An Unheard Woman (2016)

An Unheard Woman is the English title of a German historical drama about a mother whose daughter was sick. But apart from the mother, no one believed her. The medical establishment refused to listen, saying that the daughter was merely pretending and that the mother was just overly concerned. They were wrong!

The drama premiered at the Munich Film Festival in 2016. In 2017 it was shown on German television (ARTE and ZDF). Here is some basic information about it:

** Original German title: Eine unerhörte Frau 
** Producer: Nils Dünker
** Director: Hans Steinbichler
** Writers: Christian Lex & Angelika Schwarzhuber
** Based on the book Eine unerhörte Frau by Angelika Nachtmann (2016)
 
** Soundtrack: German
** Subtitles: English

** Released on DVD in 2017
** Run time: 90 minutes

The cast includes the following:

** Rosalie Thomass as Johanna “Hanni” Schwaiger – the mother
** Florian Karlheim as Josef “Sepp” Schwaiger – the father
** Romy Butz as Magdalena Schwaiger – the daughter
 
** Gisela Schneeberger as Erni Schwaiger – Sepp’s mother
** Gundi Ellert as Barbara – Hanni’s mother
** Norman Hacker as Professor Bergman – an American doctor
 
** Sylvana Krappatsch as Dr Espach – an endocrinologist
** Annette Paulmann as Ms Hecht – a school teacher
** Jenni Ringswandl as young Hanni (12 years old)

Since this movie is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore I feel free to mention some of them here.

While this movie is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as portrayed in the movie. But the basic story is true.

This movie spans a period of 25 years (1980-2005). There are three timelines:

# 1. A court case that takes place in 2005 – Hanni is 37
# 2. A court case that takes place in 1980 – Hanni is 12
# 3. Events leading up to the court case: 1995-2005

Most of this story is set in Bavaria in the south of Germany. The soundtrack is German, but some characters speak this language with a strong Bavarian accent. Fortunately, there are subtitles in English. If you cannot understand everything that is being said, you can always read the subtitles.

The story begins with the end: the court case that takes place in 2005. Hanni is driving to Munich to attend the case in court. After this point, clips from the three timelines are mixed with each other. The movie jumps back and forth between the past and the present.

At first, this is a bit confusing. At first, you may not understand how events in one timeline are connected with events in another timeline. But after a while you will find out and you will understand that each flashback comes at the exact moment when Hanni is reminded about the past by something that is happening in the present. When you get to the end of the movie, you will see that everything makes sense.

Hanni and Sepp are Bavarian farmers. They already have two boys. In 1995, a third child is born: a daughter, whose name is Magdalena. At first, everything is fine, but after a few years, Magdalene starts to complain about her health: she has headaches, she vomits, and she is having trouble with her eyesight. In addition, she is too short for her age.

Hanni takes her daughter to the local hospital where a doctor looks at Magdalena. Hanni is concerned, but the doctor is not. This is not serious. Just go home. This is something that will pass. It does not mean anything.

As Magdalena’s troubles get worse, Hanni is more and more worried about her daughter, but no one wants to listen to her. Frustrated, Hanni visits the local library where she borrows several books about medical problems.

She has almost no education. She is a farmer’s wife. But in spite of this handicap, the pushes on. She focuses so much on Magdalena and her troubles that she is neglecting the rest of her family: her husband Sepp and the two boys.

Armed with information that she has found in the medical books, Hanni returns to the doctor and tells her that she wants her to do an MRI scan of Magdalena. The doctor refuses. The doctor is offended: are you trying to tell me how to do my job?

Hanni does not give up. She keeps on pushing, until finally she finds someone who is ready to listen to her. This is a breakthrough. But now when she knows what the problem is (or at least what it seems to be) there is a new question: is it too late? Magdalena has a tumor. If nothing is done, it is going to kill her. Time is running out!

The story goes on and ends where it began: in a court of law. Hanni is suing the state of Bavaria for dereliction of duty. She claims the authorities neglected their duty to take proper care of Magdalena. This is the story of one woman, a farmer’s wife, against the state of Bavaria. This is why this story has been compared to the story of Erin Brockowich in the US.

