THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LINES/GUT GEGEN NORWIND

Germany, 2020, 123 minutes, Colour.

Nora Tschirner, Alexander Fehling, Ulrich Thomsen, Ella Rumpf, Claudia

Eisinger, Katharina Gieron.

Directed by Vanessa Jopp.

The space in this story is cyberspace. And, it is a film about relationships.

This is a German film, set in Hamburg, with interesting views of the city, especially the water and a vast bridge. But, it is very much an interior story, a story of a relationship between a man and woman, and questions of intimacy, real and online.

Some of us remember relationships through correspondence, pen to paper, penfriends. (Are they a thing of the past?) The films of the 20^th century that we have enjoyed often have their characters spending a lot of time on the phone, verbal communication. Well, the 21^st-century still has phones but just how differently they are employed! Well, it can be voice communication, the quick and instant communication is back to words (abbreviated and accompanied by emojis), constant texting. (And how really romantic can that be?)

The central character is Leo, Alexander Fehling, a linguist, someone who takes pride and delight in words. His life seems to be perfect, about to propose to his girlfriend, secure job… And then she confesses to be in love with someone else. He feels shattered. He does get some support from his sister, but is distant from his mother, even despite visits, and then the pathos of her death.

The film actually opens with a text message. A woman has texted Leo to cancel her subscription to a magazine. And later she repeats this. His reply is that she has got the wrong address. And, this seems to be one of the most unlikely beginnings of a personal relationship! But it is. One interesting feature is that we hear the voice of the complainant, Emma (Nora Tschirner, whom he nicknames Emmi), but do not see her until 40 minutes into the film. We discover that she is married to Bernhard (Ulrich Thomsen) an orchestra conductor and his stepmother to his two children. We see her, know what she looks like, how she behaves, her place in her family, love for her husband. Leo has none of this experience.

While there were a lot of scenes of phone calls in those old films, here there is more of a focus on thumbs, rapidly moving thumbs, texting, texting, texting, phones buzzing at all hours, anytime, anywhere, light shining in the night, reverberations during the day. And the two have never met, have never seen each other, the relationship, the online intimacy, still with characteristics of anonymity.

So, how do we respond? It probably depends on our attitudes towards this kind of cyber communication, on our own practice and whether we take this for granted – or in our reactions against this personal/interpersonal communication.

There is some drama in the unfolding of the stories, the self-revelations (gradual as they are), the need for some kind of actual and personal encounter, a real encounter. And, by the end, that is what we are left with – what have we been wanting for Leo and Emma, what we think they need, what do we think they deserve?

(And, do we now and in the future have to adapt to the emotional, psychological, social consequences of this kind of communication?)

1. The German title? The reference to Emma and her dislike of the wind? The English title, cyberspace?
2. The Hamburg setting, vistas of the city, water, bridge, streets? Homes? Universities? The musical score?
3. 21^st-century communication, social media? The past, letters and pen-friends? Phones and phone calls? Mobile phones? Texting? Laptop computers? The initial lecture and the explanation of the speed for communication and messaging? Possibilities for communication, anytime, anywhere? Intimacy? Yet physical absence?
4. The opening, Leo and the email, the cancelling of the subscription, the mistaken address? Indication of cyber themes? Leo, his expertise, linguist, media, computer background? His classes? The professor? The later lectures, the possibility of his transfer to Boston?
5. Leo, his relationship with Marlene, the dinner with friends (and later seeing them squabbling in the supermarket)? The night, Marlene’s confession, Leo’s dismay? The later return, the sexual encounter? Then her pulling out again from the relationship? Leo wanting to propose, buying the ring? Marlene coming to his mother’s funeral? Leo and his other women friends, the night with Claire, his inability to go through with it, getting his sister to call her away?
6. Leo and his family, the story of his parents’ divorce, his father divorcing his mother, her not divorcing him, keeping her ring, taking it off in the hospital? The siblings looking at it? The father in America with their older brother? Adrian, the relationship with Leo, her own personal relationships, work as a model? Supporting her brother, teasing him? Saying Leo was more like their mother – a touch remote? Their mother in hospital, her death, the funeral?
7. Leo and the relationship with Emma, calling her Emmi? Her initial criticisms, the nature of words, his being a linguist, passive-aggressive, the banter between the two? Suspicions? The continuing relationship, the ever-growing frequency of the texting, at all times, at all places, some gradual revelation, Leo revealing more than Emmi, Emmi and revealing her husband, the children, loving relationship?
8. The mutual dependence on the texting, the growing intimacy, love, the effect on Leo, not seeing Emmi? Teasing her, the various setups, the restaurant, indications of identity? The audience seeing them in the supermarket? Leo and his growing dependence? 40 minutes into the film and the audience seeing Emmi instead of just hearing her?
9. Emmi, age, life, music, meeting her husband, his being a widower, his wife killed in a car accident, his two children, the marriage, the coming of family, her loving her husband? Her dealings with the children? Their problems, the friends? Going to the concert, her husband and his musical skills?
10. Bernhard, communicating with Leo, saying he had read all the emails and texts? His concern about his wife, the suggestion that Leo and his wife meet, even begin relationship? His resignation? Emmi, her going out, his allowing it?
11. Emmi, dependent on the communication, the long gaps and her anxieties, learning more about him, really more about herself? Going to his apartment, leaving the note? The end, the blocked address? Her hurrying out to his house?
12. Leo, the decision to move to America, Adrienne and her work in New York? His packing, at the car, Emmi arriving in the street? The ending of the film? Uncertain? What the audience thought about the relationship? What they would like to happen with the relationship/not?