Heimat – Fragmente is the story of Lulu, the 35-year-old daughter of the musician Hermann Simon. The film reports, in 40 scenes, of her search for something which she calls “the old future of childhood.“ At the same time, the film sketches in each of the 40 fragments the lives and dreams of the women of a century.
The spirits Lulu calls actually appear. We see old and forgotten war scenes in which her father’s brothers were involved; we experience absurd scenes at fairs; at the farm Grandmother Maria’s last cow is taken away; and Hermann, once again a schoolboy in shorts, experiences the beauty of first love with little Klara.
Lulu stumbles into a flush of discoveries: The scenes in which she finds herself are strange, heartbreaking, wild, romantic, magical or completely homey. It is a flood of never-ending love stories, career dreams and competitions for a place on the sunny side of life. The situations introduce unforgettable women like Maria, Lucie, Clarissa, Renate, Olga, Evelyne, Ms. Cerphal, Helga, Marianne or the wonderful Dorli from Duelmen. Lulu is transported in a baby carriage, on Hermann’s arm or in a rickety old car through this magic world – at times a baby, and at other times a curly-haired girl.
When Lulu finally finds the door out of this dream world, back into reality, reality is no longer what it used to be.
One of the old paradigms of film art is the topic of Heimat – Fragmente: With Lulu we experience the perfect turnaround of perspectives in time. Her view into the past signals not only the end of her youth, but also the begin of a new freedom

  • Director

    Edgar Reitz

  • Version

    German (OV)
    with English subtitles

  • Produced by

    Edgar Reitz, Christian Reitz

  • Cast

    Nicola Schoessler

  • Genre

    Drama

  • Running Time

    145 min.

  • Release

    September 2, 2006

  • Festivals

    Venice FF 2006 (Venezia Orizzonti) | Sao Paulo FF | Stockholm FF | Castellinaria (Switzerland) | Batik Film Festival in Perugia (Italy) | Mexico City Int’l Cont. FF | Sottodiciotto Film Festival (Italy) | EuropaCinema Viareggio FF (Italy)

  • Year

    2006

  • Status

    completed

credits not contractual