Sources of Life

Germany, the late 1940s. Erich Freytag returns from captivity in Russia to a lukewarm reception from his family. Life goes on: after Erich’s son Klaus discovers he has a knack for writing, he starts his own family with the rich, talented Gisela. They have a son but many doubt their love for the child. Years go by, with Robert shuffled back and forth between an indifferent father, and his grandparents’ homes. As the boy grows up, he tries to find out who he really is. Oskar Roehler, considered one of the bad boys of German film, here revisits the theme of his roots – which he has dealt with before – first in his novel Origin (Herkunft, 2011) and now in its film adaptation. From the atmosphere of postwar Germany and the economic miracle – which included everything from garden gnomes and intellectual revolt to punk and West Berlin – to the beginning of the 1980s, the author employs characteristic volatility in presenting three generations of his family set against the backdrop of his country’s history. In the occasionally halting flow of his narrative, with its bitterly critical tone, a romantic sensitivity shines through that sometimes borders on a justifiable sentimentality. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)