Director

Jan-Ole Gerster

Germany | 2019 | 96 min | German with subtitles in English and Arabic

• Producer Marcos Kantis
• Production Company Schiwago Film
• Screenplay Blaz Kutin
• Cinematography Frank Griebe
• Editing Isabel Meier
• Sound Hubertus Rath, Fabian Schmidt
• Cast Corinna Harfouch, Tom Schilling, Rainer Bock, Volkmar Kleinert
• Contacts

  Beta Cinema

  beta@betacinema.com

About the Film

As the film Lara begins, we watch the title character Lara Jenkins (played by Corinna Harfouch) step on a chair in front of an open window, about to make a desperate gesture. But the doorbell rings, thus saving her, as well as the audience, from this untimely ending. From then on, we begin to be given an insider’s view into Lara’s life and understand this woman’s drama: she is turning 60, and has measured her own success through her son’s career as a pianist—a true virtuoso. The problem is tonight, he, Viktor Jenkins (played by Tom Schilling) is premiering an original composition and has not invited his mother to the theater.

Premiered at this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival and screened at the Munich Film Festival, seven years after making his acclaimed debut Oh Boy, German filmmaker Jan- Ole Gerster brings forth the story of a true anti-heroine in his latest film. At first glance, Lara appears almost undeserving of her own film.

And yet, as the story unfolds, Gerster successfully provides a blend of cinematic wonder and personal interactions, which turn Lara into a must-watch. As we accompany Lara through her daily life—devoid of true friends and connections, with dreams of her own piano career now dried up but never forgotten—we begin to understand our own behavior. We comprehend her, and also make peace with our own choices, perhaps passed down through our family’s generations.

E. Nina Rothe