Name: Seelenvögel
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2009-11-05
Rating: 8.4
Cast: Pauline Schupp, Leonhard Grabe, Richard Swiderski

This is a documentary on three children suffering from leukemia. One is Pauline, a 15-year-old girl, Lenni, a six-year-old boy and yet another boy called Richard, 10 years old, who all live in or near Munich.

You see them at hospital and at home, how their families try to make their lives comfortable, and they all wonder whether it is sometimes desirable to try a new therapy which might or might not prolong your life but will definitely increase your suffering. They all appear to be wise and much more mature than normal teenagers, and they all have put some thought into death and dying, even little Lenni who suffers from Down Syndrome and cannot really speak.

As this is not a feel-good Hollywood movie but a real-life story, you can be sure that not all of them will be alive and kicking at the end of the film. So make sure you have some handkerchiefs with you (crying with other people in the audience can have a cathartic effect) and enjoy this film which, despite its subject, it is not depressing at all.

German cinema is famous for its historical depth, expressionist aesthetics, and social-political engagement. It has moved from Expressionism to political reckoning, from New German Cinema's raw realism to contemporary genre experiments. Its legacy lies in both technical innovation and deep explorations of history, morality, and philosophy.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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Seelenvögel

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