Halbschatten
Everyday Objects![](/media/filmstills/2013/forum/20131180_1_RWD_1380.jpg)
© unafilm
![](/media/filmstills/2013/forum/20131180_1_RWD_1380.jpg)
Emma Bading, Anne Ratte-Polle
Halbschatten | Everyday Objects by Nicolas Wackerbarth
DEU/FRA 2013, Forum
© unafilm
![](/media/filmstills/2013/forum/20131180_2_RWD_1380.jpg)
Anne Ratte-Polle
Halbschatten | Everyday Objects by Nicolas Wackerbarth
DEU/FRA 2013, Forum
© unafilm
![](/media/filmstills/2013/forum/20131180_3_RWD_1380.jpg)
Nicolas Wackerbarth
Halbschatten | Everyday Objects by Nicolas Wackerbarth
DEU/FRA 2013, Forum
© Harry Schnitger
On an overcast summer’s day, Merle arrives at her lover Romuald’s villa, jacket and luggage in hand, to find the doors are locked. He had invited her to visit him in the south of France but seems to have headed off somewhere. She thus has to come to some arrangement with his uncooperative children, help celebrate Emma’s 13th birthday and put up with Felix’s impudence, the 16-year-old son who sees her presence as a provocation.
It doesn’t take long for the host’s absence to become barely noticeable. The plot centres on Merle, on her attempts to fit in, to take on this unexpected role as naturally as possible. In a particularly striking scene, she gets into an argument with the local baker, who refuses to give her a cake ordered for Emma’s birthday. Merle loses the battle of wills. When Romuald finally calls, she decides to side with his children rather than her distant lover, and quietly enjoys her breakthrough. With great empathy and subtlety, Nicolas Wackerbarth’s Halbschatten creates a portrait of a person ill at ease with being the centre of attention, in the glaring sunlight.
It doesn’t take long for the host’s absence to become barely noticeable. The plot centres on Merle, on her attempts to fit in, to take on this unexpected role as naturally as possible. In a particularly striking scene, she gets into an argument with the local baker, who refuses to give her a cake ordered for Emma’s birthday. Merle loses the battle of wills. When Romuald finally calls, she decides to side with his children rather than her distant lover, and quietly enjoys her breakthrough. With great empathy and subtlety, Nicolas Wackerbarth’s Halbschatten creates a portrait of a person ill at ease with being the centre of attention, in the glaring sunlight.
Additional information
![](/media/bilder/2013/boulevard_2013/09.2./090213_dl_0845_ORG.jpg)
Titus Kreyenberg, Anne Ratte-Polle, Nicolas Wackerbarth
The producer, the leading actress and the director of the German film.
Halbschatten · Forum · Feb 09, 2013
![](/media/bilder/2013/boulevard_2013/11.2./110213_pk_0239_RWD_1380.jpg)
Benjamin Heisenberg
The cinema patron of the Tilsiter Lichtspiele.
Halbschatten · Berlinale Goes Kiez · Feb 11, 2013
![](/media/bilder/2013/boulevard_2013/11.2./110213_pk_0246_RWD_1380.jpg)
Film crew
During the Q&A after the screening.
Halbschatten · Berlinale Goes Kiez · Feb 11, 2013
![](/media/bilder/2013/boulevard_2013/11.2./110213_pk_0249_RWD_1380.jpg)
Anne Ratte-Polle, Nicolas Wackerbarth
The actress and the director on the stage of the Tilsiter Lichtspiele.
Halbschatten · Berlinale Goes Kiez · Feb 11, 2013