Sheer Madness

Ruth, a sensitive artist and wife of well-known peace researcher Franz, is afraid of people and already has several suicide attempts behind her. Olga, a lecturer in literature and wife of successful theatre director Dieter, meets Ruth at a friend’s place in Provence. The two women meet again in Berlin and get to know each other. Their husbands react angrily. Franz needs Ruth so that he can protect her; Olga’s role is to listen to Dieter’s problems as a director. Franz’s jealousy grows and provokes Ruth to another attempt at taking her life. On a lecture tour to Cairo with Olga, Ruth overcomes her depression. When Franz senses that Ruth has changed and has become even more attached to Olga, he cannot control his jealousy. Margarethe von Trotta’s fifth directorial work, which premiered at the Berlinale in 1982, is an exemplary exploration of hidden power relations in relationships between men and women. With great patience, the film analyses the irritations and aggressions with which female self-assertion is repeatedly confronted. (Berlinale)