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dying

Michael roemer
1976
82 min.
USA
DCP
Engelsk tale

Rørende dokumentarisk observation af tre mennesker, der alle er terminalt syge. Nænsomt fortalt af den tysk-amerikanske instruktør Michael Roemer, som selv gik bort den 20. maj, 2025.

Sally er 46 år gammel og siger, at hun plejede at leve et aktivt liv, hvor hun blandt andet besteg bjerge.

Bill er 33 år og gift med Harriet. Sammen har de to drenge på henholdsvis otte og ti år.

Bryant er 56 år og præst. Han planlægger at tage sin familie med til de amerikanske sydstater for at vise dem det sted, hvor han voksede op.

Fælles for dem alle tre er, at de er terminalt syge.

Sally har kræft i hjernen og er lam i den ene side af kroppen, og da behandlingen af hende ikke længere har en effekt, flytter hun hjem til sin aldrende mor. Bill har hudkræft og får stadig behandling, men hans hustru er bange for at miste sin mand og er i panik over at skulle sørge for familien alene. Derfor er hun allerede begyndt at tale om at gifte sig igen efter Bills død. Bryant har kræft, der har spredt sig til leveren, men selvom det medicinske håb er ude for ham, nægter han selv at miste håbet. Han sætter sin lid til, at uanset hvordan det hele ender, er det en del af Vor Herres plan.

Sally, Bill og Fader Bryant holder alle sammen til i Boston-området i USA. Og sammen med deres nærmeste er de omdrejningspunktet i Michael Roemers rørende dokumentarfilm Dying.

Det er fortællingen om tre mennesker, der står midt i deres livs ultimative krise, og om de tre vidt forskellige måder, de tackler det på. Det er en film om at dø, men det er også en film, som er lavet til at blive set af dem, der endnu er i live. Og den er et testamente over tre liv, der ikke længere er. Gennem sin sensitive og observerende undersøgelse minder Michael Roemer os med Dying om, at vi alle skal dø, men i høj grad også, at vi skal huske at leve, mens vi stadig kan.

Michael Roemer (f. 1928) gik selv bort den 20. maj, 2025.

*

Michael Roemer om at dø og om Dying:
“I became involved with the film, because ever since childhood I have been terrified of death.”

“Dying is personal. You don’t die someone else’s death. You die. Dying isn’t something you are apt to generalize about - not if you are the one who is dying. Like sex, it is a direct and personal experience, and the fact that it is happening to others also - that your experience may be typical of one thing or another - isn’t of much help or interest to you.”

” I know now that there are certain resources within me, if I can only tap them. I have seen them in others. The thought of death may make me small, but it also makes me one with all others and with creation itself.”

Præsenteres i samarbejde med Empire Bio.
Rettigheder og kopi: The Film Desk.

“The World Doesn’t Know Shinji Somai”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2023

“The world doesn’t know Shinji Somai”. That was the catchphrase coming with the book Yomigaeru Somai Shinji (Shinji Somai Renaissance) published in 2011, 10 years after the director’s death. Now that 10 years has passed again, does the world finally met Shinji Somai? Yes and no. Of course, several retrospectives of his films have been organized in festivals, where he found a new audience. He is still far from achieving the widespread recognition that all Somai lovers feel is his due. This is a thing that I’ve felt precisely while speaking with those involved in cinema around the world. The world still doesn’t know Shinji Somai.

Since his debut in 1980, Shinji Somai is held in the highest esteem by Japanese film fans, just as it is, let's face it, impossible for anyone making cinema in Japan today not to have Somai in mind. Of course, it is easy to imagine the difficulty of mulling over the atmosphere of early Somai films if one is not familiar with the specific context of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. At a time when, with the dismantling of the major studio production system many films were being made by parasitising other industries such as television or music Somai launched his filmography by making "idol films" relying on the popularity of the teenage girls who played the leading roles (which is reminiscent of Hou Hsiao Hsien's debut at the same period).