Hanni is right. And the state of Bavaria was wrong. But will the court agree? Will the judges see her point of view? Hanni is on a one-woman crusade defending her daughter’s right to life. But she is up against the power of the state. Will she get justice?

What do reviewers say about this movie? On IMDb it has a rating of 75 per cent, which corresponds to 3.8 stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this average rating is too low.

On the German version of Amazon there are at the moment 59 reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.9 stars. If you ask me, this average rating is much more appropriate. Why?

The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic and emotional. In addition, it is based on a true story. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

Having said this, I must add that there are a few minor flaws in this movie. There are some scenes which I do not like. Let me explain:

# 1. THE OPENING SCENE. Hanni is driving from the farm to the courthouse in Munich. While driving, she is singing a song. It is a crazy song. She does not sing very well. There is nothing like this in the rest of the movie.

When I see this scene, I have to ask: why does the director decide to open the movie with a scene that may cause viewers to stop watching? It is fine that we see Hanni driving from the farm to the courthouse. I have no problem with that. But why does she have to sing a crazy song while she is driving? Whoever told the actress Rosalie Thomass to sing like this made a poor decision.

# 2. THE PHONE CALL. In the middle of the movie, Hanni tries to make a phone call to a hospital in the US. Obviously, the person in New York speaks English, and Hanni does not. She tries to speak German, but it does not work. The person in New York must think that a crazy person is calling. She says “Please try to call back later” and hangs up. So the call fails.

I do not understand why Hanni does this. Her two boys are sitting next to her. Why not ask them for help? They probably know more English than their mother. Why does Hanni not ask someone else for help? Dr Espach had been helpful. Why not ask her to make the call? When the call fails, Hanni says: “I have to go to New York.” This is a drastic conclusion to make after one failed phone call.

# 3. IN THE US. When Hanni gets to New York, she learns that Dr Bergman is very busy. She cannot just walk in and get an appointment with him. She sits in the reception wondering what to do. Suddenly, the doctor appears. Hanni jumps up and rushes towards him. In one hand she has an orange, in the other a knife. She wants to demonstrate how to make the operation. But the security guards do not know this. They see a person rushing towards the doctor with a knife in her hand. They must think she wants to attack him with the knife.

How can Hanni act in this way? How can she not see that her action might be misunderstood? Fortunately, the doctor is not scared. He tells the security guards to let the woman approach him and finally she can deliver her message. Once again, there is a language problem, but this time it is solved, because the American doctor speaks German. What a miracle!

I wonder if this scene is authentic or if it is the product of the director’s vivid imagination. Whatever the case, I have to say I do not like the way this scene is done. It could and should have been done in a better way.

As you can see, there are some flaws in this movie, but I have decided to regard them as minor, and they will not influence my overall evaluation of the product. Regardless of these minor flaws I still think this movie deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. The English title of this movie An Unheard Woman is not very good. A better title would be: No-one Would Listen.

PS # 2. The names used in the movie are fictional: in the movie the mother is called Hanni Schwaiger. Her real name is Angelika Nachtmann. In the movie the daughter is called Magdalena. Her real name is Katharina. 

The movie is based on notes which Angelika Nachtmann made available to producer Nils Dünker. These notes were later turned into the book which was published in 2016.

PS # 3. On the German version of Amazon one reviewer of the movie says something like this:

"I do not understand why scenes from the court case in 1980 are included. I do not understand what this old court case has to do with the main story about Hanni and Magdalena."

I wonder if this reviewer has actually watched the movie. If you have, you will know that there is a close connection between the old court case from 1980 and the main story. In the old court case from 1980, Hanni's mother did not believe that Hanni was telling the truth. This fact hurt Hanni even more than the attack she had suffered. When Magdalena complained about her health, Hanni did not want to make the same mistake. She decided to believe, to trust and to support her daughter in every possible way.

*****

The cover of the book on which the drama is based:

"Eine unerhörte Frau" by Angelika Nachtmann (2016)

*****