Handicapped Love
[original title: Behinderte Liebe]
Switzerland 1979. 4:3, 16mm, colour, 120 min.
Handicapped people experience in an intensified form the difficulties of living as part of a society, of relating to other people. This film offers portraits of four handicapped persons who are attempting to transcend their isolation. In a group consisting also of non-handicapped people they attempt to reach solutions together.
The Group: The handicapped and the ‘normal’ dance together – a dance of liberation and awakening.
Portrait: Therese, born without arms and legs, is married to Wolfgang. At the university, she stands apart in one of the aisles. Therese has to appear happy, in order to be accepted.
Portrait:Jules, cerebral palsy, would like get married. He earns 2.20 francs an hour (approximately 1 dollar) and lacks the confidence to assert himself.
Portrait: Christoph, neuromuscular disorder, lives in a home, isolated, and is not supposed to express any aggressions. He must have recourse to fantasy to express his own reality.
The Group: The group wants to set up a sexual assistance organisation. Ursula says that one right alone will be of no help her.
Portrait: Ursula, neuromuscular disorder, would like to learn how to cry again. Paolo would like to love Ursula the way she wants him to, but he’s taken on more than he can manage and feels guilty about it. Ursula says, “I knew it all along really. I knew from the start that this was a game where I stood no chance at all.” A game? She has to hang her wishes on the wall in order to see them bloom. She says, “Because rejection is the hardest thing of all to take, you protect yourself against it and making demands, stop having desires. Eventually, you don’t even dare to want anything.”
The Group: the group splits up, it didn’t live up to its members’ expectations. The relationships experienced within the group are a reality which has failed the majority of its members –namely, the handicapped. At the village fair, the handicappes dance among the villagers.
| Director | Marlies Graf Dätwyler |
| Script | Gruppe Behinderte und Nichtbehinderte, Marlies Graf Dätwyler |
| With | Gruppe Behinderte und Nichtbehinderte: Bernhard Bächinger, Brigitte Baumeler, Jules Burgener, Ursula Eggli, Christoph Eggli, Fredy Fuchs, Mimi Goossens, Rosmarie Hüsler, Matthias Loretan, Pius Odermatt, Regina Personeni, Paolo Poloni, Wolfgang Suttner, Therese Zemp. |
| Photography | Werner Zuber |
| Sound | Florian Eidenbenz, Urs Kohler, Hugo Sigrist |
| Editing | Marlies Graf Dätwyler |
| Music | Keith Jarrett, Köln Konzert Fly-Orchestra Zürich Mozart, Klavierkonzert Nr. 21 C-Dur Sero-Sextett |
| Collaborators | Aufnahmeleitung, Script: Theres Scherer Kameraassistenz, Beleuchtung: Jürg Hassler Mischung: Peter Begert |
| Duration | 120 min. |
| Screening formats | 4:3, 16mm |
| Shooting format | 4:3, 16mm |
| Versions | Schweizerdeutsch / mit deutschen Untertiteln / mit französischen Untertiteln / mit englischen Untertiteln / amerikanische Version 90 Min. |
| Release | Solothurner Filmtage 1979 |
| Festivals | Solothurn 1979 Zürcher Filmpreis 1979 Qualitätsprämie EDI 1979 XXIX Intern. Filmwoche Mannheim 11. FESTIVAL INTERNATIOL DE CINEMA NYON 22. Intern. LEIPZIGER DOKUMENTAR – UND KURZFILMWOCHE KOENIGLICHE CINEMATHEQUE BRUESSEL 1980 Film Festspiele Berlin 1980 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 1980 Melbourne Film Festival, Australia 9. festival international du nouveau cinéma montreal 1980 Fernsehspiel des Monats, BRD 1981 10. INTERN. FILMFESTIVAL FUER MENSCHENRECHTE, STRASSBURG 1981 XII semana international de cine de autor benalmadena malaga 18. ADOLF GRIMME-PREIS, BRD 1982 Florenz Tampere-Filmfestival, Finnland |
| Literature | Dumont/Tortajada Nr. 278. |
| Buy a DVD | Filmkollektiv Zürich → order |
| Contact, World Rights | Urs Graf Blumenfeldstrasse 31, CH-8046 Zürich +41 44 271 15 14 ursgraf.film@bluewin.ch www.urs-graf.ch |
| Production | Filmkollektiv Zürich und Marlies Graf Dätwyler |