Ich war zuhause, aber… (2019)

Ich war zuhause, aber…: Directed by Angela Schanelec. With Thorbjörn Björnsson, Esther Buss, Martin Clausen, Lucas Confurius. After a 13-year-old student disappears without a trace for a week and suddenly reappears, his mother and teachers are confronted with existential questions that change their whole view of life.

“The title might make you think of Ozuu0026#39;s masterly tale of childhood u0026quot;I Was Born, But…u0026quot;, however German director Angela Schanelecu0026#39;s u0026quot;I Was At Home, But…u0026quot; is an altogether more challenging affair, typical of the woman who made u0026quot;The Dreamed Pathu0026quot;. Itu0026#39;s also a film about childhood, or at least a film with a child as one of its principal protagonists, but this rigorous and admittedly difficult film totally belies any cosiness or sense of closure, turning its attention instead, not so much on the child, but on a distraught mother who appears to be having some sort of breakdown.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSomething, perhaps terrible, has happened to the child in question but Schanelec doesnu0026#39;t feel the need to explain it or even to explain the subsequent actions of anyone involved. We seem to have been dropped into the middle of something we donu0026#39;t understand and are left to work things out for ourselves. This is what life is like, she is telling us, not what we usually see when we go to the movies. With only a few films to her credit she is an already established auteur as well as one of cinemau0026#39;s great female directors and her work demands to be seen; just donu0026#39;t expect the obvious or even to be entertained but if you are prepared to enter into her world you will be amply rewarded.”