are the themes in Marina Leky's novel, which is set in a village in the Westerwald region in the 1970s. A touch of Japan also comes into play through the Buddhist monks.
The 2017 book, a bestseller, was made into a film by Aron Lehmann in 2022.
Title: Was man von hier aus sehen kann
Published: 2022
Length: 109 minutes
Staff
Regie: Aron Lehmann
Drehbuch: Aron Lehmann
Nach dem gleichnamigen Roman von Marina Leky, 2017
Musik: Boris Boiadzhiev
Kamera: Christian Rein
Schnitt: An de Mier y Ortuño
Cast
Luna Wedler: Luise
Corinna Harfouch: Selma
Karl Markovics: Optician
Rosalie Thomass: Marlies
Benjamin Radjaipour: Frederik
Peter Schneider: Palm
Ava Petsch: Luise (child)
Cosmo Taut: Martin
Hansi Jochmann: Elsbeth
Johannes Allmayer: Peter
Katja Studt: Astrid
Jasin Challah: Alberto
Golo Euler: Heinrich
Ikko Masuda: Teitaro Rinponche
The children Luise and Martin live in the Westerwald in a village full of quirky characters and unusual stories. The main character is initially Selma, Luise's grandmother. Whenever she has dreamed of an okapi, someone dies the next day. This has a direct impact on the behavior of the villagers.
The film tells everything from Luise's perspective. She neither grows up in a healthy family nor is she spared from a terrible childhood trauma. In the end, however, she seems to find personal happiness.
The story is told with great warmth, surprises with some punchlines, and is difficult to follow due to the time jumps, which, however, makes it somewhat more interesting.
With the Buddhist monks who practice walking meditation in the Westerwald, a touch of the world and Japan comes to the village. Even though the monk Frederik, who is of interest to Luise, comes from nearby Hesse.
The Buddhist monk Frederik is invited to Selma and Luise's house. The villagers in the film question him a few things. Elsbeth asks him to say something in Japanese, whereupon he quotes the following saying:
海に千年・山に千年 Umi ni sennen, yama ni sennen
"A thousand years in the sea, a thousand years in the mountains" comes from the Chinese legend of a snake that lived for a thousand years in the sea and a thousand years in the mountains and eventually became a dragon.
Metaphorically, this means that people who have lived many years and have a lot of experience can use this experience to become wiser and to understand the world well.