My Little Sister | Schwesterlein
100 min. | 2020 | Directors and Writers: Stephanie Chat and Veronique Reymond | Switzerland | German with English subtitles
Sven is all of two minutes older than Lisa, but the reason he takes up so much room probably has more to do with his sense of male entitlement than anything as insignificant as a couple of minutes of age difference. Before Sven got cancer, he was the star attraction at the Schaubuehne in Berlin, run by the brilliant director David (Thomas Ostermeier, the actual director of the Schaubuehne, who has directed Eidinger in countless productions). Lisa, who is a playwright who has written a few works for her brother, believes Sven needs to hit the stage again to get better, something David seems wary of — especially because the planned revival of Hamlet with Sven would mean over three hours of intense work onstage every night, including combat scenes, and David doesn’t want to put Sven’s health at risk.
The Bottom Line Little Sister is brother's keeper.…The screenplay, by the directors, keeps coming back to the idea of women being forced to define themselves in relationship to others while men are allowed and even encouraged just to be themselves.
