What You Can See From Here (2022)

Directed by Aron Lehmann

Luise (Lina Wedler) a 22-year-old book shop assistant reminisces about her growing up in a strange little village in the Westerwald region of Germany and its quirky set of residents, while dealing with her crippling anxiety and her grandmother Selma’s (Corinna Harfouch) sickness. In flashbacks, we see her and her best friend Martin (Cosmo Taut) roam the nearby sun-soaked golden woods and practically live at Selma’s house. Every time Selma dreams of an Okapi, someone in the village dies within twenty-four hours, so the story kicks off, when Selma dreams once more.

The visuals are at first quite reminiscent of Wes Anderson movies, as the cinematography (Christian Rein) is downright dreamlike and the soundtrack (Boris Bojadzhiev) is very similar to Amélie and similar movies. The characters, all played by well-known character actors, are introduced in a very symmetric full body shot, facing the camera, while a voiceover introduces them and their quirks. However, despite the very recognizable visuals and soundscape, the movie doesn’t feel redundant. On the contrary, the characters and the story feel very relatable and grounded. 

The entire movie revolves around Samsara, the cyclicality of life, matter and existence, its most important symbol being a red circle drawn over some faulty floorboards in Selma’s house. Additionally, motifs like birth and rebirth, as understood by Buddhism, as well as actual Buddhist monks also play a major narrative role. We see Luise being born, held by Selma in this very circle and then love, lose, be terrified of life, love and lose again. The Okapi, a weird looking concoction of a donkey, giraffe and zebra, as the harbinger of death, is not just funny. It shows that death can’t fit into our preferred perception of life, but exists nonetheless, no matter how unexpected it looks. A fact we have to contend with.

All in all a very touching movie about birth, life, love, loss, death and rebirth.