Love in times of loss of autonomy

The film begins with a tracking shot over the bare skin of Erik (Rolf Lassgård) and Juditha (Dagmar Manzel), the main characters in your film "Ein großes Versprechen". You don't often see intimacy between people from this generation on the big screen. Why did you decide to take this approach?

Wendla Nölle: This filming along the skin conveys something very sensual, intimate and very close and corresponds to my intuitive work. Juditha has been living with multiple sclerosis for a long time, so it was important to me to show that intimacy and physicality also have their place despite the illness. The scene also makes the couple's love palpable and sets the scene for the film. They have been married for a long time, and in the short time shown in the film, you first have to experience their great love in order to understand why it is so difficult for them to find each other. That's why the audience is thrown straight into it at the beginning of the film.

There is a very touching sequence in which the intimacy and affection of the couple merges with the shame and loss of autonomy caused by the illness. On the way to the doctor's examination, Erik has to stop at a traffic light and help his wife Juditha urinate on the hard shoulder, while the busy street can be seen in the background. Erik routinely holds his wife and gives her a kiss on the head. Juditha is mortified and just wants to go home. Wendla Nölle: Bladder weakness is a very worrying part of the clinical picture for MS patients and often makes life very difficult. I know this well, as my mum also had MS. When I went into town with my mum as a child, it was always very important to know where the nearest toilet was. With the illness, this intimate area of life suddenly becomes very public and therefore also very undignified. So I was able to tell very impressively why Juditha is withdrawing more and more from the world. You just don't want to sit on the street and pee.

In the film we are very close to the characters, there is little noticeable steering of sympathies and a very open narrative.

Wendla Nölle: The dramaturgy moves forward very elegantly in the development of the characters - without any "hair-raising". Greta Lorez, who wrote the script, asks the questions quietly and without telling the story. I myself come from a Documentary background and wanted to give space to documentary, very restrained storytelling in this story too. When something happens as if by chance, the viewer is guided less and is allowed to discover more. This gives the film something very authentic and credible. This is particularly important when telling this story. Because in a life and a relationship with an illness, there is no right or wrong - and unfortunately there are few solutions and answers. For me, it was very important from the beginning not to take sides and to bring both characters closer to the audience.

When you are so close to your characters, a lot depends on the performance of the actors. Wendla Nölle: Yes, Rolf Lassgård and Dagmar Manzel had an inner rhythm that was fantastic, and they made it very easy for me. Without actors who play so authentically, you couldn't tell a story like that. Then it would have to be edited and then it would look more intentional again.

How did you come up with this line-up?

Wendla Nölle: Rolf Lassgård is one of the greatest actors for me and I wanted to cast him in Erik right from the start. I discovered Dagmar Manzel in the theatre and she really convinced me. She immediately recognised the special challenge of this role and accepted with great enthusiasm.Both, incidentally, despite the modest overall budget.

However, it was not so easy to get the two together in terms of scheduling. There was only a small window of time to finance the film so that we didn't have to cast other actors or shoot it in 15 years' time *laughs*. That's why it was so great that the film was then supported by the Nordlichter Young Talent Fund. We were able to start filming four months later.

In addition to Malmö in Sweden, the film was shot in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, but Hamburg Central Station can also be seen in one sequence.

Wendla Nölle: I grew up in Hamburg, so I've already looked at a lot of motifs in this city. The railway station in Hamburg with its romantic, dirty look had long been on my wish list of possible film locations. The main motif, however, was the couple's home - a house that had to fulfil many different conditions, both technical and visual. For example, a staircase that would be insurmountable for Juditha. We then found the right house in Geesthacht in Schleswig-Holstein.

How was the filming?

Wendla Nölle: The filming was very intensive. We spent almost three weeks filming in the house. Because we all had to move together as a team in the confines of the rooms, it was a very intimate, very personal and very human shoot. We grew together like a small family. On the other hand, there was also something claustrophobic about the story, which you also realised as a crew at some point.

And now the German premiere is taking place at Filmfest Hamburg - a home game for you as a native of Hamburg? Wendla Nölle: Yes, Hamburg is my home and the film funding here has supported me a lot since I was a student. So I'm very grateful that my film is being shown at Filmfest Hamburg. And of course it's a little homecoming with all my friends, family, cast and crew.