Ein Wirkliches Leben Hinter Dem Balkon oder Ein Abseilen von Romeo und Julia.

Alternative title: Real Life Behind the Balcony or, Romeo and Juliet Make Their Getaway
Synopsis: Documentary film by Carla Degenhardt and Barbara Unger-Wiplinger offering impressions from the staged everyday life of protagonist Hiltraud Schmidt, a sufferer from a neurological disease and her partner, Franz Bittermann. The two talk about how they got to know each other and their current relationship. Franz does this primarily through speech and body language, and sometimes functioning as an extended mouthpiece, while Hiltraud, lovingly called princess, has been trained to articulate by means of gesture and physical activities such as painting or playing the piano.
In a society in which illness has only negative connotations and is associated with suffering or defects, this film makes physical dysfunction visible without putting it on display, with a gentle touch of fun. (Dietmar Schwärzler for Austrian INdependent Database)
Language: German (Austria)
Country: Austria
Medium: Film; Video
Technical information: Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release: 2005
Duration: 45 mins

Director

Carla Degenhardt

Cinematographer

Carla Degenhardt

Editor

Barbara Unger-Wiplinger; Carla Degenhardt

Music

Cast

Franz Bittermann	Romeo
Hiltraud Schmidt	Juliet

History: Realised as part of the project "shake out shakespeare" at Schauspielhaus Wien / Vienna Theatre 2005.
Reviews: Source: Austrian Independent Film and Video Database http://www.filmvideo.at/filmdb_display.php?id=1485&len=en (accessed 4/2012)

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British Universities Film & Video Council