Die Familie

Recently I read an extensive interview with an ecologically oriented scientist who claimed that one hundred million people clearly suffice for this planet and any larger number burdens its ecosystem. Fortunately, I did not find out how he wants to reduce the number of Homo sapiens members to an acceptable level, but I think that while watching Scola's film, the scientist's forehead wrinkles would deepen when he saw the main character's family clan happily expanding. Historical events such as the rise, culmination, and fall of the fascist regime, the post-war building of democracy, and the development of consumer society, all are noted by the viewer only fragmentarily, as if on the periphery. The director is interested in a specific family, the meeting and passing-by of its members, and the love and disagreements of the family clan. Although the film has a runtime of over 2 hours, given the large number of characters and, above all, the captured time period, it is a necessary minimum. Despite that, it is difficult to navigate through the constantly emerging faces of children and grandchildren. Overall impression: 80%. (14.09.2009)