Le mur invisible

I came here after viewing this very odd film and I expected to read an equal amount of bad and good reviews and I wasn't incorrect. I'm sort of in the middle. This is most assuredly not a film for everyone. It has to be classified as science fiction, but it rarely feels like one. A woman goes to spend a weekend in a isolated cabin and is kept captive by some sort of invisible wall or force field of some sort. Rather than sci-fi, this plays like some sort of cerebral meditation on the joys and pain of loneliness, mostly the latter. This film also involves numerous animals and the trapped character's connection with them. Some of this aspect is touching, but some of it is difficult to watch, especially one scene. This is no doubt slow as some have been critical of, but I found quite a bit of it sort of intriguing. It is a one woman show starring the acclaimed German actress, Martina Gedeck. There were a few things that annoyed me, primarily a couple of things not explored, but overall this is an interesting film for the serious minded viewer.

This film will not appeal to everyone, but it certainly appealed to me. I'm a big fan of films and books depicting people in isolated, alienated circumstances, whether physically alone or within the boundaries of society. The Wall effectively portrays this unnamed woman's solitary confinement behind an invisible wall, while the world outside has stopped functioning as she knew it (the apocalyptic reason is never brought to light and is really not necessary, and the couple at the cabin is an effective symbol of the frozen state of time and circumstance). The woman develops a tender-hearted relationship with the animals she must nurture and care for as she learns to care for herself and survive. Certainly the viewer (like the reader) can draw many conclusions about the nature of solitude, isolation, alienation, and human psychology. The film invites that kind of thinking, if not open dialog. The woman experiences a wide range of emotion, desperation, yes, but also solace and even joy in her steadfast self reliance and the beauty of the world to which she is given access (scenes of the night sky are particularly moving). The outlook is ultimately a bleak one, though, and expect no clear resolution. This ambiguity may be off-putting to viewers who would prefer the woman find a way out, encounter a rescuer, or at least discover a partner in her exile (which makes one of the events in the film all the more horrific).

If for no other reason, watch the film for the fine acting, exquisite scenery, and dramatic depiction of nature. I have not yet read the book on which the film is based, but am looking forward to doing so. I congratulate the filmmakers for bringing this story to a wider audience.

What a beautiful story this is. I can understand why Julian Pölsler wanted to film his favorite book of Marlen Haushofer, a book that I've now added to my to read list.

The scenery of Austria is so beautiful. Experiencing the country through all the seasons would have been enough for me to watch the movie. But the movie is so much more than just beautiful scenery. The plot made me profoundly think about humanity, nature, life... and if a movie succeeds in doing that it deserves merit. I also like that multiple interpretations can apply to the movie, since it has a certain symbolical feel to it, rather than being a science fiction or utopian/dystopian story. I for example see a lot of parallels with someone who has a depression, not being able to fight an invisible wall, struggling to do everyday tasks in order to survive, feeling alienated.

It's great how the connectedness with nature is illustrated. How we depend on nature and how nature depends on us. How we humans are gods who are able to choose to kill or let live, who can choose to kill the very nature that makes us survive.

Perhaps for people who have read the book, the movie doesn't add more than beautiful scenery and a good acting performance by Martina Gedeck and not to forget dog Luchs, but for me it's definitely worth the 8*.

Confusing, narrated, strange, and difficult to follow. Too many questions regarding the actions of the main character. I don't know about you, but I'd have done so many other, different, and direct things than this main character in order to extract myself from my current situation. The wall: did the river run through it? Was it like a dome? Was it bulletproof? Would it be possible to dig beneath it? Were animals affected by it? Maybe I should just write a story about it... no, that would be boring. In order to change or alter my situation, I would have to do something different each day. The lead and only character was satisfied with her predicament. I do wonder, however, about the end result.

Hard to write this without spoilers, but here goes...

The Wall is not sci-fi, and it's not what a lot of other reviewers seem to think either. It's not a bad film at all.

Deliberately set in a beautiful but challenging place - the place the central character inhabits, The Wall could be about any boundary between ourselves and the outside world. It's very solitary, very existential, very personal. I rather liked this: an inner journey.

Superbly photographed, The Wall is worth watching just for this.

Speaking personally, to me it's obvious what the sub-text is. I won't name it, but the symbolism is clear: a white crow, two animals giving birth, a single mature woman alone, a companion who can be no more than that. There are other more subtle symbols too.

At root, The Wall is an exploration of extreme isolation, and a realisation of what that really means.