We often speak of the "sequence shot" or the "long shot" to characterise the stylistic feature he acquired during this period. However, nothing could be more misleading than to regard this as his 'auteurism'. Simply comparing Somai Shinji's long takes with those of Welles, Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos and others will only make his technical coarseness stand out. This could be understood as a reflection of the poor production conditions of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. But no. What he was really aiming for was first and foremost the 'sparkle of life' of the actors. In his work, the long shot allows these young women, seen as "idols", to burst through the frame from within, the better to escape. This inspires the crew, who grew up in studios, to break through the limited circumstances of the time. This 'long shot', which is a by-product of his deep trust in the vitality of the actors' and crew's bodies, is not just a directorial technique, but rather a reflection of his 'attitude to life'.

Moving (selected in Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section in 1993) is, amongst all of Somai’s films, the one which first created a contact between international audience and his entire oeuvre. However, the film did not simply end up unawarded, nor did it receive the same critical favours as Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, which was screened in the same year and in the same section. Here again, the world and Somai replayed their failed encounter. Watching the film again today, it seems unbelievable. Especially because of the presence of the lead actress, Tomoko Tabata. Her ability to move, the expression on her face, her eyes - everything is incredible; but it is her voice that I find most captivating. This voice, which alone manages to express her whole being, which plays with distance and time as if it were breaking down all boundaries, to touch and shake the adults who play the other characters, right up to the audience. As a filmmaker, it's hard to believe that such a being could exist in a film. The images are like so much evidence of her vital energy. We are led to reflect on the fact that the life force residing there may also be in us, and we may not be making full use of it. Life, here reinstilled.

There can be no doubt that Moving is still the best gateway for "the World" and Shinji Somai to meet. You don't need to know anything about the history of Japanese cinema to understand this film, which marks a period of the highest refinement in his career, as well as having been brought to life through Tomoko Tabata’s character. But if, thanks to this film, viewers ever become interested in Shinji Somai, I would like them to see his twelve other films. Because in each of them, you will see bodies and hear voices that surprise you. Again and again. There's nothing to be surprised about. We have not yet met Somai Shinji enough.

We still don't know Somai!
Essay udgivet i pressebooklet i forbindelse med den nyrestaurede udgave af Moving.

20. maj
19.00
Empire Bio (Guldbergsgade 29F, 2200 København)
Køb billet

le lac

fabrice aragno
2025
75 min.
Schweiz
DCP
Fransk tale / engelske undertekster

Fabrice Aragno – en af Jean-Luc Godards tætteste samarbejdspartnere – vækker Genèvesøen til live med mytisk klarhed. Dage og nætter om bord på en kapsejladsbåd. Bølgerne rejser sig ubarmhjertigt. Må de en dag stilne af og kysten komme til syne.

Et par kaster sig med liv og sjæl ud i en kapsejlads på Genèvesøen. De skal tilbringe adskillige dage på den store sø. Naturens stemme lader sig høre i vindens pisken, bølgernes brusen, træernes åndedrag, de passerende skyer, fuglenes ensomme kald.

le lac er en film med få ord, men med et hav af lyde, teksturer og historier. En vaskeægte lydfilm. En vaskeægte billedfilm. Altså: en vaskeægte biograffilm. Landskaber filmes som kroppe, kroppe som landskaber. Glidende på vandoverfladen, et sted mellem liv og død, konfronteres parret med elementernes uophørlige modgang og uvirkelige skønhed.

Fabrice Aragno anvender ikke blot filmmediet til at skildre denne ur-verden og den hypermoderne båd, der krydser den. Takket være forskellige filmteknikker og en særegen sans for komposition formår selve filmen at stille sig udspændt mellem tider og elementer og vække Genèvesøen til live. Dette er en sand amfibisk filmkunst, der fremmaner livet på både land og i vand.

le lac havde verdenspremiere på Locarno Film Festival 2025 og er Aragnos spillefilmsdebut. Aragno har forinden instrueret kort og mellemlængdefilm og var desuden fotograf for – og ven til – Jean-Luc Godard fra slutningen af 00’erne og frem til Godards død i 2022. Aragno spillede en afgørende rolle i færdiggørelsen af Godards sidste film, som Tusind sole viste i april 2025.

