sen.

Friedl vom Gröllers Film sen. concerns the quality of life experienced at an advanced age. She portrays her six subjects at a late stage in life with the directness characteristic of all her films: her approach is unadorned and merciless while at the same time empathetic and compassionate. The action of the film purely unfolds through the expressions of her protagonists and by what we seem to sense in our reading of their faces and gazes. The film shows three women and three men between the ages of 70 and 80 who are seen in everchanging couple constellations, subject to the neutral gaze of the camera and consequently, finally, our own. Their mood is serious, including melancholy and skepticism, then again, they are relaxed and indifferent. Their faces do not express aging simply, but tell far more about the intensity of their lived experiences and their will to exist. The shifting constellations of pairs interfere with familiar couplehood, conveying the impression of a greater community of individuals with ties to one another. A generation of Europeans is taken into account who seem privileged with secure pensions and travel options – but who are at the same time confronted with the perspective of advanced age, with the experience of frailty and the threatening loss of their independence. (Jürgen Tabor)