Eine unerhörte Frau is a German historical drama - based on a true story - which premiered at the Munich Film Festival in 2016.
This is the story of a mother whose daughter was sick. But apart from the mother, no one believed her. No one would listen.
Members of the medical establishment said the daughter was merely pretending and that the mother was just overly concerned. They were wrong!
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Producer: Nils Dünker
** Director: Hans Steinbichler
** Screenplay written by Christian Lex & Angelika Schwarzhuber
** Based on the book Eine unerhörte Frau: Nicht gehört – fast zerstört by Angelika Nachtmann (2016)
** Language: German
** Subtitles: English
** Shown on German television (ZDF) in 2017
** 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 drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. This is why I feel free to mention some of them here.
While this drama 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 here.
Some details may have been altered, added or excluded for dramatic reasons or practical purposes. But the basic story is true.
This drama covers a period of 25 years. The time frame runs from 1980 to 2005. There are three timelines:
# 1. A court case that takes place in 2005 –
When Hanni is 37
# 2. A court case that takes place in 1980 –
When Hanni is 12
# 3. Events leading up to the court case -
The years 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 heavy Bavarian accent.
Fortunately, there are subtitles in English. If you cannot understand everything that is being said, you can read the subtitles.
The story begins with the end: the court case that takes place in 2005. Hanni is driving from the farm to Munich to attend the case in a court of law.
After this point, clips from the three timelines are mixed with each other. The story jumps back and forth between the three timelines.
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 what is going on and you will understand that each flashback comes at the exact moment when Hanni is reminded about the past by something that is happening right now.
When you get to the end of the drama, you will see that everything makes sense.
Hanni and Sepp are Bavarian farmers. They already have two boys. In 1995, they have a third child, a daughter, whose name is Magdalena.
At first, everything seems 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.
Hanni takes her daughter to the local hospital where a doctor looks at Magdalena. Hanni is concerned, but the doctor is not. He says:
** 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 textbooks about medical problems.
She is a farmer’s wife who has almost no education. 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 she has found in the medical textbooks, Hanni returns to the doctor and tells her that she wants her to do an MRI scan of Magdalena.
The doctor refuses. She is offended and says: are you trying to tell me how to do my job?
Hanni does not give up. She keeps on pushing, until she finally finds a doctor who is ready to listen to her. Dr Espach. 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. Is it too late?
The story continues and it ends right where it began: in a court of law.
Hanni is suing the state of Bavaria for dereliction of duty. She claims the authorities neglected to take proper care of Magdalena.
This case is the story of one woman, a farmer’s wife, against the state of Bavaria. This is why it 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 be able to 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 drama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 73 per cent.
On Amazon Germany there are at the moment 22 ratings of this product, including 15 with reviews.
The average rating is five stars, which corresponds to a rating of 100 percent.
In my opinion, the rating on IMDb is too low, while the rating on Amazon is very appropriate.
Why do I say this?
I have three reasons:
# 1. The script is well-written and the actors play their roles well.
# 2. The story is captivating, dramatic and deeply emotional.
# 3. The drama 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 (100 percent).
Having said this, I must add that there are some minor flaws in this drama. There are some scenes which I do not like. Let me explain:
# 1. The opening scene shows Hanni 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 it anywhere in the drama.
When I see this scene, I have to ask: why did the director decide to open the drama with a scene that may cause viewers to stop watching?
It is fine that Hanni is 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 Rosalie Thomass to sing like this made a poor decision.
# 2. In the middle of the drama, Hanni tries to make a phone call to a hospital in the US. Obviously, the person in New York speaks English, but 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. 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 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. 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 is sitting in the reception wondering what to do.
Suddenly, the doctor enters the room. 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 security guards do not know this. They only 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 know that her action might be misunderstood? Fortunately, the doctor is not scared. He tells the security guards to let the woman approach him and 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 another way.
As you can see, there are some flaws in this drama, but I have decided to regard them as minor, and they will not influence my rating of the product.
Regardless of these minor flaws, I still think this drama deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS # 1. The official English title of this drama The Unheard Woman is not very good. A better title would be: No One Would Listen.
PS # 2. The names used in the drama have been changed, perhaps for legal reasons.
In the drama, the mother is called Hanni Schwaiger. Her real name is Angelika Nachtmann.
In the drama, the daughter is called Magdalena. Her real name is Katharina.
The drama 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 Amazon one reviewer of the drama 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 drama. 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 her even more than the attack that she had suffered.
When Magdalena began to complain about medical problems, Hanni did not want to make the same mistake as her mother had made.
She believed, trusted and supported her daughter in every possible way.
*****
Eine unerhörte Frau:
Nicht gehört – fast zerstört
by Angelika Nachtmann
(2016)
*****
On the right = Angelika Nachtmann
On the left = Angelika's daughter Katharina
In the middle = Katharina's son Florian
This photo was taken in 2018
when Florian was two years old
*****
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