Engelen

Yesterday I revisited one of my favorite comedies of all time with Bruce Robinson's 'Withnail & I' (1987), and as the film starts we see the "I"-character seated in the living room with an expression on his face signalizing depression, uncertainty and paranoia, and I've always wondered what the character is thinking about in that moment, exactly what has he experienced. Well, now I know.

Earlier the same day I went to the cinema seeing Margreth Olin's first feature-debut 'Engelen' ('The Angel'). We get to know Lea (Bonnevie), a troubled young woman whose sad childhood has lead her life into heroin addiction. She feels a sustaining relation to her difficult mother who's lead herself into a problematic relationship of alcohol abuse, drugs and rape after her husband's tragic cancer-death. Lea sees her mother fading away, as she herself in early age slips into depressing thoughts of guilt, misunderstanding and loneliness. But you have to know when to stop - I left the cinema 40 minutes in and had a urging need for rehab after this horrible film experience.