Requiem for Mrs. J.

Jelena has had enough of life. Her husband died a year ago, and she feels tired and lonely – in spite of her two daughters and her mother-in-law who all share her flat. She has decided that, at the end of the week, on the anniversary of her husband's death, she will commit suicide. She has a pistol ready for the job. But beforehand there are a number of things to sort out: she needs to return an armchair she borrowed from a neighbour and she has to terminate her life insurance policy. She also needs to get a mason to put her portrait photograph on her gravestone and renew her health insurance card. In order to do so, Jelena needs proof that she has been a salaried employee for the past twenty years. Gradually, this quiet, humble woman begins to realise that nothing's simple in a country that's constantly swinging back and forth between torment and transition. The authorities are unable to cope, Jelena's former emplyers are now bankrupt and the remaining staff are just killing time. And the end of the week is drawing near. (Berlinale)