After that, it should have been lovely

After a long struggle with alcohol and pill addiction, Hannelore Jurschick took her own life at the age of 42. Her 14-year-old daughter grew up in silence regarding the suicide. More than 20 years later, she visits her father, now 91, in the flat, which remains unchanged. Armed with a video camera, Jurschick sets out to piece together her family history: she observes her father in his daily life, questions him about his marriage and her mother’s death, and makes use of letters and archive material. In her voice-over commentary, she speaks of ‘the man’, ‘the woman’ and ‘the child’ – a linguistic distancing that breaks down in the face of relentless questioning. By ruthlessly scrutinising her family, Jurschick lays bare the lingering effects of National Socialism in post-war West German society. A family portrait emerges from this private search for clues – characterised by authoritarian, patriarchal structures, traditional role models, emotional numbness, hardening of the heart and repression. (df)