Mit Haut und Haar

Under My Skin

Six women born between 1907 and 1925 look back at "their" century. The directors use a series of sophisticated questions to draw out the experiences of their subjects – "What do you know about your birth? What was your favourite food as a child? Were you told the facts of life? What was your first kiss like? Your first menstruation? What were your dreams for the future? How do you feel about getting older?" The montage of their many voices and memories produces a tightly-woven oral history, in which constants specific to women and individual experiences have equal prominence. World War II represents a decisive point in the lives of these women, one of whom was a member of the Nazi Party and another of whom joined the Social Democrats after the war.

The women answer the most intimate of questions, sometimes readily, sometimes hesitantly. "Under My Skin" was shot in extreme proximity to its subjects, turning it into a film that renders history in impressive images. Over and again, artfully lit close-ups vividly re-imagine the past as the traces left on aging bodies.

Source: 69. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)