© International Film Festival Rotterdam
Peter Schreiner´s video-diary style documentary is an astonishing ode to life in the face of mortality.
Directed by: Peter Schreiner
Year: 2023
Country: Austria
Length: 230 minutes
With Tage, Austrian filmmaker Peter Schreiner turns the camera to himself and his own experiences, as he grapples with reality after receiving a cancer diagnosis, which was revealed to him while he worked on a film called Cinematic Letters. Due to his illness, Schreiner could not continue working on his project, but where anyone else might have put everything aside to rest and fight the illness, the director´s passion for documenting the world around him was too strong, which caused him to make Tage, a reflective documentary on nature, mortality, loved ones and the things that keep us occupied.
Although the film has a runtime of nearly four hours and consists of mainly long takes, Schreiner manages to structure his meditative essay on life immaculately, to the point where it is hardly possible to not be immersed in the experience. By presenting this documentary in episodic format, with each chapter representing a new day, Schreiner encourages the audience to reflect on the passing of time and the weight of mortality that comes with it, all while providing brief intervals in between each chapter to give the viewer time to take in everything they’ve just watched.
Throughout Tage, Schreiner presents various visual motifs that reappear in most chapters. Nature is one of the most prominent themes in the film and becomes an important part of nearly each episode. Landscapes filled with tranquility, shot in a way that its astonishing beauty is front and center, are explored over the years, which illustrates the passing of time that is ever so present in both Schreiner´s work and his personal life. Another frequently recurring motif in Tage is the presence of friends, family and the people closest to the director. The documentary is filled with long shots that focus on these people staring right into the camera for several minutes. The way Schreiner frames these shots and lets them linger allows the audience to focus on these people, their expressions and most importantly the bond between them and the filmmaker that is expressed without the need for any dialogue. In a lengthy sequence that follows Schreiner and his wife discussing the nature of love within their relationship, followed by a shot of the two embracing, it is the director´s exquisite eye for visualizing humanity that lets the chemistry and love between the two shine, despite the director expressing slight doubt over the concept of love in words. The way the director manages to capture connection, be it to other people, objects or nature itself, and transcends what can be expressed through dialogue, is something that has rarely been achieved in cinema so perfectly.
Schreiner´s documentary inspires one to focus on and embrace everything that´s around them and take a longer look at all the things we cherish in life, as not everything may last as long as we hope.
Tage premiered at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Harbour selection
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