Silent Heart - Mein Leben gehört mir

Eine imposante und Abstand bewahrende Exposition, die irgendwie an Bergman erinnert, ein überraschend humorvoller Mittelabschnitt und das abschließende Drittel sieht aus, als ginge es in den nur allzu sehr gesprächigen Konflikten etwas unter. Ein kultivierter, elegant gedrehter und sehr gut (von Pilou!) gespielter Film, der es vermag ein ernstes Thema aus einem überraschenden Abstand anzugehen. Doch meiner Ansicht ist er jedoch dank des neckischen Abstand weitaus stärker als in der Abstufung der dramatischen Spannung zwischen einzelnen Charakteren. (21.03.2015)

This film might be a bit of a letdown for someone who's into action-packed scenes, considering the only hint of action throughout was a broken glass. However, I enjoyed this Danish exploration of where an individual's right to make decisions about themselves ends. I've got a soft spot for these family gathering scenarios where relationships get dissected in a twisted way, even though I prefer steering clear of such drama in real life. The only gripe I had with this piece was its predictability. It was relatively easy to foresee how the whole situation would unfold and how each character would behave. Having seen a few films with similar themes before, it seemed like the Danish creators might have drawn inspiration (perhaps subconsciously) from some of them. I can't give it a top rating since I felt it lacked originality. Nevertheless, in all other aspects, I left as a very satisfied viewer who empathized with the irreversible decisions presented. / Lesson learned: As if it wasn't enough for people around you to keep meddling in your life, they'll even interfere in your dying. (04.01.2023)

I finally got another one in the series of endless and brutal Nordic family dramas served to me on a silver platter. I could barely breathe once I met this family in the midst of Nordic nature covered with a pond, woods and one wooden house. You see meeting this family was a one in a million experience and it was pretty interesting watching each character individually. The Scandinavians are simply great at this. Not only did they emotionally drain me, they even managed to build up a pretty solid family drama made interesting by the fact that each character on the screen undergoes a development. And the result could be practically anything because life is written every single second. (01.09.2015)