Ma vie: Siri Hustvedt
Siri Hustvedt is one of the most important contemporary authors. She received attention initially in 1993 for her first novel, The Invisible Woman. In 1996, The Enchantment of Lily Dahl marked her worldwide breakthrough, and was followed in 2003 by What I Loved and a collection of essays written from a first-person male perspective. Step by step, Hustvedt has carved out a place for herself in the literary world as an author with a special feeling for the poetic, an almost tender concern for her protagonists, an exceptional capacity to strike nuanced tones, and most of all a sensitive perspective on all human spiritual states. As the wife of author Paul Auster, it has not always been easy for Siri Hustvedt to find her place on the international literary market. “First of all because in reviews... I’m always referred to as the wife of Paul Auster, as though this somehow makes my books more important.† Yet Siri Hustvedt is confident enough to avoid being intimidated. “I have never resented Paul’s success. No question about it, I love his books and I love him. No matter what I write, no matter what he writes, we want to know what the other one thinks, and we are inspired by one another. Although we are very different personalities.† We visit Hustvedt’s home town together with the author, locate her parents’ house, which still exists, accompany her on a visit to her mother, and meet her three sisters there, before seeing two of them again in New York. We capture the atmosphere of the countryside with powerful and unforgettable imagery, the magic of nature in this western state, and its silence – such a contrast to New York's hectic big city atmosphere. For the first time, we film the Hustvedt-Auster couple together in the midst of everyday life – including their lives together in their Brooklyn house, with scenes that include their daughter Sophie. The family still gets together regularly for dinner. The close relationship between the three also becomes palpable when we see them together at one of Sophie's concerts, or at a reading by Hustvedt or Auster.
worldwide distribution, DVD: Lona•media
Filmproduktion
kontakt@lonamedia.de
Screenplay/Direction
Nicola Graef
Produced:
2009,
arte/WDR
45 min.
back to selection