"The wall"

Famous book given a minimalist treatment

Actress Martina Gedeck won over the audience in Feldkirch.

(Bild: Peter Rigaud)

After five years, the popular actress Martina Gedeck once again won over the audience at the Montforter Zwischentöne. She was accompanied bybaroque violinist Mayumi Hirasak on Friday evening in Feldkirch.

Marlen Haushofer's novel "The Wall", published in 1963, is as oppressive as it is fascinating. A woman suddenly finds herself alone with a dog in a hunting lodge, enclosed all around by invisible walls. She learns to survive, feeding herself on a few home-grown vegetables, the milk of a stray cow, the animals and the fruits of the forest. The nameless woman begins to write down what she experiences, without knowing whether anyone will ever read it.

Silent work made into a movie
There are numerous attempts to interpret this story. A Robinsonade perhaps, or a feminist eco-dream? Perhaps a metaphor for depression? In any case, the story is fascinating, and director Julian Pölsler has taken the risk of filming this quiet work with Martina Gedeck as the sole actress.

It was this actress who gave a reading of Marlen Haushofer's novel at the Montforter Zwischentöne on Friday evening, after Gedeck had already charmed the audience in Feldkirch at Christmas 2019 with her authentic and winning manner. Wearing a simple black dress, she now sat at the front of the chapel at the Stella Private University and read excerpts from Haushofer's novel in a way that was both haunting and restrained.

Positive situations
It was noticeable that these excerpts often described positive situations, especially the relationship with her dog Luchs or the profound happiness of being able to hike up to the mountain pasture. Because it is on this mountain pasture that the final tragedy occurs in the novel, which is only hinted at in the excerpts chosen by Martina Gedeck.

Baroque violinist Mayumi Hirasaki played Bach.

(Bild: M. Maran)

Just as in the film version of the work, Johann Sebastian Bach's partitas for solo violin, here only the Partita No. 6 in E major, were played between the sections read. It was played by baroque violinist Mayumi Hirasaki, and she did it with the same concentration and simplicity as Martina Gedeck spoke. An evening that the numerous visitors will certainly not soon forget and which they celebrated with sustained applause.