Das insbesondere die Gesellschaft eine große Herausforderung bildet für autistisch veranlagte Menschen, ist leider immer noch bittere Realität und wird glücklicherweise immer wieder in kleineren Filmen ins Gedächtnis gerufen. Doch nicht nur die Personen selbst haben mit vielen Schwierigkeiten zu kämpfen. So wirft ZWISCHEN UNS einmal einen Blick auf die wohl wichtigste Person im Leben eines jeden Menschen: die immer starke Mutter, die scheinbar schafft, alle Probleme zu beseitigen. Wie es in ihr selbst jedoch aussieht und mit welchen Dämonen sie zu kämpfen hat, bleibt oftmals der Außenwelt verborgen. Dieser Film porträtiert herausragend das Schicksal einer Frau, die als Alleinerziehende eines Jungen mit Asperger-Syndrom täglich einen Weg finden muss, um das Leben zu meistern. Liv Lisa Fries wurde dabei herausragend gecastet und geht eine grandiose Symbiose mit der Rolle des Nachwuchsschauspielers Jona Eisenblätter ein, der mit seinem Auftritt wiederum auf Helena Zengels Welle schwimmt.

Kurz und bündig sehen wir ein herzzerreißendes Drama, in welchem viel mit bedeutungsvoller Bildsprache gearbeitet wird. Zeitgleich ist es etwas tragisch, dass eigentlich toll angelegte Nebenrollen lediglich als überflüssige Zubringer eingebunden werden und selbst keine Möglichkeit der Entfaltung finden, auch wenn dadurch der Fokus weiterhin auf dem Protagonisten-Duo bleibt.

Zwischen uns ©2022 Nikolas Tusl PSSST Film

Zwischen uns ©2022 Nikolas Tusl PSSST Film

Out of 10,000 children, there are about 2 to 3 who are affected by Asperger’s syndrome, with the probability being significantly higher for boys.^[1] This developmental disorder usually only becomes noticeable from around the age of 3 and manifests itself through difficulties in motor skills, clumsiness and low ability to interact. Asperger’s thus counts as autism and is treatable, but cannot be cured. However, various therapies such as behavioural therapy, communication training or occupational therapy can alleviate the symptoms and make it easier to cope with everyday life. In fact, however, as of this year, people no longer speak of Asperger’s, but only of a milder or stronger form of autism, since scientific findings have shown that a classification of different types of autism is not (yet) possible, as the demarcations are sometimes fluid.

Director Max Fey, who is making his feature film directorial debut with ZWISCHEN UNS and previously worked as an editor on DAS ENDE DER WAHRHEIT, among others, knows people who have been diagnosed with Asperger’s from his family environment and has experienced a similar story to the one he describes here. The fact that people with this form of autism are often regarded as outsiders is understandable to Fey, but at the same time touched him so much that it gave him the courage and strength to develop such a film as director, screenwriter and editor. He already had his lead role in mind in the early creative process and developed the character Eva entirely in Liv Lisa Fries’ image. He was all the more thrilled when he received an acceptance letter from the up-and-coming actress, who once won an award for being a European who had to be seen to be believed. Young actor Jona Eisenblätter, too, at 14, is no longer an acting novice and shows great potential.

This is what it’s all about

As a young and single mother, Eva does not have an easy time in everyday life. Not only her job robs her of a lot of energy, but above all her 13-year-old son, who is autistic and therefore has extreme difficulties in everyday life. But together they are one heart and soul and Eva would do anything to make sure Felix wants for nothing. But especially at school, the boy cannot concentrate and tends to be a danger to his classmates with his anxiety and anger attacks. In no time at all he finds himself at the third school, where he is now looked after by Elena (Lena Urzendowsky), a teacher who tries to keep Felix in check. Every day anew, Eva has to deal with a pile of problems that threaten to bury the loving mother underneath her.