Præsenteres i samarbejde med Cinemateket.
Rettigheder og kopi: Casa Azul Films. Tak til Fabrice Aragno.

“The World Doesn’t Know Shinji Somai”
Ryusuke Hamaguchi, 2023

“The world doesn’t know Shinji Somai”. That was the catchphrase coming with the book Yomigaeru Somai Shinji (Shinji Somai Renaissance) published in 2011, 10 years after the director’s death. Now that 10 years has passed again, does the world finally met Shinji Somai? Yes and no. Of course, several retrospectives of his films have been organized in festivals, where he found a new audience. He is still far from achieving the widespread recognition that all Somai lovers feel is his due. This is a thing that I’ve felt precisely while speaking with those involved in cinema around the world. The world still doesn’t know Shinji Somai.

Since his debut in 1980, Shinji Somai is held in the highest esteem by Japanese film fans, just as it is, let's face it, impossible for anyone making cinema in Japan today not to have Somai in mind. Of course, it is easy to imagine the difficulty of mulling over the atmosphere of early Somai films if one is not familiar with the specific context of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. At a time when, with the dismantling of the major studio production system many films were being made by parasitising other industries such as television or music Somai launched his filmography by making "idol films" relying on the popularity of the teenage girls who played the leading roles (which is reminiscent of Hou Hsiao Hsien's debut at the same period).

We often speak of the "sequence shot" or the "long shot" to characterise the stylistic feature he acquired during this period. However, nothing could be more misleading than to regard this as his 'auteurism'. Simply comparing Somai Shinji's long takes with those of Welles, Tarkovsky, Angelopoulos and others will only make his technical coarseness stand out. This could be understood as a reflection of the poor production conditions of Japanese cinema in the 1980s. But no. What he was really aiming for was first and foremost the 'sparkle of life' of the actors. In his work, the long shot allows these young women, seen as "idols", to burst through the frame from within, the better to escape. This inspires the crew, who grew up in studios, to break through the limited circumstances of the time. This 'long shot', which is a by-product of his deep trust in the vitality of the actors' and crew's bodies, is not just a directorial technique, but rather a reflection of his 'attitude to life'.

Moving (selected in Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard section in 1993) is, amongst all of Somai’s films, the one which first created a contact between international audience and his entire oeuvre. However, the film did not simply end up unawarded, nor did it receive the same critical favours as Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, which was screened in the same year and in the same section. Here again, the world and Somai replayed their failed encounter. Watching the film again today, it seems unbelievable. Especially because of the presence of the lead actress, Tomoko Tabata. Her ability to move, the expression on her face, her eyes - everything is incredible; but it is her voice that I find most captivating. This voice, which alone manages to express her whole being, which plays with distance and time as if it were breaking down all boundaries, to touch and shake the adults who play the other characters, right up to the audience. As a filmmaker, it's hard to believe that such a being could exist in a film. The images are like so much evidence of her vital energy. We are led to reflect on the fact that the life force residing there may also be in us, and we may not be making full use of it. Life, here reinstilled.

There can be no doubt that Moving is still the best gateway for "the World" and Shinji Somai to meet. You don't need to know anything about the history of Japanese cinema to understand this film, which marks a period of the highest refinement in his career, as well as having been brought to life through Tomoko Tabata’s character. But if, thanks to this film, viewers ever become interested in Shinji Somai, I would like them to see his twelve other films. Because in each of them, you will see bodies and hear voices that surprise you. Again and again. There's nothing to be surprised about. We have not yet met Somai Shinji enough.

We still don't know Somai!
Essay udgivet i pressebooklet i forbindelse med den nyrestaurede udgave af Moving.

28. maj
19.00
Cinemateket (Gothersgade 55, 1123 København)
Køb billet