Film “We live in Time” – The unbearable timelessness of memory

Why not start the new year with a sad, beautiful film about love? With a cleverly constructed drama that is deeply moving but never descends into kitsch? And it is also cast with two outstanding actors: Firstly, there is Florence Pugh, who appeared in Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women”, as well as in the Marvel action film “Black Widow” and most recently in Dennis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two”. « shone. Her playing partner is “Amazing Spiderman” actor Andrew Garfield, also known from the great musical film “Tick, Tick…Boom!”.

John Crowley’s romantic tragedy tells of Almut and Tobias, who fall in love, get married, have a child – until Almut is diagnosed with cancer for the second time. There are already plenty of films that tell a similarly tragic love story; just think of the 55-year-old classic “Love Story” or “PS I Love You” with Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler or the teen drama “Fate is One.” lousy traitor,” which required having several packs of tissues on hand.

However, “We live in Time,” which is based on the screenplay by British playwright Nick Payne, is – like Crowley’s films “Boy A” and his unsuccessful film adaptation “The Goldfinch” – not told chronologically, but jumps seemingly suddenly between three time levels here. Torn between the lightness and heaviness of existence, a tear of joy or sorrow may occasionally slip into the viewer’s eye – but it never becomes touching.

We experience ten far too short years in the life of an enchanting couple. Early in the film, after learning that her ovarian cancer has returned, the self-determined Almut asks her lover the crucial question: “Do we want to experience six more great months together or twelve crappy ones?”

The ambitious cook and restaurant owner, who thrives on her job and needs a lot of freedom, and the gentle Tobias find an answer to this fateful question. Together they seem to unhinge the inexorability of time.

You experience the crucial moments of their life together up close and seemingly wildly confused: the evening of their unusual meeting, when Tobias goes out to get a pen to sign his divorce papers and Almut hits him with her car. How Almut, who is suffering from ovarian cancer again, has her head shaved by Tobias in the presence of their daughter. Your difficult decision-making process for or against children. How Almut secretly practices for the strenuous Bocuse d’Or competition after her second diagnosis because she doesn’t just want to be remembered as a mother and partner. (You can tell that Pugh is an ambitious amateur cook who also has a cooking show on YouTube.) How Almut gives birth to their child in the toilet of a gas station in an incredibly realistic scene that also has a certain amount of humor. How they try together to teach their little daughter what’s going on with mommy in a child-friendly way. The metaphorically brilliant, deeply moving sequence in which the former professional figure skater skates one last time with her small family is also burned into your memory, as if you had experienced it yourself or at least a close friend.

The concept of the Irish theater and film director Crowley, who was nominated for several Oscars in 2015 with his romantic drama “Brooklyn,” is working. Although the jumping between time levels seems quite haphazard and confusing at the beginning, the non-linear narrative style reminds us that a life and a love do not have to end with death. Almut also torments himself completely unnecessarily with the thought of being forgotten.

Pugh and Garfield bring incredible presence and authenticity to each of their moments together. Garfield is faced with the difficult task that his role is not sufficiently developed. In contrast to Pugh, the always level-headed Tobias, for example, gets a marketing job in a cereal company that he isn’t exactly passionate about. Nevertheless, the chemistry between these two main actors is so phenomenal that it’s easy to overlook it.

The soundtrack by Bryce Dessner reflects the emotions, the cinematography by Stuart Bentley is great. In the end, even seemingly weaker pieces of the puzzle come together to form a meaningful whole. A film that resonates for a long time about the unbearable timelessness of memory: Nobody knows how much time each of us is given on this planet. Love on equal terms, maximum sincerity towards your partner and trying to fully experience every fleeting moment are definitely not a bad idea.

»We Live in Time«: France/Great Britain 2024, directed by John Crowley. Starring: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Lee Braithwaite. 108 minutes, start: 9.1.