and Ina, a couple who overcame dark secrets and over-controlling family members to be with each other.
Acting
Maria Schrader's grief is feral, wordless, devastating.
Cinematography
Lapland's white void as psychological landscape.
Writing
Dual timelines that collapse into devastating resonance.
Director
Hans W. Geißendörfer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ulrich Mühe filmed this between The Lives of Others and his cancer diagnosis; his performance as the controlling Knövel carries unintended valedictory weight.
The novel Hohaj was considered unfilmable for decades; Geißendörfer's solution — merging Elisabeth's present with Aron/Inna's past as possibly hallucinated — divided Rynell's readers.
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