Solange Du hier bist

Already the first scene, in which Mr. Kuhn repairs a broken porcelain bowl with affectionate accuracy, tells us about the essence of the protagonist's inner character. The inner and outer treasures he collected during a 70 years lasting live and that surround him still now, create a perfect personal microcosm in which Mr Kuhn lives absolutely satisfied.

The opposite: In this life contacts to the outer world are sporadic. Each week he allows himself to invite a young hustler to his home. The combination - an elder man and a boy - might sound a bit like "Death in Venice" or "Gods and Monsters" but indeed things become totally different - the relationship turns to the opposite: Georg (sensitively played by Michael Gempart) is far away from resignation or thanatophobia. In proportion to the young Sebastian (Leander Lichti) he rather overtakes the positive and optimistic part. His childlike joy to search for possibilities to offer little advertencies to others doesn't make him look like an old man. In fact he beautifully behaves like someone who discovered the way to reunite mature wisdom with innocent naivety.

Stefan Westerwelle's final project at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne is a very warmhearted debut, in which tiny gestures and precise looks allow the audience to have a gaze into a private and magical world. At the same time he beautifully and sensitively deals with the issue of homosexuality in advanced ages, so that it's clear, that it's nothing one has to be ashamed of. (Seen at Newfest NY)

Wonderful! --- If you don't like to have such a director in Los Angeles, well, we don't care - we like him to stay in Europe anyway! ---

It's interesting that all who (so far) seemed to like this film had no expectations--I guess that's the trick. In contrast with them, I had optimistic expectations, and that was a mistake. As soon as I saw how close to the faces the camera always was, I knew we were in the hands of an extremely amateur director--that's always a clear sign of them, they think it is arty or effective or intense to hold the camera about two inches away from the actors. The actors in this film, though, had only one facial expression each.

If the close camera wasn't enough, the lack of light in the film killed it. The film seemed to be entirely filmed in the dark. So now we know that the cinematographer was a rank amateur, as well. "Ooh ooh, we're going to light the set with a flashlight! That will make it all seem intimate!" No, that made it all seem invisible.

On top of the serious technical flaws, there was absolutely no story beyond the barest hint of an idea that was never developed, and nothing new about this kind of relationship was illuminated. (Perhaps this is a new kind of film for Germany, but in Los Angeles, forget about it.)

The fact that this film won a couple of film festival awards doesn't indicate the quality of the film, but besmirches the quality of these particular festivals. I can assure you that this film won't win anything in the festival where I saw it. In fact, two times during the film it seemed that it was finally over and people started to get up to leave (this was one of the side effects of the cinematographer's "total darkness" technique). But when the film shuddered on, instead, there were moans coming from the audience. And once the movie finally DID end, it was clear that it hadn't mattered if it actually had ended at either of the two earlier points. An earlier ending would have saved the audience from yet more monotonous scenes of domesticity (folding sheets, cutting vegetables, spreading honey on bread). Yeah, we get it, the life of the lonely old man was boring-- but we figured that one out at the very beginning.

I recommend that audiences miss this one, it has absolutely nothing to offer sophisticated movie-goers.

This film was screen as part of the 2007 Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival. I had no expectation of the film as someone else choose it for me.

I actually like films that take time to develop, films that allow the characters to unfold and lets the story flow. Stillness is good. But this film though was just plain slow.

Credit must go to the two main actors. There was a sense of tension between them as two totally different people, misfits really, come together in a very awkward way. There were tender moments and sadness as we learned more about them.

I also liked the setting and the way it was shot. It was claustrophobic and monochrome and it added to the film's intimacy and reinforces the oddness of the characters.

I just don't understand the ending. What was the point of it all?

As long as you can suffer it! If you like watching people waking up, getting up, getting dressed, having a shower, preparing dinner, watching each other, having sex in the dark, then going back to bed to sleep... if you like tacky flats, narrow bedrooms and kitchens, long minutes of silence.... if you like getting bored for two hours, feeling the thrill of "real intimate false art", then you will like it. But if you don't, just try to see a good movie, there are thousands. "As long as you are here", but do we want to stay? This German movie got the award of the Torino gay film festival: Italian journalists still don't understand why the jury took such a bad decision, as the festival presented lot of talented movies. Maybe to be nice with a German, as they don't often get awards? Well, "The Lives of Others" did... but this one is excellent but not gay. So maybe it is a question of fashion. Germans are they "in" again? No matter what? Or maybe only for a hustler's glance of some directors?

hi there,... before watching that film in Rotterdam, I didn't know what to expect. I heard a lot about that movie from press and friends but I went out before that film finished, thinking that I wasn't really interested in it (or i didn't feel in the mood). But then I realized that I couldn't stop thinking about the images the old man and the atmosphere. I was caught in this movie. and I still had them in my mind a couple of days. Without knowing where that all came from. That impressed me and I went in again on another festival and stayed until the end. It was absolutely worth it! It's incredible how subtle the film/the actors/the camera/the way of directing tears one into this very personal world and transforms the whole banality into a deep and intense (not only filmic)experience. You need to sit and wait a bit, but after 15 or 20 minutes your part of it. I really like to apologize for not being patient enough the first time!

I as well had the chance to attend a q&a afterwards. The director found beautifully words to explain it. You really feel that he and his camera woman live for that way of telling stories,... 100% sensitivity!