Review

ZWISCHEN UNS is one of the most enchanting films of the current calendar year. Max Fey clearly shows that a simple but precise script, combined with great actors, is perfectly sufficient for a wonderful little story, which, with a running time of less than 90 minutes, finally takes a step back from the otherwise far too drawn-out dramas of recent German film culture. Anyone who gets involved with this highly emotional film will quickly realise that there are many similarities with the Berlinale success SYSTEMSPRENGER, even if there is nevertheless such a clear demarcation that it would be impossible to mix the two. For while Helena Zengel’s career breakthrough focuses entirely on the extroverted and barely restrained child and almost completely ignores the parents, Fey is much more interested in the experiences and difficulties of the mother.

Zwischen uns ©2022 Nikolas Tusl PSSST Film

This change of perspective came about during the writing process, because the screenwriter also initially had in mind sketching the world from the eyes of an autistic child and making the feelings of such a boy tangible. In an interview, Fey also points out that there were various thought experiments about the character constellations, but basically it was clear from the beginning that only mother and son would make a perfect screen couple, because on the one hand the bond with a maternal character is clearly greater and on the other hand the physical developments in the course of the story represent an essential element.

Competition for Zengel

Liv Lisa Fries delivers a truly fantastic acting performance. At times she seems like a younger version of the great Nora Tschirner, but at the same time knows how to live out her very own personality in her character. It is her strong and passionate demeanour that ensures that her role has the necessary sovereignty in the balancing act between personal everyday life and caring for children, but also her fragility and warmth of heart, through which the tragic despair in dealing with her child is forced. She also forms a great unit with Jona Eisenblätter, who will hopefully not be compared to Helena Zengel, as the roles are completely different and offer only superficial similarities. Instead, Eisenblätter acts so authentically that during the film it was unclear whether he was really just miming or possibly living with Asperger’s himself.

Zwischen uns ©2022 Nikolas Tusl PSSST Film

We get to see the tragic decline of an actually strong personality, which at some point can no longer muster the necessary strength in the maturing process of its own son. This is indicated bit by bit as she becomes increasingly dependent on help from neighbours and carers, who themselves, however, often reach the limits of their possibilities. Tragically, several secondary characters are introduced here, all of whom get far too little screentime and can hardly develop. Especially the role of Pelle, embodied by Thure Lindhardt, is extremely sympathetic and deserves to receive more attention, but in all respects is only abused as a stopgap. Unfortunately, this ignorance of the various supporting characters even goes so far that the importance of Elena, played by Lena Urzendowsky, is completely lost and it remains unclear why she was introduced in the first place.

Immediate angst

Moreover, ZWISCHEN UNS suffers from the typical German problem: unapproachable scripted dialogue that makes for an unattractive, stiff manner, especially at the beginning. It is simply unpleasant to watch films in which the interactions are extremely contrived and do not seem like spontaneous and unplanned conversations. This improves noticeably as the plot progresses and both protagonist and deuteragonist seem hardly affected by it, but it’s bad enough that everyone else fails to shine with such naturalness, if at all.

Zwischen uns ©2022 Nikolas Tusl PSSST Film

What seems a little unfortunate in the personal realisation, however, is made up for in the imagery and Fey does make use of a rather simple image design, often characterised by dim lighting and high-contrast scenes, but at the same time also includes a grandiose long black fade, which expresses pure fear and literally drags the audience along into a massive trauma. Fries manages to convey loss of control and helplessness flawlessly without much dialogue and disturbing overacting. The entire strength of ZWISCHEN UNS is concentrated above all in the last half hour, which features both an unexpected but perfectly timed time jump and a grandiose final scene that offers so many possibilities for individual interpretation.

Conclusion

Once again, a feature film director proves that fresh ideas are essential for German cinema and can easily outshine the old dusty thrillers. While ZWISCHEN UNS is not free of inaccuracies and weaknesses, the two main protagonists provide us with a fabulous personal story that does not focus on the obvious problems, but for once gives a shout-out to all mothers and at the same time celebrates these hidden heroines. But a few important messages are not left out either, not least that it is not bad to fail in life and not know how to move on, but that such a point can also be a new beginning. With a work like this, it’s worth watching German films in the cinema again.

Source

[1] Asperger-Syndrom, minimed.at, abgerufen am 12.06.2022