Cast & crew

Man stirbt.

2009
30m

YOUR RATING

Karl Gabler suffers a heart attack. He has already exceeded the average age of mortality and now his time has come. He dies. The widow Gisela passes through the fleshly disillusioning stations of farewell together with their son. We observe them during this process.

The movie creates an artificial and artistic platform on which the protagonists present us their work. The protagonists are usually not the mourners themselves but the ones involved in the ordinary handling of a normal death: a financial consultant, a paramedic, a doctor, an undertaker, a decorator and a priest. Even though the space from which they are acting in is staged, there are still real situations that unfold during the interplay with the bereaved. These situations can be considered representative for all other cases of death by means of quotes Â– "the death of one." does not just present a particular case of death but the one par excellence.

With regard to the documented as well as to the documenting process, two conflicting poles do appear: individuality and standardization. Where and how do standard situations and recurrent schemata establish, where does the individual inevitably prevail? On the other hand it becomes apparent how documentation and staging cross-fertilize. Thus, a question arises: what can actually be legitimately documental in this documentary such as in any other?

But do not fear! It is neither a non-sensuous conceptual film nor a sentimental mourning documentary Â– "the death of one" aims primarily to pleasure.

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Karl Gabler suffers a heart attack. He has already exceeded the average age of mortality and now his time has come. He dies. The widow Gisela passes through the fleshly disillusioning statio... Read allKarl Gabler suffers a heart attack. He has already exceeded the average age of mortality and now his time has come. He dies. The widow Gisela passes through the fleshly disillusioning stations of farewell together with their son. The documentary "the death of one." traces the int... Read allKarl Gabler suffers a heart attack. He has already exceeded the average age of mortality and now his time has come. He dies. The widow Gisela passes through the fleshly disillusioning stations of farewell together with their son. The documentary "the death of one." traces the interplay between normality and individuality of such a process and expands the limits of doc... Read all