A Parede

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.

THE WALL is an interesting--though people who want a really tangible storyline and/or fast action and suspense might choose the word "boring"--little film.

How to describe it? Quiet, somber, original, going deep without trying too hard. Fantastic in the most literal sense. Well-acted and well-filmed: The Austrian Alpine scenery, perhaps the single best thing about THE WALL, is just spectacular. Still, there are a number of plot-holes and incomplete threads, things that don't add up and are not apparently supposed to--"Kafkaesque" is another word that kept running through my mind as I watched.

Though it's nothing great, I'm happy to have seen THE WALL and, most of all, am eager to read the original novel by Marlen Haushofer, which, even if it doesn't make completely logical sense, based on the reviews, apparently has more sense of completion.

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*.

While browsing on IMDb for interesting scifi flicks to watch I stumbled upon this Austrian science fiction film. A scifi concept movie I should say: there are no lasers or spaceships or any other hi-tech stuff to be seen. A woman (her name is never mentioned) goes on weekend in a mountain cabin with and elderly couple. The couple leaves to take a walk but never returns. Reason: the Wall or 'Die Wand', an energy forcefield which keeps everything from going out or coming in. This leaves this woman completely cut off from civilization, society and basically everything she knows and loved. Obviously this is what this film is about. It's not about explaining why this wall is there or who built it or for what reason. It's about the mental, emotional and ethical problems that arise when there is no more society to live, work and function in. This film was apparently based on a successful 1963 Austrian novel. The whole film is told via the voice-over of the woman (she never has any direct dialogue) and all the acting is delivered through expressions or actions. This was smart on the part of the filmmakers coz it works well and it feels a lot like a book. Although the film lasts only 103 mins it does have a slow pace, but like a book you have to take time to see it at the pace it's intended to. Recommended!

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.