33 Scenes from Life

Film Info

Poland, Germany 2009 | 96 min. Director: Małgorzata Szumowska

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33 Scenes from Life

Synopsis

Julia is a beloved daughter and wife and she is a successful artist-photographer. It’s fair to say that Julia is happy in her life. Suddenly, everything collapses. In one year her world changes completely, making Julia a different person. Sickness and death from a close perspective are something different than what Julia expected - much more absurd, nonsensical and ridiculous. It all starts with the death of the family dog. Then Julia’s mother gets sick - with cancer. Her husband, a famous composer, is of no help, spending most of the time abroad and her father seems to need help even more than she does. 33 Scenes From Life is a film about the moment in life, when we as children change and become adults. It shows a time in life that everyone has to go through, because everyone has to grow up. Finally, it’s a story about stepping into the real world, where pain, suffering and doubts are inevitable.

Cast & Crew

Director

Małgorzata Szumowska
Producer

Raimond Goebel, Karl Baumgartner
Screenwriter

Małgorzata Szumowska
Director of photography

Michał Englert
Main Cast

Julia Jentsch (Julia)

Director's comment

It took me a little more than three years to make 33 Scenes From Life. ‘33’ came about for various reasons. I was pregnant and my 33rd birthday was just coming up. A very strange and new time in my life. A moment to confront and digest all that had happened before: Within 6 month I had unexpectedly lost both of my parents. During this time I made random notes, as if this situation was so rapid and so odd, that for the first time I felt a need to freeze it and capture things. The final script, however, is a story of a different person, a different family. What stayed was the feeling that had accompanied me during the time: The notion that it wasn’t for real. My idea of sickness and dying was so different from what I felt, saw and experienced that I had to share this feeling of absurdity and a need for laughter, even in moments which are known to be inappropriate.